Daily Workout(s)

Where I was to where I'm at...

Dec 9th - heart attack... Dec 11th - released from the hospital...

Dec 20th - 1st followup with the cardiologist and released to begin "activity"...

basically I have no guidelines... refereed to Cardiac Rehab for them to provide HR activity guidelines... the earliest appointment I could get was Jan 18th, 2 days from now...

Dec 21st - so let the "activity" begin... so I started walking... and adding...

Dec 30th - bought a Garmin HR monitor... I'm not one for gadgets, but I needed an idea of what my activity is looking like...

Dec 31st totals :
10,256 steps...4.9 miles...resting HR avg 54 bpm... HR max 102 bpm

daily average totals from Jan 4th to Jan 16th (12 days with 1 easy day)

12 of 13 days - 11,000 to 13,000 steps/day... 5 - 6 miles/day...
avg resting HR 48 bpm - 55 bpm... max HR 108 bpm - 121 bpm...

single workout totals :
~3.5 miles... ~7,500 steps... avg HR 88 bpm

a single workout :

walk with 2.5 lbs /leg ankle weights... carry 3 lb dumbbells...

while walking one set using dumbbells is:

25 x hammer curls or cross chest curls... 
       alternate (1) set of curls between each exercise

25 x straight arm raise front (single arm)

25 x curls (single arm)

25 x straight arm raise side (both arms)

25 x curls

25 x triceps rear press (both)

25 x curls

25 x curl to shoulder press (both)

25 x curls

25 x horizontal chest to straight arm butterfly's (both)

25 x curls

25 x front punch (alternate)

25 x curls

25 x chest to overhead vertical butterflies (both)

repeat this 3 x... (each arm lifts 3 lbs 1050 times)...

Two goals that I want from Cardiac Rehab on the 18th :

be let loose to do what I want (ride)...

get off of all the drugs ASAP that make me feel like crap...

30 Days plus 1

A month has passed by and a good time for an update on the recovery...

This is a recovery in slow motion... it seems like I've come so far with how I now feel compared to when I was released from the hospital Dec 11th... from being exhausted walking to the mailbox and back to now walking 3-4 miles a day, that sounds great... and it is... kinda... but that's a long way from riding a bike a 100 miles or so...

I still do not completely understand what happened and the resulting damage to my heart... or how long or even if there will be recovery, and to what degree... plus there are lots of questions of how to optimize recovery without doing to much and going backwards... 

Garmin Vivosmart HR+ 
bought this so I could monitor HR for my activity... this way I can measure and compared the number of steps, stairs etc in volume and HR data day to day... generally the max range of my HR when walking now has been in the upper 90's, with getting up to and over 120 a few times... the 120 range is uncomfortable right now and may not be helpful... my resting rate has been in the upper 40's to low 50's... January 18th is my first assessment at Cardio Rehab... hopefully this will provide more definitive structure of what I can or should not do...

my weight has stabilized to 118-119 lbs for the past week or two, so I've gained back ~4 lbs...

Zoll Life Vest
this was supposed to be a 3 month time frame but I am done with wearing this as of yesterday... with well over 30 false alarms in a month, yesterday was the final time... the alarm went off while I was walking and I fumbled with removing gloves and getting to the battery pack to cancel the treatment... there is a 40 sec window to cancel and it was cut way to close... no more... its too nerve racking to deal with... I could add quite a bit more regarding this device...

so that's all for now... I waver between being motivated and enthusiastic to being  frustrated and resigned... patience is the key and not easily adhered to...

Day 4 - Warwick NY to Cornwall Bridge CT 107 miles

Warwick NY to Bear Mountain Bridge crossing the Hudson River... follow the river north, 
cutting across NY to Bull Bridge and the CT state line... north on 7 to Cornwall Bridge CT...

Time To Turn This Ship Around

A weight chart from the day of the heart attack (12-9 ) to yesterday (12-24 )...

6 lbs down the first 4 days and then after a slight bump, a steady decline...
It seems to me, due to the heart attack, my entire system had started to shut down... False alarm... Slowly my body restarted and on Fri 12-21 my appetite finally returned... 

Had a follow up with the Cardiologist on 12-20 and given the ok to ramp up activities with a pending appointment with the Cardio Rehab people...

Merry Christmas... happy to be here

"There But For The Grace Of God Go I"

On the morning of Sunday December 9th I was out on the road for my usual morning bike ride... About halfway in a pain began to form in my left pectoral area and radiated into my left arm... It was subtle at first but quickly became intolerable... I realized continuing was impossible and had to stop... I called Sandy for a rescue and that rescue was her calling 911... Now I was laying on the side of the road, in the dark ( ~ 5:30 am ), the temps in the upper 20's with pain beyond anything I can compare to... I was so cold...

In what seemed like forever I heard the sirens coming... and then the sirens started to fade away... But quickly they got louder... In the meantime a runner and his partner happened along... I remember him saying he was a paramedic and asking what was wrong... Another brief memory is being in the ambulance and hearing someone saying "nitroglycerin" and "fentanyl"... Next memory was seeing Sandy's face briefly among quite a few others and apparently that was in the ER... Then finally I woke up in a room in the CCU of the Cedar Park Hospital...

Diagnosis :
Acute ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction
Acute Systolic Heart Failure
Stent location is the Left Anterior Descending Artery 

Damage :
I am not quite clear on this but I believe my heart is now functioning at about 25-30% of its capability... if this is any indication of how my body reacted, my weight on 12-11 was 124 lbs and as of 12-18 is 116.8 lbs ( in 9th grade I wrestled in the 115 lb weight class )... not a recommended method of dieting...

"Say Hello To My Little Friend" :
Zoll Life Vest - a wearable defibrillator which I must wear 23 hrs 45 mins a day for a projected 3 months or so... other than the itchy rash its caused on my back and electrodes digging into me while I sleep, its great... 

 

Prognosis :

I'm alive... its really not a question of whether I should or shouldn't be... I am and so my thoughts and determination is to continue to plan the bike ride for September... Until I come to the realization that its not going happen or its declared medically unwise to do so its going forward... I am under no delusions of how long and hard the road back will be...

EMS, Doctors and Nurses :

From the EMS that scooped me up on the side of the road and triage in the ambulance, to Dr Pandya Sanjay, who performed the surgery and all the nurses of the CCU at Cedar Park,  Sandy and I are eternally grateful... we have such admiration and respect for their commitment of taking care of me... such incredibly dedicated, intelligent and compassionate people...

Sandy :
No matter what I throw at her she is rock solid and there for me... words cannot express my love for her so pardon me while I don't try... 

I would be remiss not to mention the out pouring of love and support from family near and far... I love you... thanks for being there for us...  

Day 3 Bowmanstown PA to Warwick NY 105 miles

PA to NJ to NY... a nice climb to East Stroudsburg PA and huge decent to the river crossing...
the climb to High Point NJ could be called "a bit of a stiffie"...

Day 2 York PA to Bowmenstown PA 113 miles

York PA to Lancaster PA to Lititz PA 501 N to SR 895

Day 1 Dulles Airport DC to York PA 113 miles

Dulles airport to Leesburg VA to Fredrick MD to Gettysburg PA to York PA

Let Planning Begin

Here we go... 
Mark - slight change in the beginning logistics... my plan is to pack in cardboard box and take my bike on the plane or look for a Fed Ex ship and hold location close to Dulles... I will ship my bike case to Concord for the return...

depending on arrival times we can assemble and ride some miles or start fresh the next morning...

the date time frame on the top of the blog is not correct and we can change it to reflect actual dates when we are sure...