Just a year ago I was routinely hitting 370- 380 on the peak flow meter, representing the upper end of my green zone. Well, looks like those days are over. Though Ive been breathing pretty decent lately with no major flares, on a good day Ive only been hitting 310-320, maybe 330 on a stellar [...]
From the Archives
Healing Walks
Carolyn Scott Kortge's new book is finally out and guess who's in one of the chapters? Carolyn contacted me about year ago for this project. She thought I had an interesting story to tell, and that it would fit in nicely with the motivational theme of the book. It's really ...
Did you bring a note with you??
Back in the old days when you got sick and ended up in the hospital, it was probably because your primary care doctor put you there. Boy, have things changed. Nowadays you have one set of doctors who see you in the clinic when you're doing well, ...
I'm a recovering Albuter-holic
Rick, the author of the Respiratory Therapy Cave , wrote to me the other day talking about what it was like growing up with severe asthma. One of the things he mentioned that I thought was kinda funny, was how he used to sleep with an inhaler ...
Buried Alive
The photo is from the movie "Awake" , but what happened to me last September was not fiction. It was the real deal. I'll share with you now, what I couldn't 9 months ago because of pending legal action. Ive since withdrawn my lawsuit against the parties involved and ...
Boston 2011 Race Report
They don't call it the best marathon in the world for nothing , and this year was no exception. The weather was near perfect and the spectators and volunteers outdid themselves. The moment I entered athletes village and the disabled athletes staging area early Monday morning, my worries and stress about ...
Asthma guilt trip
How many times have you had a really bad asthma flare, but had serious trepidations about going to the emergency room for treatment? How many times have you felt guilty that maybe you weren't sick enough to be admitted to the hospital? Well, that's pretty much been the ...
My New Old Passion
It's actually not a new passion, more like the reigniting of an on again, off again love affair Ive had since early childhood. I'm referring of course to the bass guitar, or for that matter any other heavy string instrument. My introduction into the world of making music actually ...
Me and Elvis do the Rome Marathon
Hey, what does yours truly, Elvis and the "Flying Grandmother" all have in Common? ...The Rome Marathon of course. Check out these other Italian websites : Corridori
Double Whammy Asthma
I often find it frustrating that here I am, a life long asthmatic, a Respiratory therapist and an asthma educator, yet still unable in normal conversation, to describe what makes my type of asthma so different from others. When asked to define asthma in general, I usually give the ...
What a severe asthma attack really looks like.
This is what a severe asthma exacerbation looks like. This is the real thing. Unlike some movie portrayals, most severe asthma flares are a little less dramatic. Because Ive had this disease longer than most and have had so many severe exacerbations, I tend to be unusually ...
Asthma Breathing Zones
This is the 2nd installment of my " Breathing, the mini series". This one is more for the non-asthmatics out there, but I think some of our lung challenged friends might learn a thing or two as well. If you hang around asthmatics or browse as many personal asthma blogs ...
#97 , misinformation and a virus from Hell
Battle scars: 4 failed arterial line attempts and 12 failed IV attempts. I have no veins left and my radial arteries are so scarred up from previous insertions, that it's virtually impossible to get access unless they put a central line in. Very frustrating for the doctors and ...
Walk kind of walker are you?
Just as runners come in a variety of flavors (joggers, runners, sprinters, hurdlers, marathoners, ultramarathoners, etc.),not all walkers are alike. They also come in an assortment of flavors. ( Marciatori Racewalking Track... Circa 1900 ) (Italy's Ugo Frigerio wins the 10-kilometer race walk at the 1924 Olympics) By definition, "walking" requires one ...
Multi-tasking
When you spend as much time behind a nebulizer as I do, you learn to put that time to good use. A back massage, reading a good
I look too Healthy
I get this all the time......... "You look so healthy" "You don't look like you have a disability" "You can walk farther then I can" "You look amazingly fit for someone with severe asthma" "You make marathon walking look so easy", and so ...
Hardcore
On Thursday I did this…….. for this many miles ⇩ and I used this 6-8 times After I finished the walk, I did this…….. AND THEN THIS⇩ Holy S**T ! Intense exercise actually causes microtrauma, or tiny tears in muscle fibers. This muscle damage not only stimulates muscle cell activity and helps repair the damage [...]
Tiburon Racewalking Clinic
[JP-Facebook-Like] For the photo album, page (The 2010 Tiburon Racewalking Alumni) This was my 4th World Class racewalking clinic in 3 years, and as always, I got to meet some really nice people , had a great workout, a great time, and I learned a lot. I wanna thank our wonderful host, over-pronate quite a [...]
2010 Boston Swag on the cheap
[JP-Facebook-Like] Remember my Boston marathon jacket from 2009? Well, with the high cost of anything related to the “Boston” . You should see how many people are wearing these jackets at Logan airport, the weekend of the race. It’s kind of a badge of honor. People will walk up to you out of the blue [...]
Another piece of the asthma puzzle
Just got my lung biopsy report back from SARP study, are starting to paint a clearer picture of why my asthma is so severe. If there’s any good news in all this, it’s that there’s a new drug in the pipeline that could possibly help people like me who have this cellular abnormality. Dr Wenzel [...]
Training update– weeks 8 & 9
Wait a minute…….. what the heck happened to weeks 1-7? Well, weeks 1 and 2, (January 1st-8th) I was in the hospital(on a ventilator). Week 3, I was too wiped out from said hospitalization to do any exercise. Week 4, I actually managed to pull off a 10 mile walk. Weeks 5&6 , (January 27th- [...]
Farewell Jim
I just want to take a few moments to honor the life of a good, kind person. His name is Jim Cady. The husband, father and best friend of one of my racewalking buddies, Vickie. Jim was a very kind, soft spoken, but courageous person. An avid skier, Jim wasn’t a racewalker himself, but he [...]
Green or Orange?
In an earlier post,
You can find me HERE on April 19th
And maybe even HERE ⇩ OK, I never actually said I wasn’t going to do Boston. What I said, is that a victory seemed unlikely. By victory of course, I meant finishing the race in the allotted time. Well, I may not finish the race, but that doesn’t mean I can’t start it. So ready [...]
The Recuperative phases of a severe asthma exacerbation
Suffice it to say, I wasn’t exactly a happy camper when I wrote that Dr W helped me get through this awful time by reassuring me that what anguish I was experiencing was a normal response after suffering such a severe flare up, and that my complaints were not really unique. (darn…seems the only thing [...]
Attention ALL Racewalkers !
Wanna learn to walk faster than most runners run? World Class Racewalking clinic comes to the San Francisco Bay Area March 5th-7th! There’s only limited space left for this one, so USATF 50K racewalk in Surprise Arizona He finished the 50K race in 4:42:14 ( That’s right, he WALKED 31 miles in under 4 3/4 [...]
Knocked down, but not defeated
(Arterial Line) Thanks everyone for your support and especially to Dr Wensel for staying in close contact during my 98th hospitalization. Thanks also to ALL the wonderful nurses who took care of me..You guys are awesome! Most of all, thank you to my dear Douglas who goes through hell every time I get sick. I’m [...]
Yes….I’m Still Alive
Sorry for the silence. This one kinda snuck up on me. I ended up in the slammer very very sick, but am starting to improve. I’ll write more after I get home. (It’s really difficult to type when you have a ton of IVs in your hands and arms). Thanks for the cards,calls and wishes. [...]
