Last things first

Today’s the big day we’ve been awaiting for months now - the consultation with Dr. Lin, my electrocardiologist.  Let’s hold that thought for the moment though and come back to it after having a look at the rest of our day.

Rachael has her own consultation scheduled for today - a 4 PM appointment at the urgent care clinic to discuss her breathing issues.  She wants to get some exercise in first of course, so not long after we’re done with our chat with Doctor Lin she’s out the door on another walk I mapped out for her - up into Washington Park again, this time an out and back along the Wildwood and other connecting trails to Pittock Mansion.  Her route crosses Burnside on Barbara Walker Crossing, the beautiful new pedestrian suspension bridge that opened up four years ago so walkers wouldn’t need to risk their lives crossing the busy, high speed arterial.

Rachael claims that she had an excellent 11 mile hike, but let us down by bringing back exactly zero (0) photos.  Not even one of the bridge, or of the fabulous view across the city to Mount Hood from Pittock Mansion?, I ask when we’re both back at the ranch.  Nope.  She was too concerned about making it back for her appointment in time.

While she was out walking, I had my own plans - a loop out along the Columbia, hopefully returning by way of the I-205 bike path and Mount Tabor.  This bike path is like Springwater - a formerly popular route that’s fallen into disuse over the last four years because it too has been taken over by the homeless population.  There’s one underpass in particular that felt distinctly unsafe, where the already narrow path would normally have people sleeping or camping along half of it, their trash or ashes from their fires covering most of the right of way.  I definitely wouldn’t want Rachael to go there alone (or even with me), and I eventually felt unsafe enough that I quit riding it myself.

But maybe, like Springwater, things hve changed for the better by now?  Time to find out.  If it still feels like I’ll be running the gauntlet I’ll just turn back and make the ride an OAB.

I don’t get that far though.  A couple of miles into the ride I’m biking north on Williams and start noticing the same rubbing sound from the back wheel I noticed yesterday.  Finally, three and a half miles into the ride, I stop to check it out.  I spin both wheels, but hear nothing.  I decide maybe it’s my pannier rubbing against something, so I flip it to the other side of the rack, ride down the block, and listen to see if it sounds different.  It doesn’t so I remove the pannier completely, set it on the parking strip, and bike down the street.  The sound’s still there.

So I flip the bike upside down on the sidewalk, spin the rear wheel again, and then look more closely at the wheel.  The cause immediately becomes apparent.

Heart

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Steve Miller/GrampiesDodie thinks it is a minor miracle that you have not had a really long walk in the last few days (weeks).
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10 months ago

Patrick O'HaraThat's a little disturbing, Scott! Imagine you blowing out your tire on the descent yesterday?
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10 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Steve Miller/GrampiesYes, I’ve had the same thought many times since then. Really, I think the finger test comes too late for comfort. I’ll need to look for a more timely rule of thumb.
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10 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Patrick O'HaraYes, I have thought of that a time or two. I almost didn’t post this photo because it’s so embarrassing.
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10 months ago

Ben ParkeWow. I think you’ve gotten your money’s worth out of that tire. Maybe a once a month tire tread check might be an idea :) ?
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10 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Ben ParkeDo you think? So often? It seems like I checked it just last winter.
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10 months ago

Bruce LellmanHoly Crap, Scott!!
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10 months ago

Graham FinchI had to get a new rear tyre for my commuter bike recently. It had a bulge of the side for a while and when I removed it, the sidewall was almost transparent. It's hard to believe it never blew out.
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10 months ago

Scott AndersonTo Graham FinchHuh. The finger test wouldn’t help there. Must need to have more than one kind of inspection in the check off list.
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10 months ago

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Later, Rachael returns from her walk; and about an hour after that walks over to the urgent care clinic (with plenty of time to spare to have taken a few photos, I point out).  Her appointment goes well.  She sees the same clinician she met with about two years ago for the same condition.  He remembers her, of course - how many clients with good legs but a bad nose does he see, after all? - and prescribes the same remedy as last time: antibiotics for a possible infection, and saline solution administered with a netti-pot.

Afterwards she calls me up and asks me to meet her for Thai food at the Blue Peacock, a local restaurant we discovered last winter.  Back at the apartment afterwards, we round out the day with another episode of The Diplomat, an outstanding new miniseries starring Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell that we’ve quickly become enamored of.

So that changed my plans for the day.  I was beyond lucky to make it out to Rocky Point and back without a blowout yesterday, and I’m anxious about whether I’ll make it home this time.  I bike carefully for the three and a half miles back to the apartment, counting off blocks and thinking with each one that at least that’s one less I’ll have to end up walking.

I make it back to the apartment without flattening, miraculously, and then walk over to the storage unit to pick up the new tire I know is waiting there for me.

First things last

So, about the cardiology date.  We’ve been talking about my intermittent arrhythmia episodes for months or even years now.  I’m sick of talking about them and you’re likely just as sick of hearing about them, so I’ll keep this brief.  Just the bare essentials.

I’m getting ablation surgery after all, the surgery that aims to cauterize the rogue nerve cells initiating the episodes.  It’s a somewhat more complicated procedure than some because he’ll be addressing both the SVT and afib episodes, which originate in different chambers of the heart.  Assuming it goes well, it’s a one day procedure with no overnight stay.  Afterwards I’ll be on one to two months of restricted activity (no biking or strenuous walking, for example), to avoid injury to the area of the groin where the catheters used to perform the surgery are inserted.

The earliest possible date for surgery is in October, but we’re aiming for November and will be assigned a date once that month’s calendar is activated.  In the meantime I’ll continue as I have been for the last two months - on the same meds, and maintaining a moderated activity level that includes cycling but avoids outings like yesterday’s ride to Rocky Point.  In the long run though, once this is all done hopefully the arrhythmias will be gone and I’ll be off medications.  And maybe my heart rate, which has been crawling along in the low thirties for the last three months, will spring back into a more normal range again.

So what does this mean for Team Anderson in the near term?  The main thing is that we’ll be shortening our tour of Spain to about two months, so that we’re back in Portland for my surgery.  Summer looks the same as we’ve been planning all along - Canada if we can get passports renewed in time, or hanging out in the northwest otherwise.  And during and after surgery we’ll probably be in Portland for a month and then head south so Rachael can ride the Loop while I hang around the casita and take it easy.

We’re both have a lot of confidence in Doctor Lin and are quite pleased that this is the plan and feel hopeful of a good outcome.  And it’s nice just having a plan and moving beyond speculation.