BobbyG

Gerryattrick How ya doin' in 2022?

GhostRider62

I got the 6 inch lag bolt taken out of the ulna bone along with some screws and the tension wire. WHAT an improvement. I can finally sleep and am doing 10-15 mile rides. I can drive without too much pain. Yipppee. Have my hopes on a 1200K this summer. Thanks for the kind well wishes.

Carbonfiberboy 

1200k this summer? What, is next year a PBP year or something? I was looking at my local clubs summer schedule, pretty obvious something's going on.

GhostRider62

August 2023 is Paris Brest Paris (every 4 years). A 1200K this year would assure entry into PBP. I suspect a 400K will be the limit and those who only have a 200 or 300K this year will be shut out. I would like to get into the A group and successively suck wheel when the B and the C and D and E groups pass me. I figure at 64, I shouldn't be too proud to latch on to the youngins' wheels. A long shot this year but the way I am wired, I need a goal.

rumrunn6

as kids, my brother threatened to throw a dart at me, then did & it stuck in my calf. he had to run over & pull it out

rumrunn6

Wifey still has the screws & wire that repaired her split kneecap from 5? years ago. she was supposed to get it all taken out but she never did

rumrunn6

oh dear! that' sounds truly horrifying

Carbonfiberboy 

Yes, quite. Never watch your wife's helmet get squirted out from under a truck tire like a watermelon seed as the tire passes over her back.

MinnMan

Is AHI the same as A1C? If so, 5.7 is the very bottom reading of pre-diabetes. And there's lots you can do to get the score lower.
Condolences for the other rough challenges you've been facing. And those for others in this thread.

canklecat

I've learned a few hard lessons from my two unsatisfactory experiences with doctors and lawyers after being struck by negligent drivers twice in less than 20 years.

First thing I'd do differently is see my own doctor and demand a thorough exam with documentation of every injury, no matter how seemingly minor. Sometimes it's the "minor" injuries that come back to haunt us. I wouldn't rely on doctors recommended by the attorneys.

For example, after my 2018 shoulder injury, all the emphasis was on the AC joint separation and break, with inadequate documentation of the winged scapula due to soft tissue damage. But it was the inadequately documented injury that still bothers me today, years later. The break and AC joint healed typically, with that distinctive hump, and I can feel some reduction in mobility, but little or no residual pain. But the scapula still aches almost every day. I do physical therapy every day and have done the most I can but it will never be right.

Same with the neck injury. There was zero documentation of the neck injury, which I didn't realize until it was too late. Even when I discussed it with the imaging techs (I had X-rays, MRIs and CT-scans) and doctors, they barely documented anything I mentioned. I didn't realize how bad the cervical vertebrae damage was until *after* the lawsuit was finally settled (very unsatisfactorily, as I described in my Nov 19, 2021 post to this thread). Even my own VA doctors who ordered the imaging scans didn't discuss the findings with me. I had to find out for myself by reading my online chart.

Part of the problem is medical facilities were overwhelmed by the pandemic, especially the VA. Even now my civilian health care system is far more responsive than the VA -- exactly the opposite of my experience before the pandemic, when the VA was better than my civilian health care provider.

Another part of the problem was that I didn't personally read and get qualified medical interpretations of my lingering injuries. Instead I relied on my attorney to handle that. But as the settlement was being discussed in 2021 it became apparent the attorney's office had done little or nothing. If I had recognized what was happening earlier I'd have asked the attorney whether I should seek my own independent medical evaluation to determine long-term problems.

Mostly what I've learned is that Texas regards cyclists and pedestrians as mere speed bumps hindering *real* traffic. And the corrupt influence of insurance corporations on state government was designed to minimize liability at the expense of injured parties.

Now I understand the heavy-handed melodramatic TV ads by some motor vehicle liability attorneys, although those were limited to collisions with commercial vehicles. Our governor and legislature have changed that liability as well, limiting payouts from negligent commercial vehicles.

If I had it to do over again I'd get the meanest, loudest, most ruthless and foul-mouthed attorney I could find, someone who would insist on a jury trial and turn it into a bit of popcorn throwing melodramatic theater. Screw the system because it's rigged to screw the victims of negligent drivers.

Carbonfiberboy 

We tried that, but lawyers . . . It was evident that my wife would have no permanent damage from the accident other than one lung being a little smaller than the other, not too impressive in court. The short of it is that high end lawyers want high end payments, and 1/3 of what my wife might get in court wasn't even close to what these lawyers were demanding. "Pain and suffering" - eh. They wanted to see life-changing permanent damage. I'm happy she didn't have any of that.

DiabloScott

Yeah, I meant A1C. I've been doing all the pre-diabetes prevention stuff and it HAS worked... my glucose at that same appointment was 87. Nobody is recommending any treatment or anything, just watching.
But nearly everybody on my Mom's side of the family is diabetic... so there's a strong genetic component that's working against me.

Wildwood

Chronologically diagnosed:
Memory loss ~58 yo
Profound recall&memory loss ~62
Dementia ~64
Early Parkinsons symptoms ~66
I ride to feel healthy and fight off effects of my conditions.
but kinda a losing (declining?) situation.
Prostate cancer @ 70 just diagnosed, details to be decided.

... but, but, but - otherwise, I'm perfectly healthy.


Ride On!


. If it wasn't for bad luck, ..... I wouldn't have no luck at all.

downtube42

I had a bike fitting earlier this year, at 61, and the first thing the fitter did was test my range of motion. His response was "good thing for cycling". In other words, inside the range of motion of cycling, I'm fluid and beautiful. Outside that range, uh, I show my age.

Moral of the story is, keep on keeping on until you can't.

It ain't illegal in Oregon Also, you can buy chewables so smoking isn't necessary. Not that I partake currently, being employed by a rather conservative company that does random drug screenings. But retirement is going to be grand.

As far as I can tell, there as only been one finisher over 80 - Jean Guillot at age 86. I'll be 86 11/12ths in the 2037 running. I'm going for it. This means no more breaking my neck; you probably don't get two of those.

GhostRider62

I noticed from various published stats that PBP gets hard at 65 and very hard (lots of DNF) at 70.

I'm taking motivation from an older French rider that I chatted with on the bridge into Brest. He lamented no longer being able to keep up with the fast riders at his old age. He looked 50 to me, so, I asked his age. 71. It was only just over 22 hours into the ride. Old dude was already in Brest!!! He said recovery had become a problem and that he needed more sleep on rides. He invited me to his home to sleep if I needed. It was only a 10 minute chat but something that I'll never forget. IRRC, he had done like 11 PBPs.

Gerryattrick

Hi. Thanks for asking.

Still turning the pedals around, perhaps a bit slower than I used to.

TBH things are not improving a lot physically as I have just been diagnosed with spinal stenosis following the lower back and leg pains I have had for 2+ years, but luckily cycling is something that is not affected by it, in fact it helps it because my physio tells me it opens the spine out. A lot of strength and flexibility exercises are starting to make some improvement and I am not taking painkillers as the pain is not crippling.

Still riding 2/3 times a week which keeps me smiling....absolutely essential with all the worrying sh*t that is happening here in Europe with Russia/Ukraine.

rumrunn6

good job! cpl years ago I looked up yoga stretches/poses/exercises whatever you call them, that are good for the back or good for a sore back & I selected about 6 that I really liked & could do. I don't have your condition/diagnosis but maybe there are some that you'd enjoy. all you need is a mat & some privacy or take a class. my spouse takes a class. hang in there. you're not alone

Gerryattrick

A long time ago I did Pilates for three years to alleviate ongoing problems with back pain.

It worked so well that I stopped doing Pilates. What an idiot, should have kept it up.