Month: September 2016

Enough About the Past

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Now that we’ve got the past covered, I want to talk about why I’ve decided to take on this challenge and why I’ve decided to write about it.

As anyone who has read my previous posts knows, I went through quite an adventure with my health in April of 2016 ending with 8 days in Hospital 4 of which were in the ICU.  I’d love to say that this was all a surprise and i had no way to know that it was coming but that would be a bold faced lie.  I knew i was unhealthy but i was going to deal with that later.  I guess my body decided later wasn’t good enough.

About 2 months into my recovery I started in earnest to work on my physical conditioning.  I started with walking a kilometer and then 2.  I got onto my bike and started getting comfortable again.  Short rides turned into longer rides,longer rides turned into 30km rides.

I started feeling better and by 3 months out of Hospital I was about 90% back to where i was before.  I was also 50 pounds lighter and actually looking after my body. Fast forward to 5 months after i was set free from Royal Jubilee Hospital and I hiked 13 kilometers over a lava field to see Lava flowing into the Pacific.  It was a bit difficult but i was very happy that I was able to complete it with out issue.

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The Aftermath of the Hospital

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I was free except that I had to plan any movements that were more than 4 steps and couldn’t muster the strength to do even the simplest things at home.  Thankfully my mother stayed around until she knew I could fend for myself again.

I had lost 52 pounds in the span of 3 weeks.  Yes 52. I started at 273 pounds according to my weight in at the ER and when I had my 2 week checkup I was a mere 221 pounds.  I should probably let everyone reading this know that I am 6 foot 4 and have a large build to start with.  I had not weighed this little since high school.

Unfortunately when you don’t eat anything of substance for a long period, it’s not just fat that you get rid of.  I was weak and looked physically sick.  In addition as I hadn’t been eating my stomach shrank and when I did feel up to eating I couldn’t get more than a third of what I would normally eat in before I felt full.

I was lucky to have good friends to help me thru this.  Some brought groceries over as my energy wasn’t up to a trip to a store plus with wild swings in blood sugar, driving was ill advised.  Others help me get a bit active to try to build some stamina back.  I would walk short distances and was limited to less than a kilometer a day.  This slowly improved with time.

In the end I was slowly on the mend but slow was the operative word….Painfully slow.

Pancreatitis and what It meant for me

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During my hospital stay I got to experience many different things from Hallucinations caused by the wonderful opioids I was being given to an incredibly high blood sugar that wouldn’t move for a few days no mater how much insulin was jammed in me.  One of the more memorable experiences other than my room mate constantly trying to convince the nurses that he needed enough morphine to get the entire city high was an early morning visit from a new doctor.

It was before 8 am on one of the days that had blurred together after I was moved from the ICU.  I woke up from my half sleep to find a new face next to my bed blocking my lovely view of the wall of the building next to mine.  No hello, no how are you, just a look followed by “ well that was stupid hey”.  I was confused about what he was referring too as there was more than one option.  He followed up with you’ve really pissed off your Pancreas and its decided it doesn’t want to work with you right now.  To be fair, not the first person to not want to work with me but I digress.

Dr. Miller as he would introduce himself later explained that my blood work was all out of whack and that he was gonna keep me for a few more days to make sure it sorted itself out.  I had a few question and he answered them and then said he’d be back on Thursday……not a big help as I had no idea what day it was to begin with.

Shortly after I had a visit from a nutritionist who told me I couldn’t eat anything good for at least 4 weeks, maybe longer.  No fats, no sugar, none of my normal diet.  At the time this was fine as I couldn’t even choke down the jello the hospital was providing (just a heads up in hospitals the color of the jello has nothing to do with the flavors…..every color tastes the same).  Next up was a visit from the diabetic teaching nurse.

That was a big shock.  I was 32 and type 2 diabetic.  I was thought how to stab myself to test my sugars and where and when to shove needles to give myself insulin.  This was a pain, literally and figuratively and I wanted it to stop even before it started.

Dr. Miller was true to his word and returned on Thursday.  My numbers had returned to what would be considered acceptable say for my potassium levels.  After some negotiation and one of the best sales jobs I’ve even done, I got him to agree to spring me from my hospital dungeon with a few conditions.

So here I was 32 type 2 diabetic and lost after 8 days in Hospital

April 2016 – When the body says that’s enough

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It was a Spring evening sitting on the patio at the Fernwood Inn.  I was with my boss and another Appraiser from the office.  I had gone home early that day as I wasn’t feeling great.  They went for a beer after work and against my better judgement, I joined them.  After the first sip I knew something was wrong.  After throwing up mostly water in the parking lot and telling them they would have to finish the second beer they had ordered me despite my instructions not to, I headed home.

I figured this may just be another kidney stone which I had been enjoying for the past 5 years on and off.  I settled into my normal routine of fluids, painkillers and appeals to a deity that was no where to be found.  It was a horrid night with maybe an hour of broken sleep.  After as many Tylenol with Codeine as I felt I could safely chew and no luck getting any relief I sent an email to the office letting them know I wouldn’t be making it in.

About 10am I finally gave in and called a taxi to the emergency room.  I figured an ambulance wasn’t needed and probably would take longer by the time they arrived and then got me sorted out.  I checked in and was given a lovely hospital bracelet and was told to go sit in the waiting area.

I’ll spare you the details of the next 8 hours but in summary after waiting and getting progressively worse the results of my CAT scan came back and I was wrong.  I had a severe case of Pancreatitis.  I wasn’t going home or to the Royals playoff game that night (Tickets my Boss still owes me for).  I was going to Intensive care.

One thing they don’t let you know when your really sick is that……you are really sick.  It took a day or so for me to figure that one out.  My mother flew in from Hawaii and was there until they set me free 8 days later.

The diagnosis was severe Pancreatitis caused by my own stupidity.  There were questions about my drinking – it was heavy since the passing of my father in November.  I was in fact just home from his memorial which we postponed until April.  There were question about my physical activity – it was non-existent.  I had bought a Norco Cycle Cross bike 2 weeks before heading to Hawaii with the idea to start getting in shape.  There were questions about my diet – It was atrocious consisting of whatever I could pick up on my way home from work that didn’t require me getting out of my car.

I had essentially turned my body into a landfill.  I knew this and I knew I had to deal with it I just didn’t realize my body would force my hand as quick as it did.

Spoiler Alert: I survived this idiocy and am on the mend but more on that later.

A Bit About Me

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You’re probably wondering about a back story here or at least some details to get you interested in this page and my road to my first Triathlon.

I’m Patrick and I live in Victoria BC.  I spend my days and some nights working on Commercial Real Estate Appraisal.  It’s an enjoyable job and I’m lucky enough to have it take me all over Canada.

At this point you’re probably wondering what on earth made me decide to go from an infrequent visitor at my local gym to someone committed to completing something fairly ambitious from a physical stand point.  The answer is a pretty big wake up call in April of 2016, something I will delve deeper into in another post.

I decided that i needed to set a big goal, something that would take a great deal of commitment and would also force me out of my comfortable office chair which is no easy feat.  Please follow along and help me make my plan come true.