mbsbike2002

Just got back from my echo stress test. Hopefully, this will be the last of the tests. I feel kind of like Cheech in last week's Grey's Anatomy. Maybe not $120K later, but many, many $K later, the cardiologist came to the same conclusion my mom did when the wife called her from the ER - Vaso-Vagal Syncope... Ya think. On the other hand, he said that I was in great shape for someone who has been more than 100 pounds overweight their entire adult life. At > predicted HRmax, I could easily provide 1-2 word answers, and at >> HRmax, I still did not reach exhaustion after several minutes. The echo was normal. All of the hard work earlier in the year paid off - just need to get off my ass & back on the bike. No shower for 24 hours (Holter monitor), but after that - watch out :cool2: He told me that there was no restriction to exercise - ride as hard and long as I could. He's also a bycyler - belongs to the Greater Dallas Bicyclists, which sponsored the Lancaster Country ride TX did a few weeks ago. B

Not sure - still waiting on the orders to be sent. Seriously, it's not that difficult. Oh well, maybe they are confused by all the barking :blushing:... B

Updated the sig & ticker - I feel like I'm in Planes, Trains, & Automobiles "You're going the wrong way!" J - Just doing my part to keep is in the top 3... B

Hola chicas! I went to the band doc today for an unfill. I'm now back at 2cc. Amazingly, I was down 1 pound from last visit at end of Dec. The PA said it's not uncommon to stop losing, or even gain when too tight - soft, slushy, sugary things go down quite easily. Hopefully, this will resolve my "stuck" issues and help me get back on track with the losing. I might even ride the bike (in the trainer stand) in the morning - won't push it too hard until after I get cleared by the cardiologist on an exercise stress test. It's kind of nice having an unexpected week of no travel. Took yesterday and today off sick - will have to do some work tomorrow, but I should be able to take it easy the rest of the week. B

Hi gang - just want to check back in... Turns out that while my enzymes are up (never could get my hands on the actual lab report), the cardiologist said that he wasn't concerned. According to the old rules, they were fine, but as with diabetes, cholesterol, etc., they keep moving the thresholds down. Since my EKGs were pretty, BP was fine, O2sat was fine, and I have few other risk factors, he felt that there was no reason for me to be there. Poor doc had tourettes, though, and kept barking at me while he was talking to me. Didn't exactly instill me with confidence. I will have to go have an echo exercise stress test in the next few days just to make sure, but no MI for me today... I've had the vagal response a few times, too, but I always made it to PB before I fainted. Not so much this time around. I'll be calling my band doc tomorrow for at least a partial unfill. I can't imagine how much more this would have sucked if it would have happened while traveling. B

Thanks Carol. My mom, who has been an RN for 30 years is on her way over to the hospital. I'm also usually pretty good about advocating for myself. I feel somewhat like the phantom of the opera - one side of my face is fine, then people see the other side and i get the "oh my" response. B

Update - looks like the cardiac enzyme tests from the 1:30am blood-letting are elevated. I'm now NPO, and i have a date with the cardiologist sometime this morning. Will update when I have more info. B

Other than some bruising, rug burn on my face, and a killer headache, that's all there is to tell. Sitting all day had pooled blood in my legs (my ass was sore & numb) and getting stuck pinged my vagas nerve. Getting up & trying to run completed the cascade, and I fainted due to having no blood left in my noggin. It was all in my legs and abdomen. Additional factors include reduced water consumption leading to blood volume depletion, addition of diet coke (first time since banding I have been able to get it down - see how well that turned out for me) a diuretic and generally nasty substance, and boredom. All of my cardiac enzymes have come back nominal - CT was nominal - EKG is nominal. They just wanted to keep me overnight to make sure everything was okay and to get my volume back up (4l ringers since 4p). To add insult to injury, I didn't get dinner until almost 11p. When it came, it consisted of a shoe-leather steak (you'd think a "Bariatric surgery center of excellence" would know better) and 2 sugary dessert things - my BG level as > 400 when we came in to the ER. That was mostly from getting off the reservation at lunch and from being shocky due to the fall. I'm not going to add sugery goo to the mix now, though... Finally dozed off around 11:30 only to be awoken at 1:30 for some blood-letting. Won't likely make itt back to sleep. Bastages. Sweet dreams peeps! B

In the hospital :smile2: I was at a seminar today and got a little off the reservation with my food. I was sitting there feeling like something was stuck (pressure in my chest), and so I was going to run to the bathroom (or at least to a trashcan in the hall) to PB. Didn't make it. Woke up on the floor of the classroom a few minutes later with a bunch of people standing around wondering what the fuck... Initial tests don't show anything - probably a vagal response (I sometimes feel a little faint when something gets really stuck. But I get to spend the night here, just the same. The only good thing is that I don't have to get my ass up in time to catch a 6:30AM flight to LAX. The bad news, though, is that I'm almost certainly out on the trip to bike in Lansing. Hope everybody's having a better weekend than me. B

It is - if I didn't have to be in Boston for work immediately after, I'd be all over it. That much driving + a bike ride = not ready to sit in meetings all day for the next 4.5 days... There is a way to pack the entire bike in a hard-shell golf carrier + 1 largish suitcase for the wheels - I might look into that so I could fly. Give me a couple of days to see if I can't work it out. If not, we'll figure some way for me to get up there or y'all down here this summer. B

Tempting, very tempting. I'm supposed to be in Boston on the 8th. If I can push that out even a day or two, might be able to make my way up there (drive from TX to MI, then on to MA.) Lemme check on it. B

Hey gang! Just wanted to drop by and say a quick howdy!!! Things in Big D have been quite hectic - I've been flying out most Sundays & coming home on Friday - doesn't leave much time for anything - including riding Buttercup. Unfortunately, this travel schedule will continue through mid-July (at the earliest). First time in years that I've made PlAAtinum, and definitely the earliest that I've made it since '98/'99 when I was commuting from Boston to London a few times a week (yep, out and back 2x a week). TX - I was at dinner with the family yesterday afternoon & thought I saw you at the Pappadeaux on Central & 183 - were you there? Sorry to hear about your band issues - I'm in a similar boat. Hope it works out for you. Congratulations on your Tour Dallas & Lancaster rides. The pics are awesome - wish I could have been there with you. J - You're the best!!! Missed you, too, chica! Carol - congratulations on your banding - here's to a speedy recovery! BP - Wish I could have a Cheeseburger in Paradise, but at least I can waste away in Maragaritaville in the interim. Mmmmmm Margarita.... JC - Looks like you are back on a losing track - good job - hope that your finals go well! HP - Dang, woman - you've kicked into high gear - congratulations on > 100 lost by your bandiversary. BG - still Hottie McHottie!! Gotta go for now - but I'll try to check in more frequently. Bike on, B

Rejuvenated vajayjay - tastes great / less filling... Sick, I know, but you started it :thumbup:

Geez-o-Pete people. Vagina squad, indeed... That at least convinced the wife that she isn't missing out on squeezing a kid out... B

On the one hand, I'm pretty bummed about it - I was looking for something new and an opportunity to live somewhere new (and relatively near you midwesterners. On the other hand, based on my experience with the interview/hiring (or lack thereof) process, I probably dodged a bullet. I think the wife is happy not to have to contemplate living in a small apartment until we could sell the house. She is bummed for me though. Funny, literally the day I decided to pull the plug on the deal, my current boss came up to me and gave me the go-ahead to do some projects that I have been recommending for years. That's what the wife suggested - I'll have to do some empirical research this weekend to figure out how I like my latte... Can think of worse things than making a few trips to sbux... Very cool. It will be interesting to see how their recent changes play out over time... B

Hey sweetie - I've missed you, and the rest of the gang here, too. I've been traveling a lot for work lately - on track to make PlAAtinum by June - haven't travelled this much since the go-go days in the late 90's/2000. Makes it hard to spend much time with the bycylers, or the bycyle for that matter. I'm +5 pounds from the ticker weight, mostly due to no exercise, and a steady diet of No-whip Mocha Frappuccinos - about the only thing that is guaranteed to go down while on the road. PBing in a suit and tie sucketh mightily... It looks like the job in Chi-town is a no-go. Sucks. They choked during the salary conversation & I'm just not willing to whore myself out at a loss, even for a job that might be a good strategic move - today's bills have to be paid today, dontcha know. It's all good, though. I'm starting to get some of the support from the C-Suite that I need to get my current job done - after 3+ years, I might be able to make some progress. Well, off to the aeropuerto for another lovely adventure in the friendly skies. Ciao- B

Hey TX - Sorry to hear about your diabetes Dx... In case you haven't found it yet, click on "Advanced" and choose "Subscribe to Podcast". You can enter the URL for the podcast, and it should work.... B

Hey gang - sorry I haven't been posting too much the last few weeks - very very pissed about my band & inability to get care/help at an (any) ER, and I'm not wanting to share the bad mojo. The Chi-town gig is still in process; however, they kind of choked during salary discussion. Not sure if it will play out. Buttercup is very lonely - I've been in town one day a week for the past 4-5 weeks, so it's not getting any love, and my legs are telling me about how much they miss the riding. HP - very sweet bike & also glad to hear that hubby got a new one as well. J - Congrats on your ride, and your fall. Hopefully, you had a suitable large audience to appease the clipless gods, and you should be good to go JC - Of course, Macs rule!!! Glad to see you back. Cool new toys! B

J - You look awesome! Happy bandiversary! That's quite the snow. Hopefully, it will be the last big snow of the year, so you can get down to the important business of biking...

New seat much better than cover. Also, C is right - smaller = better. At the end of the day, you should have two small pressure points - each the size of a silver dollar. Easier on you than a bigger, fluffier seat that will make one big pressure point. Seems bass-ackwards, but, two smaller is better than one bigger... Anatomical seats like J's are very nice. Seats can be hard to buy - everybody is built a little differently down there. What works for one person may not quite work right for someone else, and seats that look similar may feel very different. Probably not what you want to hear, but many people end up with a collection of seats & pedals before they find what really works for them. B

Alright, I had a nice wholesome post in response to Suzzzie... My first 10-speed was a Columbia Vista Elite, purchased at the bike store next to Winnie's Fish & Pets, a store that TX and I spent an entire night waxing nostalgic for one night earlier in the year. Loved that bike. You will love your bike, too, ZZ... Then, JC had to post about Mexican donkey bars - something best left in the rusty cobwebs of too many drunken evenings south of the border.... B

actual stalking or not - it's still fubar... B

That's effed up on the stalker J... B

Thanks J - Got the first phone call earlier today. Discussed my salary requirements, so I'm waiting on another phone call on whether he's going to give me what I need... BG - It's snowing bunches here. TX - Probably not. I have to be in seattle next week, LAX the following, and I might need to sneak another trip to Chi-town in, so I need to spend the weekend with my loovely wife and recovering puppy... B

Staring at the phone waiting for the nice man from Chicago to call... Dear Lord, please give me patience ... now!!!! B