6 Months Down - 6 Months to Go

I can't believe it, but it has been 6 months since my heart surgery.  The hardest part of the surgery has not been the surgery, but the recovery.  You can read all you want about the surgerical procedure, but there is nothing on recovery.  Because of that, I figured I would rest the 6 - 8 weeks after the surgery like the doctor told me, and then get on my bike and only have short time before I was in tip, top shape.  As most of you know that was not the case.  Recovery has been slow, but steady, and as I later found out, it takes 6 months to a year for complete recovery.  However, with each day and each bike ride I am slowly getting better.

Last week was my 6 month follow up appointment with my cardiologist.  I had a transdoppler test and an echo cardiogram with bubble test.  The results were very positive.  The hole in my heart is not healed yet, but is getting closer.  Prior to my heart surgery I had 500+ bubbles going through my heart, at rest, with little stress and with a lot.  Now I have 70 bubbles going through my heart only when there is a lot of stress!  Great improvement.

What does this mean?  It means I have reduced my risk for a stroke significantly.  It also means the hole is almost closed up--I am very excited about this. 

With the healing a new issue has popped up.  As I said under stress bubbles go through the hole.  Well, when you mountain bike a hill climb is stress.  Even if it doesn't feel like it, it is.  So, what has been happening is when I push it hard riding, even only for a moment such as a short steep up, or when I ride at high altitude I am getting a migraine.  It only started happening recently, which is due to the hole getting smaller and I am no longer taking plavix, only aspirin.  This is not good.  You see when I get a migraine, I get an aura.  Aura's prevent you from seeing in one or both eyes.  Lately I have been getting these while riding--not always, but more than I would like.  Try going down hill blind with one eye--not fun.  The good news there is a solution.

When I get an aura I need to immediately chew an apirin--oh, and wash it down with water of course.  The purpose of chewing the aspirin is to get it in the blood stream immediately.  If the migraine is caused by a blood clot going through the hole in my heart then it will thin the blood, stop the aura's and potentially stop the migraine.  Does it work?  Well, I got to test it out a week ago, and worked.

Jolene and I were riding in AF Canyon (sadly it will be her last ride for a while), we had just finished going down Deer Creek South Fork, when all of the sudden I started to get an aura.  Luckily I had remembered to pack some aspirin, and took one immediately--yuck!  It is very difficult to swallow chewed up aspirin when you have been riding a bike.  I was worried one wouldn't work, so I took another for good measure.  We pedaled and pedaled, and I was getting worried the aura was not going away.  I knew if it didn't there was no way I could negotiate the downhill after the summit--too many things to look out for.  Just as we got to the summit the aura quit, and I did not get a migraine.  I am so glad it work. 

Now all I need to do is remember to take aspirin on every ride.  Today I forgot and I paid for it.  I was going down Rush and low and behold an aura.  I just kept riding hoping I would make it down before the aura got worse and before the mirgraine hit.  It didn't work.  The aura kept getting worse and trying to see became very difficult.  Luckily for me I ran into Karl, Dot, Joey and Johnny and was able to follow them down.  They got me to the road safely and I took off to the car to get some aspirin, and hopefully stop the aura and on-coming mirgraine.  I didn't make it in time.  The aura quit just as I hit the parking lot and now my head is killing me.  Lesson learned aspirin in the car does not do any good.

As for everyting else.  I am looking forward to the next 6 months and seeing more improvement.  Although the last 6 months the recovery has been slow I am looking forward to the continued recovery over the next 6 months of getting stronger and better.