This Doctor Must be Trustworthy
Okay so this post isn't really about a physical or out door activity per se, but there is an element worth noting since it has to due with bikes. As you all know by now I've been having some trouble with my kidneys and was scheduled to see a specialist. Thursday I saw the specialist. The short version is that my disease has progressed and I am at about 35% kidney function. This means that dialisis (I'm gonna have to learn to spell that one) and or transplate are in my near future. How near depends on how fast my function drops to 20% or below. This could be 6 months, 6 years, 10 years. We will know more in 6 weeks after two months of testing and monitoring. The treatment is simple... try to slow down the decline. This is done through maintaining a blood pressure at 110/70 or even better 100/60. This will have to be done with drugs so He started me on accupril, an ACE inhibitor that has had the good side effect in many patients with kidney disease of also removing some of the protein from the urine which helps to prevent further damaging of the kidney. Unfortunately, in a few of the patients it has caused a decrease in kidney function so those patients could no longer take it. That's it.
Okay now for the bike related part. While describing to the new kidney doctor about my lifestyle of biking he asked where I ride. I started telling him about my mountain bikes and then that I couldn't find many off road trails so I bought a cyclocross bike as my road bike wouldn't work on the gravel roads. He was quiet so I thought he might of thought I was nuts to own four big dollar bicycles so I started explaining why I needed a cyclocross bike. He raised his hand and with a smile said, "You can never have too many bikes." He then proceeded to tell me where the best MTB trails were in the Fort Wayne area and his favorites. He is a fellow enthusiast. He understands the passion and encouraged me to ride as long as I felt up to it. So ride I will. Of course I'm not supposed to over do it and I require twice the fluids that others do when sweating so a six litre camel back may be in order... too bad they don't make one. Hey I could just tow a water cooler in the baby carrier.
4 comments:
I don't like doctors, but this one seems pretty smart to me.
The water solution is fairly possible becasue you can buy the bladder alone and store it in your pannier...one on each side and some extra tubing and you wouldnt even have to rake it out of the bag. One water bag on each side, maybe even a y junction. I will do some checking.
Yeah, that doctor sounds cool, and I think the post is very relevant. When a kayaking friend of mine went in for shoulder surgery, his doctor told him to give up paddling. He Just Didn't Get It. Things like kayaking and biking aren't just something you do, they become a way of life. To be grossly stereotypical, imagine how devastating it would be if my friend's doctor was told that he had to give up golf. It's just not an option.
Another way to put it is the semi-rhetorical question, "What do doctors treat?" "They treat people."
As for the Y-junction, maybe you can scavenge one from a beer-can-baseball-helmet.
Thanks for the encouragment... CK I will be in IL 12/15-12/17
Hopefully I will be less fat by then...not much riding and puting weight back on but I have confidence I will get back on it...good news...yak...are you coming to IL?
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