Here I sit, 1 year later, at peace with the past year, and at peace with the road ahead. Bumpy? It will be, but good god, 'I'm Derek Lindstrom', and I can do anything.
For those of you just tuning in, welcome! I reinvented my training blog to include my health 'issues', and to date, it's been viewed over 13,000 times! THANK YOU for all of the support, and I'm sorry it's been a spell since my last post.
Recap? First, here are the most viewed posts from 2018...
April 12th, 2018 - 'I'm Derek Lindstrom...'
May 23rd - 'As Far As You Know'
September 30th - Finally, an update...
So, how are you feeling, Derek? I gotta be honest, most days I feel great, and unless I knew better, I would have no idea that anything was wrong with me. On the 'other' days, however, super-winded climbing steps, dizzy, almost as if I were in heart failure...duh.
I'm still working out, to a point, running/jogging a couple of days a week, maybe a spin class once or twice a week...and tennis. Funny, of all my activities, tennis SHOULD be the easiest on me, but it's not. Played again this morning for 90 minutes and I was a mess for the rest of the day...what the hell? I can rock a spin-class, averaging 210 watts while keeping my HR at or under 130, but tennis drills kick my ass! May need to stay off the court for a bit...
Let's go back a couple of months...mid-December I went to the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, OH to visit a cardiologist that specializes in endurance athletes. My story is not one of 'we see runners all the time'...because you don't. Well, maybe you do, but I think the mileage and racing history I carry with me should bring on more of a conversation about what, if any, those years of pounding have to do with my condition.
Spent a couple of days in Cleveland, oh boy, because as has been my experience, there is always 'one more test'...and there was. ...and yet, no new answers. My path includes a new heart/transplant at some point...maybe in 3 months, may not be for 2 years, who knows. What holds me up, and why the doc in CLE asked if he could write a paper on my condition (...wonder if I'll ever see this 'paper'?) is that I'm living with an EF of roughly 17%, yet I can still jump on a treadmill and pound out a stress-test, still managing a vo2 max of 44-46...how? Years of training? ...it makes no sense to most, (but it is what it is, and it keeps me off the 'list', for now.) The way I understand it is that at some point I will deteriorate to the point where I can't walk up a flight of steps...I think at that point, I'll know.
(Outlier, an anomaly...and the word miraculous may have been used when describing my testing...)
Last Monday I had another doctors appointment with my local/rock-star cardiologist because I had a 'spell' while driving...ugh. My EF seems to have stabilized, though I had 2 spikes in my HR in January as detected by my pacemaker/defibrillator...not to the point of my defibrillator going off, but both spikes were up and over 200 HR, though I never felt them. ...and you guessed it, one of the spikes was during tennis. Tennis...really?
Life itself is good...I seem to have found love and peace, and have a clear understanding of my path and journey. I think a lot about how many years of life I'll have after my transplant...10? 12? 14? Will I be able to walk my daughter down the aisle? Will I get to see her graduate high school and/or college? Some days it's hard to think about, so I don't.
New love, a new career, and I'd like to think that I did a really nice job of ridding my life of people who were all-consuming and stressful, as the stress really sets me back. ...time for Derek to relax.
So, what a year...I think back to where I was last spring, not understanding why I was always so tired and winded, just thinking I was getting old and out of shape, maybe even flirting with depression, I had no idea I was in heart failure, and reading back my posts from last April through June, I was like a lost puppy. ('The Puppy who lost his way'...a Billy Madison reference. :)
Thanks again for all the love and support...I'm hoping 2019 is not as challenging as 2018, but if it is, I'll be ready.
Love you all.
