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    Retired & Moved

    The low temperature at our Colorado home was 38 degrees the night before we fired up the moving truck and headed south to our new place in Arizona. 106 degrees today felt pretty darn good. After working in schools (in cold places) for thirty years, we figured it was time to go somewhere where...
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    What's your name?

    I observed this situation on Monday and thought I would share... It was time for my annual echo on Monday so I made the trip down the mountain to Denver. While I was waiting in my cardiologist's, one of the tech folks came in and approached another patient and his wife. The technician began to...
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    Reliable Lab Testing

    Here's something you may find interesting with regards to variations in INR tests conducted at medical labs... On Wednesday, I was the victim of a hit & run accident. Someone rear ended my bicycle while I was engaged in a training ride. I checked into a local hospital following the accident...
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    Road to Victory Bicycle Classic

    On May 31, 2009, I joined a large group of cyclists to ride in the Road to Victory Bicycle Classic (R2V). The Boulder, Colorado, based ride benefits Parkinson's research and education through the Davis Phinney Foundation. Since the spring weather in the mountains has been really crummy and I...
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    Temporary Blindness

    Anyone ever hear about anything like this... I ran across a story in a nationally published magazine this week; the author was talking about his trials and tribulations after his 2007 AVR surgery. He commented about his blood pressure medicine having the side effect of causing temporary...
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    Sunrise Century benefits MESA (Moving to End Sexual Assault

    Well, I took a shot at th Sunrise Century 75 mile cycling route out of Boulder, Colorado, on June 14. The event raises money for the MESA (Moving to End Sexual Assault) organization. I thought the Elephant Rock event a couple of weeks ago; the E-Rock wasn't even close to the difficulty of the...
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    Elephant Rock Cycling Festival benefits Team Rise

    On Sunday, June 1, I made a trip down the mountain to participate in the Elephant Rock Cycling Festival in Castle Rock, Colorado by doing the 65 mile course. The festival raises money to benefit the Rise School. 7,000 cyclists participated in this event. The Rise School runs intensive...
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    Can't Keep Up

    Here's a new experience... I managed to break my foot in early December and ended-up taking a required twelve week break from any kind of exercise. When the cast came off, I immediately started riding my bike on a trainer. I also began both strength and cardio work on a regular basis several...
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    Life sometmes really sucks

    I lost a good friend on Monday. Reba, a building level school administrator in a neighboring school district, was killed in a car accident while driving to work. Administrators from her district and mine attended a lot of professional conferences and training activities together. It's ironic...
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    One Year

    I 'm one day past my one year AVR surgery anniversery so I guess it's safe to do a quick post. Thanks to everyone here for their support, both pre & post-surgery. This kind of stuff is never easy, but it's lots easier with a great support group. The folks here fit that description. Part of my...
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    TSA & Box Time

    Colleen and I flew out of Denver International Airport on Monday to meet some friends in Arizona for a week of golf. We encountered a short delay while going through security. My heart valve set off the metal detector. The TSA folks stuck me in a glass box to await the arrival of the "pat down"...
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    Clicking & Ticking in the ER

    After a ten month absence I managed to land in the ER of our local hospital on Friday evening. While setting our gym up for a wrestling tournament, I managed to break a bone in my foot. It didn't take long for the word to get around the hospital that a guy with an artificial heart valve was in...
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    Six Months & Vail Pass

    While I never have considered myself a fitness junkie, I have seriously pursued an active lifestyle following AVR surgery? I?ve done a lot of bicycling (both mtb and road) during the summer. On Sunday, August 26th, I decided to celebrate being six months post-op by riding my road bike up the...
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    Crash!

    Crashing a bicycle is never a pleasant experience regardless of whether the cyclist has had valve replacement surgery or not. I managed to survive a header on Sunday afternoon. I'm approaching my fifth month post-op and I've been doing a lot of cycling (both mountain & road) this summer. My...
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    Differences

    I had the hospital run an INR on me today and immediately followed the hospital blood draw with a check on my brand new InRatio monitor. The difference in the results suprized me. The hospital lab test said my INR was 3.0. The INRatio monitor reported my INR as 2.2. What's the deal with the...
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    Wow, this was easy

    My monitor arrived from QAS last week and I did a telephone training today with one of the QAS folks. Popping my finger with that little lancet device was easy and caused much less stress than facing the usual several needle sticks by a lab tech at the hospital. I'll visit the lab tomorrow to...
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    Biking to St. John

    Last February, my plans to cross country ski from Montezuma to the ghost town of St. John got canceled when AVR surgery became a reality. The distance between these historic Colorado mining era towns is only a couple of miles, but the elevation gain is 1,000 feet. Since my plans to ski the...
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    Cycling

    After hitting eight weeks post-op on May 28th I took a shot at a longer distance bicycle ride this weekend. My wife isn't crazy about bicycling, but decided to accompany me on what was planned to be an eighteen mile ride. We were six miles out when her bicycle began to develop front shifter...
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    Fun with the Insurance People

    One of the nurses at my cardio docs office and I started down that path many of you have probably traversed this week. The doc wants me to go on a home monitoring machine and believes that my insurance company should pay for it; I tend to agree with him. Unfortunately, my insurance company...
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    Post-op Dental Work

    I guess at five weeks post-op it's time to have some dental work done to repair damage that occurred during my stay in the ICCU after surgery. My memories of my stay in the ICCU are thankfully very dim, but I came home with a broken tooth. According to my wife, I made a really good effort to...
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