No more triathlons for me this year

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bpgreen
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No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » July 9th, 2022, 10:34 pm

I woke up the other day completely blind in my right eye. It seemed to be improving a bit, so I decided to wait a day and see if it got better.

It didn't, at least not enough. So I went to see an ophthalmologist. At the end of the exam, I was told to go down the street a couple of blocks to the hospital and check in with emergency.

I doesn't most of the rest of the day in emergency, then got admitted to the neuro acute care ward. Turns out I had a kind of stroke that lodged a clot in my retinal artery. I seem to be recovering some eyesight and they seem hopeful that I'll recover more, but will probably never get all of it back in that eye.

The first doctor I asked said I could probably compete in my triathlon next week, but I should ask the neurology team that would see me the next day. They didn't outright forbid it, but made it very clear it world be a very bad idea. But maybe we could evaluate the latter races and see how I'm progressing. The head neurologist told me not to consider a triton for a couple of months. I think the earlier team knew that but was trying to let me down easy. He told me that the labor day tri with the indoor swim might be possible, but I shouldn't sign up for it until we know for sure (I'm guessing he's trying to be nice and give me hope and it will be vetoed when the time comes).

He also thought that it would be a really good idea to limit my cycling to indoors on the trainer for the near future.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by turf_toes » July 9th, 2022, 10:51 pm

Wow. I’m sorry to read this but glad that you have a good medical team looking after you.

I hope and pray that you are on the mend soon.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by andy10917 » July 10th, 2022, 9:53 am

+1. Please give us updates when you have progress reports.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by MorpheusPA » July 10th, 2022, 1:04 pm

Man, that sucks! Keep us updated.

Just for future note, "waking up blind" equals "get butt to emergency room instantly." :-)

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » July 10th, 2022, 1:50 pm

:x
MorpheusPA wrote:
July 10th, 2022, 1:04 pm
Man, that sucks! Keep us updated.

Just for future note, "waking up blind" equals "get butt to emergency room instantly." :-)
Yes. In retrospect that's obvious. Actually, any sudden blindness, even if temporary.

In my defense, I had sudden blindness in that eye that lasted a few minutes a couple of weeks ago, and had an optician appointment a couple of days later to get new glasses. She told me that a long as it was temporary it was nothing to worry about. So that's part of why Ithought Icould wait to see if it would go away on its own.

You should have seen the look on the neurologist's face when I told him what she said.


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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by MorpheusPA » July 10th, 2022, 7:06 pm

Oddly, something akin to that will happen to me related to a migraine, but it's more like a complex visual blur in a whirl of color, swirling out from the foveal (center of vision) into the surrounding areas, then out into peripheral vision, then dissipating totally. In total darkness, it's still a whirlwind of color and light.

Rarely, it means I'm about to get a killer migraine in about five minutes. More often, it simply dissipates with no effects. It's the only aura effect I tend to get, and it's mostly divorced from the migraine itself. Even in this, I can't be normal.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » July 21st, 2022, 12:17 am

M

I had a followup appointment today.

The good news is that I've got enough peripheral vision that I'm cleared to drive, but they cautioned me to be careful and remain aware of my blind spot.

The bad news is that it's highly unlikely that I'll recover much, if any, more of my vision.

I'm still out for the season for triathlons, and will continue primarily cycling on my trainer indoors, but there's a trail I ride regularly, and I can drive to a section that's pretty straight and then ride.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » July 21st, 2022, 12:21 am

@morpheuspa, they told me that there are a number of causes of temporary blindness and most of them fall in a range between pretty serious and life threatening. The migrain predictor is one of the examples of what they consider relatively harmless.

I've never had a migraine, but I know others who have, so hearing that described as relatively harmless kind of drove the seriousness of things home for me.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by MorpheusPA » July 21st, 2022, 5:15 am

Well, I'm glad to hear that you've gotten some vision back!

(But yes, "horrible pain for hours" being relatively harmless is kind of a wake up call, although it does no lasting damage)

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » July 21st, 2022, 11:44 pm

MorpheusPA wrote:
July 21st, 2022, 5:15 am
Well, I'm glad to hear that you've gotten some vision back!

(But yes, "horrible pain for hours" being relatively harmless is kind of a wake up call, although it does no lasting damage)
Thanks.

Some vision is relative. I went from pretty much completely black, to a small sliver of vision, to sort of a crescent. But at least it's enough that they'll let me drive. Especially since I can't cycle outside yet, so the pool was out of reach.

I think they downplayed the seriousness for a while so I didn't get terrified. I think it might have been *really* serious and they were just trying to keep me calm.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by MorpheusPA » July 22nd, 2022, 9:10 pm

They do that. "Let's just sit down and talk about this..." It keeps everybody from throwing chairs out the window.

A cousin of mine (a story I intentionally didn't tell you) lost vision in his right eye. Type 2 diabetes can, of course, cause diabetic retinopathy if untreated, usually fairly slowly. He woke up unable to see one morning--something along the lines of new blood vessels had grown, broken open, bled out and...well, that's that. Treatment and surgery did help a little, but...

In my case, I do have very pale retinas (benign in my case), but always wear glasses with heavy UV protection and, if wearing sunglasses, ditto.

So at least you recovered some sight, and your ability to drive. And you'll be surprised how much you learn to compensate. I've been visually impaired my entire life, it really doesn't slow me down (of course, I've never really known anything else, and I've developed an incredible color sense to counterbalance it).

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » July 23rd, 2022, 12:25 am

In retrospect, there were plenty of clues that it was pretty serious. Telling me to go to emergency because it would make the process simpler and he had already called ahead, walking into emergency with a full waiting room and only waiting about 5 minutes before heating my name called, the whiteboard across from my bed with "Welcome to neuro acute care" . . .

I've been pretty near sighted my whole life, but this is different. I'm sure I'll adjust. I posted to a triathlete Facebook group and several people told me that they're blind in one eye and it doesn't keep them from competing. I'm reasonably sure that by next spring, I'll be more or less fully adjusted.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » August 27th, 2022, 12:57 am

I had another doctor's appointment today. I'm cleared to ride outside with some conditions. I can ride on paved trails, but not on streets. And I'm only supposed to ride at a moderate pace and not push too hard. So I drove to the trailhead and rode a couple of miles, turned around and rode back. I was supposed to wear some goggles that I bought for additional eye protection, but forgot. I've now got them in my helmet so I'll be more likely to remember them next time.

I'm also cleared to participate in the indoor triathlon (swim in the pool, staionary bike, run around indoor track) this winter at the South Davis Recreation Center (with conditions). I can participate, but I have to take it easy and not try to go fast, so I'll swim and cycle at a steady pace and jog or run/walk.

I'm supposed to stop lifting weights and probably shouldn't have been lifting since my stroke, but I don't think wightlifting came up when I was in the hospital.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by turf_toes » August 27th, 2022, 10:28 am

That’s progress, BP!

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by edslawn » August 28th, 2022, 6:31 pm

Glad that you got to the hospital on time and things are improving for you! I have had two friends killed on road bikes over the last few years. When the second person was hit a few years ago, I sold my bike. I used to ride 100 miles a week. It is too dangerous with idiots living on their phones and not paying attention. Stay on the trails or stationary...

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » August 28th, 2022, 11:52 pm

edslawn wrote:
August 28th, 2022, 6:31 pm
Glad that you got to the hospital on time and things are improving for you! I have had two friends killed on road bikes over the last few years. When the second person was hit a few years ago, I sold my bike. I used to ride 100 miles a week. It is too dangerous with idiots living on their phones and not paying attention. Stay on the trails or stationary...
I'm sorry to hear about your friends.

Before my stroke, I bought a Garmin varia radar and a Garmin bike computer. That was the best purchase I ever made. Tells when cars are coming, how many are coming, how close they are. It's literally a life saver.

I can't blame you for selling your bike, but if you used to ride 100 miles a week, it's got to br tough to give that up. I've read that many elite riders now train mostly on smart trainers using apps like Rouvy and zwift and do a little rid riding in the week before the race because it's not the same.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by edslawn » September 4th, 2022, 12:15 pm

Wow... the varia looks very cool. Also, it was hard to give up and certainly, my cardio health has paid a price. The yard seems to be my exercise these days.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » September 4th, 2022, 11:16 pm

edslawn wrote:
September 4th, 2022, 12:15 pm
Wow... the varia looks very cool. Also, it was hard to give up and certainly, my cardio health has paid a price. The yard seems to be my exercise these days.
I was really glad I got the varia. It's not very useful now, but it was great for figuring out when it was safe to turn left on a busy street.

If you've got room, a stationary bike or a trainer might be an option for you. Some have options to connect to apps and simulate riding on courses all over the world. I rode with my bike on a trainer for a month and a half and still do sometimes, but just ride while watching tv. I should really use one of the apps. I've read that used Pelotons are selling pretty cheaply. But I'm not sure that's the best route.

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » September 6th, 2022, 12:08 am

There's a great deal on a saris h3 trainer right now ($384 with free shipping).

https://slickdeals.net/f/16019572-saris ... pem339rjoE

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Re: No more triathlons for me this year

Post by bpgreen » November 17th, 2022, 12:15 am

I got the ok from my doctor to sign up for triathlons next year as long as I'm careful on the bike and as long as I ramp up my distances slowly.

I need to find some emails now. One is the invitation to age group nationl championships and the email for the local triathlons that I missed this year and they let me defer to next year. I think I'll buy the insurance for the age group national championships again, just in case).

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