Dieter's Blog

Fitness exam Tuesday. They can't administer the fitness tests without say-so from the heart doctors, which I now have.

What a hassle.

I wanted to give kind wishes but I was suspended by you at the time. Haven't you been working all this time while you're waiting for your clearing to return to work?

Nope!

The medicos ordered me not to work. Modest exertion only, near the house, plenty of opportunity for rest.

I visited the office exactly twice during my recovery, both times after hours, both brief visits, nothing more significant than dropping off some paperwork or a casual watercooler chat.

Really looking forward to getting more than 75 miles from here. My feet are itchy.

Glad to hear the good news! I hope you stay on the upward trajectory!

Work physical cleared me!

... although they want me to repeat my "annual" physical every 3 months for the next year, which simply oozes with an abundant confidence.

High standards for travelling floor-sweepers, I suppose.

... and the kids have already started getting the chips dirty again. Some quality greasy fingers from the pizza, and I think I heard a few chips land in a glass of cranberry cocktail.

$800 seems unexplained, who pays and who gets it, for what?



the "no liquor or gambling" bit I think is like the illegal sports betting I was doing to set me on the path to furthering my vices in Youngstown Ohio in the late 70s ... the slip I would get would say on it "for entertainment purposes only"



in other words, they knew damn well practically the only reason for the races was to gamble, which would be rampant if illegal, but had to claim they were banning it

I believe the mural is a re-creation of an advertising bill for the (self proclaimed?) "world's greatest county fair" before Clay County, Iowa took over that responsibility.

I estimate this to originally be from the late 1800's, back when $800 would have been a substantial purse.

There are still a number of county fairgrounds in the region that are quite strict about no alcohol on premises.

so maybe one race a day with an $800 purse. Odd way they use to say that.

Insist to Take the treadmill test. If you pass that, then you're muscles are fine now. No need to wait 8more weeks.

- Dr 100xOdds :)

Is this what they're calling a "stress test" on the treadmill?

I overhear people talking about them...

(Their main concern seems to be weight restrictions on the arms. Their secondary concern is that I will be way out of timely reach of emergency services, should something go horribly wrong.)

yes stress test. your heart rate goes to like 180bps, kinda like your wife walking in on your with another woman. :)

Why limit arm lifting weight?

They're worried that my arms will overload the spot where they cracked open the chest to do the heart surgery.

I feel fine, but I'd hate to be in a position where I have to choose between overloading myself to the point of injury or being stuck for 3 days - a real possibility travelling the mountains during tire chain season.

Update (again):

Another several phone calls clarified that their concern is ejection fraction - how much juice is getting squeezed out on each squeeze of the juice squeezer.

Apparently, it's low.

If you've ever thought I seemed heartless, there may be a medical explanation...

I had 4x bypass a few years back… 1992, when I was 35. Just hang in there. Nothing about recovery is going to be fun. Everyone’s path afterward is different, so I can’t give any advice, but I will say that maximizing your recovery potential is directly correlated to your lust for life. All the best.

I rarely take the doctors advice. When I had my back surgery they said to plan on taking six weeks away from work. My surgery was on a Wednesday and I was back at work on Monday morning. Granted, it was a desk job so there wasn't a lot of movement involved. The hardest part was walking up the stairs to the second floor where my office was.

Sadly, disregarding the medicos isn't a ready option.

Since I (used to) travel for work, and work is insisting on a clean (enough) bill of health before I resume travel... I'm somewhat stuck using as directed instead of going off-label.

I guess it's an opportunity to make time serve me. I've got a hefty stack of books I've been meaning to read, and now, fortunately, not much better to do.

Current audiobook: The Last Shadow by Orson Scott Card. Audiobooks are very convenient for the prescribed rehab exercises, like long walks through the park.

Wait.. your heart isn't pumping out as much blood?

Why is that? And how do they fix that?

So you feel tired and dizzy often?

I feel great. I begin to get light headed if I keep a too-vigorous pace for more than about 10 minutes. (This happens on the treadmill, sometimes. Walking through the neighborhood, a few seconds pause here and there to take in a view or sniff the autumn leaves is amply restorative.)

When they last measured the ejection fraction, a few days after the surgery, they found that the number was a bit on the low side. I don't find that surprising, since I had just had my chest cracked open, I believe I was still full of surgical drains, and I had spent the past several decades trying to live fast and die young.

They're just declining to re-evaluate the number (yet), since for most patients, the improvement before the next scheduled test is insufficient to warrant a change in status.

So I wait, and go for walks, and spend time reading. Blackjack Blueprint (Rick Blaine) currently. I'm not learning a whole bunch, but I agree with many other reviewers that it's well organized, well written, and a very good starting point for a modern beginning counter.