Feeling better about Sundays Race

I did another race on Sunday.  My first Cyclocross race.   From what I could tell I started and finished in the middle of the pack.   I executed some of my newfound cross skills well, and some not so well.  I passed a few people, and a few definitely passed me.  It felt like a mediocre performance (which is about what I expected) and I think I could have hydrated better before the race.  Last couple laps I felt I was getting dehydrated, and I felt like I faded over the last lap and a half.

It may be too late to work on the anaerobic fitness to compete in these short contests.  That was never a planned focus this year anyway.  The goal was to get my riding legs back without overcooking my recovery.  I thought I'd be doing a handfull of these, but recent events may put racing back on the back burner again.

I am glad I went, even though my focus and performance wasn't what I wanted it to be.  It was a valuable learning experience, and that's the most important take away.

This coming Sunday is a different kind of cycling commitment.  I'm a ride marshal for the Lymphoma Research Ride.  I've been a volunteer for this since it's inception four years ago - excepting last year when I was actually in treatment for Hodgkins Lymphoma.   I think that ride was 2 days after a chemo session.   Talk about your irony ...

Not Much Change

They've taken dad off the sedative but he's still not responding to any stimulous.  He is calmer now than he was last night when it was reduced.   That probably just means a reduced level of conciousness.  As long as he's not agitated it'll probably stay off to see if he gets more responsive.  We'd like to get him off the ventilator if we can. 

The temperature is normal for the moment.

Dad's in the Hospital with West Nile

I had to help my mom get my dad to the hospital on Sunday.  He had had a fever over the weekend and was very shaky to the point where she needed my help just to get him down the stairs to the car.   They wound up admitting him on Sunday.  He had a fever, he was very shaky and unsteady and a little bit dissoriented.  Late Monday/Early Tuesday he had deteriorated to the point that they needed a rapid response team to quickly address the fever.  At that point they also moved him to the ICU.  When I saw him on Tuesday he was mostly delerious and they were still struggling to control the fever.  They brought in an Infectious Disease doc to aid with the diagnosis.  Based on the blood results they settled on West Nile Virus.   Tuesday night he dropped his oxygen saturation and they had to make the decision to intubate him to control his breathing with a ventilator. 

Right now hes still on the ventilator, and they're controlling the fever ( somewhat) with drugs and cooling blankets.  All they can do is address the symptoms and support him while he fights this off.  One significant complication is that he has a low grade lymphoma that compromises his immune system.  One of the associated conditions with West Nile is encephalitis (sp?) or swelling in the brain.   We presume that's happening, given the widespread muscular tremors and extreme dissorientation/delerium. 

He's very sick right now.   With my Hodgkins I've had a potential life threatening disease, but never been close to being sick enough to need round the clock supportive care.   There was no news last night, which I'll presume is a good thing.   Going back to see him this morning and expecting more of the same.   Docs say the recovery from this acute phase could take 2 weeks, with full recovery being several weeks or a few months after that.  

Headed back to the hospital this moring.   We'll talk to the docs and get the latest.