Feeling Un-Awesome

Ok, so far this year has not quite gotten off to the start I wanted it to. I started out with some kind of cold that just would not go away. Then I developed a pain in my shoulder / back that just continued to get worse and worse. Once the cold subsided and my shoulder was just unbearable, I decided to go to the urgent care to make sure nothing was seriously wrong. The doc took x-rays and thankfully they looked normal. He told me it is probably a spasm underneath the shoulder blade that is causing all the muscles around it to tighten up and guard it, thereby perpetuating more pain. It’s a vicious cycle. He prescribed Vicodin and Flexeril. The Vicodin is for the pain and Flexeril to relax the muscles. Cool. A few doses of these over the next few days should do the trick.

So I got home from the doctor on Tuesday night, popped my new pills, had dinner and went off to bed. It would seem as though two prescriptions were not all I got from seeing the doctor as I awoke at 0100 racing to the bathroom to vomit. I felt horrible. Then I performed encores at 0200 and 0330. Needless to say that was a miserable night. All day Wednesday I was in agony. I alternated between the sofa and the bed all day, trying to find some relief. I tried to keep my fluids up but it just was not working. I wasn’t even able to eat but a few spoonfuls of the chicken soup my wife made me. It seems as though I picked up some kind of bug at the urgent care that wanted to see me suffer for 24 hours.

This morning I am feeling 1000% better. I still have absolutely zero energy so I know I won’t train again tonight. My shoulder is still killing me so I am planning to get some real food in me and to resume taking those meds to hopefully heal it up. If I am going to miss training it might as well be to heal up so I can get back to healthy. I have not had one single week of being totally healthy at all this year. I can’t wait for that to happen! Mentally I am ready to conquer the world, physically…not so much.

So that is the scoop for now. I am sure that by the end of this month I will be back to 100% and will be able to get back on the path to world domination.

One Month

Healing Milestone:
Well here we are. It has been one month (30 days) since my PFO closure operation. In many ways it feels like just a few days have passed and in others it feels like it has been so long. This is the first significant milestone in my recovery. This coming Wednesday (27 May) I have my follow-up where the doctors will take a look with an echocardiogram to make sure things are healing as they should. I will make sure to post my results as soon as I hear them.

PFO Migraine Stroke Group:
While I am on the subject of my PFO. Someone who read my blog pointed me in the direction of a new PFO Migraine Stroke group on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=106434738635 . The group is still small but hopefully it will grow to help people like me who are struggling with the same problem.

Random News:
I am hoping to start a separate blog for just my medical adventures so that when I return to the mats I can return this one back to its Jiu Jitsu focus while still continuing to write about PFO, Stroke and Migraine. I feel that these are issues that are just not discussed enough and It is my mission to help educate, inspire and guide people struggling with the problems that inhibited me for so long. Keep your eyes open for that new blog as my return to the mats draws near. Also, keep your fingers crossed for me as I go into my appointment on Wednesday, optimism is high.

All Tested for Now

Getting Testy:

The MRI is done, and it shows what we had feared. Damage. Permanent damage. Enough for the Neurologist to definitely classify at least one of the attacks I've had as a stroke rather than a simpler TIA. The Cat Scan I had pretty much said the same thing but the MRI shows the newly empty sections in glorious, cavernous detail. The good news is that the scan showed no signs of a clot, tumor or other unwanted bit of nastiness. In fact, my "right cerebellum is unremarkable", so there's that.

So, what this means. My neurologist is obviously concerned that I am not just suffering from Migraine Induced TIA as has been the assumption we have been running under since September 2006. His reasons for doubting that diagnosis now is because with Migraine TIA's, it happens predominantly in Women and there is no damage. Well, I am not a woman, and there is definitely some damage.

That is why he is having me see a Cardiologist. It will be up to the Cardio Doc, to rule out any circulatory issues (clots and such) as well as to look at the possibility of a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD). A VSD is basically a problem with the tissue that divides the ventricles of the heart and because of the complications, can cause stroke.

The Cardio Doc, took about another gallon of blood to test for another billion conditions that can cause stroke. Then he performed an Echocardiogram and some ultrasounds of my Carotids and various other spots. Hopefully they find nothing, but at the same time I kind of hope someone finds something. I desperately want some answers.

I will see the Cardiologist again in about a week for all of his results and then the Neurologist again the following week. So, until then I'm supposed to be the patient patient, plod along and wait. One bit of good news I received from my neurologist the last time I saw him was regarding my arm. I asked him what the prognosis of getting normal function back and he said "your young enough, it should come back eventually". No time frame, no promise. But some hope.

I'll give them another couple of weeks before I hound them again with questions of beginning BJJ again. But I will not wait to begin trying to rebuild function in my arm. I saw my 8 year old niece last night and I had not realized how much strength I had lost until she asked me to pick her up when we were playing. It was terrible feeling like I was limited. I have to believe that working on this arm will help rebuild those damaged pathways.

UFC Fight Night:

So Dr. Evil and his son came over to watch the fights last night. It was good to see him. We have not spoken much since I've been out of the gym. We watched the fights, traded stories about the gym and even had a spontaneous light roll on the living room floor afterword. I suspect its always kind of like that isn't it. You get BJJ guys together and inevitably, somehow, a roll will begin for no good reason.

It was funny. And again, painfully obvious that my arm is junk in its current state. A big thanks to Dr. Evil (enough Doctors already) for giving me a couple minutes of BJJ during this ordeal. Thanks to everyone for their support.

Thawed Out but Still Dripping

Open Mat (12/20/08 12:00pm)

Dr. Evil agreed to meet me for open mat today. I really needed it. Unfortunately Neil couldn't be there because he had to attend a funeral. Sorry buddy, I'm thinking about you.

The Doc was wiped out from no gi prior to open mat and I am still fighting off the remnants of this cold. The congestion is suffocating me and the runny nose is irritating so after a few minutes it feels like we've been working for hours. That put us on pretty even footing for the session.

My goal was to work on my sweeps from the guard. Specifically, countering when an opponent attempts to pass. We began by warming up and reviewing the basics: Scissor, Pendulum, Sit-up, and the Doc showed me one that he always catches me in which is a variation of the pendulum.

The drills went well, we were both a bit drained for our own reasons. Toward the end of the session I asked the doc to just start trying to pass me and I would work to attempt sweeps, retain guard or submit. Basically, I wanted to be able to put some of these techniques to use in a "live" environment. Surprisingly, it went very well. Even when I didn't get the sweep I was able to come out on top in the scrambles that ensued. I remembered the Kimura option when your opponent defends the sit-up by posting forward, and I actually pulled it off!

Dennis, a strong blue belt showed us a vicious choke to pull off starting from the knees, standing or in a scramble. I don't even know how to explain it, and no one had a name for it, but this thing was brutal. Basically it involves snatching the head, shooting your own head and arm under, rolling yourself and your opponent over and ending up with a heck of a choke that resembles a clock-choke. We worked on this for about 15 minutes or so, until we were both hurt in one way or another, then went back to sweeps.

We were probably going at 80% or so, not for lack of trying, he was exhausted and I congested. Hopefully by Monday, I'll have lungs as clear as my mind and a body as strong as my willpower. Hey, I was pretty sick, I have to hope for small advances.

I think my next post will focus on my "GOALS" for 2009. I don't make resolutions, I have a systematic method for goal setting, so look for that to come. I'll be counting on all of you to help keep me accountable for attaining them.

Sniffles, Sore Throat and Saulo's new Book

Feeling sick as a dog today. I actually called in sick to work, spent the day on the couch watching bad TV, eating udon soup, and periodically thumbing thru Saul Ribeiro's new book Jiu-Jitsu University. I would like to have read more but it was just too hard to focus and I really want to absorb the content.

This book is amazing. I'm a very visual learner and the level of detail they put into each principal and technique are astounding. I have a number of other books from various Gracie's and other superstars; while I by no means wish to disparage their work, this book is just head and shoulders over them. In my humble opinion anyway.

The content of the book is laid out in a logical progression from white to black belt and focuses on the foundational strategies at each belt level, rather than just technique. I understand that the Ribeiro's created this to be used as a textbook to accompany their school's on the mat instruction and I think that is just brilliant. That is something I have long wished for, and when I participated in Japanese Ju Jutsu, we did something similar.

Anyway I cant wait to be over this head cold, or whatever it is. Sniffles and sore throats are the worst things in the world (at least at the moment).

Lost Week, Lost....

BJJ (11/13/08 7:00pm)

This week seems to fit right into the theme of this Blog. My school has BJJ class at 6:00 - 7:00 on M,W,F and then at 7:00-8:00 on T, Th. Because I get up so early for work and don't get much sleep as it is, I like to do the 6:00 classes and get home. So most weeks, my plan is to attend the M,W,F classes and to augment my BJJ training on those days with one of the fitness kickboxing or wrestling classes at 6:00 on Tuesday or Thursday. At least that's the plan.

For the last couple of months, I have been involved in an after-hours training class at work that is supposed to take place on Tuesday afternoon from 4:00-6:00, thereby taking that day out of my rotation. That I can live with.

What is bothersome is the fact that, because there are only about 5 people in the class, and it is very informal there have been many occasions, including this week, wherein because of the instructor's scheduling conflicts the class has been moved to Mondays or Wednesdays. This week it was Wednesday.

Monday (11/10/2008) I had a meeting late in the afternoon that kept me in the office too late to make it to the gym. Tuesday, similar story. We are working through many issues that typically arise in the Aerospace industry at a typical year end plus numerous other special case scenarios that are guaranteed to make the next few weeks interesting. Wednesday we had our class that ran its full time all the way to 6:00, so three days down, and no training!!!

Thursday came about and I made the decision that even though I never attend the 7:00 class, it is better than the alternative of no training for the week! I packed my gi, and made sure that nothing would inhibit my getting to class.

Class started, there were only about 8 of us. We did a normal warm-up but I was feeling more drained than normal. Fritz (our Purple Belt) was teaching that night, I could tell he was tired. Right after warm ups, he just had us start rolling rather than drilling a technique.

My first roll was with Ruben, a very strong guy with good technique. I did relatively well with him, I was working on my guard preservation and recovery. I was able to work some of the proper half-guard positioning we had recently learned but Ruben proved very adept at countering and passing.

After my roll with Ruben, I was just about spent. I began rolling with a pretty new guy that I don't know yet. I had a pretty easy time with him and went light. Then I began to feel it. My stomach began to turn. I was not feeling well at all. I lost all my gas at once and felt my insides rising. It affected me to the point that this new kid nearly took my back and in the process got to mount. At that moment I knew the end was near. I laid on a basic Upa sweep, got into his guard. Told him "we are done", and ran off the mats toward the locker room.

It was not the first time I've lost it in training, but it was one of the more frustrating. Having been out of training all week and to have it end like that was just demoralizing. I'm taking Friday off, I'll do a strength and conditioning workout at home to recover.

Back to the mats on Monday!