FlatSix911
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Silicon Valley
Good looking family... they must get it from their Mother.
Using Ebikes As Tools For Meeting a Health Challenge
- Thread starter Alaskan
- Start date
Dallant
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
You’re lucky to have them both so close!
Alaskan
Well-Known Member
Good looking family... they must get it from their Mother.
FlatSix911
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Silicon Valley
Hypothesis Confirmed... thanks!
Last edited:
John from Connecticut
Well-Known Member
Hello,
I cannot believe I missed this post. A huge loss for me. I wish I had the words to properly express the emotional support I've drawn from your
experience and the marvelous way you shared your story. You've made a big difference in my life. Thank you.
John
Last edited:
Sierratim
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Nevada City, CA & Paradise Valley, AZ
Latitude
Well-Known Member
Simply lovely.
Stefan Mikes
Gravel e-biker
- Region
- Europe
- City
- Mazovia, PL
A sudden thought.
It has happened to me to ride up with my e-bike to Warsaw and her surroundings to meet friends and family. None of them has ever ridden up with their bikes to my place. How strange; is it too far for them to come up here if it is not too far for me to ride to see them?
Perhaps the "e-bike" is the keyword here. It is not about the distance. E-bike gives one confidence the destination point would be reached (as long as we have mastered the aspect of battery range).
It has happened to me to ride up with my e-bike to Warsaw and her surroundings to meet friends and family. None of them has ever ridden up with their bikes to my place. How strange; is it too far for them to come up here if it is not too far for me to ride to see them?
Perhaps the "e-bike" is the keyword here. It is not about the distance. E-bike gives one confidence the destination point would be reached (as long as we have mastered the aspect of battery range).
PowerflyLee formerly known as CheetahLee
Well-Known Member
Best of wishes for a good recovery and keep up the positive mental attitude!
Art Deco
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
- City
- Selinsgrove Pennsylvania
Don't know if you can credit that to your ebike @Stefan Mikes ... I always have to drive to see family, they rarely drive to see us, but they always seem happy to see us. I have mentioned that the road runs both directions. Maybe you are just the designated driver...A sudden thought.
It has happened to me to ride up with my e-bike to Warsaw and her surroundings to meet friends and family. None of them has ever ridden up with their bikes to my place. How strange; is it too far for them to come up here if it is not too far for me to ride to see them?
Perhaps the "e-bike" is the keyword here. It is not about the distance. E-bike gives one confidence the destination point would be reached (as long as we have mastered the aspect of battery range).
Bafangalang
New Member
- Region
- Canada
I can really relate to this story. I had both legs badly broken in an accident, along with my spine, arm and sternum. Two years later I am finally back on a bike thanks to a Bafang conversion kit. I live in the mountains and I'll need the extra boost from the bike motor until I am back to full strength. Being on the bike for the first time was almost as much of a thrill as the first time I stood up and took a step in recovery.
Cyklefanatic
Well-Known Member
I can’t believe I never saw this post. Alaskan it looks like you have recovered nicely and the ebike was part of your journey to recovery. Your an inspiration to all of us here on EBR. We are an older bunch for sure and on the whole represent an active subset of seniors who refuse to grow old.
I learned to ride a bike as a kid and developed a love for getting around on two wheels. I rode motorcycles for many years and traveled across Canada on one.
By the age of forty I was carrying a few too many extra pounds and decided I needed to do something about it so I bought a bike and starting pedalling again. I eventually got up to 160km/week. I lost weight, I gained energy and felt good.
At the age of 57 I started to lose energy and was always tired.
I ended up in hospital and almost died with no diagnosis of my illness. I was put into an induced coma and flown by helicopter to a major Toronto hospital.
During this time my kidneys failed and the drug cocktail I was given to keep me alive damaged my heart. Over the next two years I lived in a hospital. I was diagnosed with Waldenstroms Macroglobnia a rare form of Lymphoma that attacks your bone marrow and reduces your ability to make red blood cells.
Each time I was given chemotherapy I ended up in ICU because I was so weak I couldn’t handle it.My odds of surviving were not good and twice my family was told that I probably wouldn’t make it.
Slowly I worked my self to a point where I could get out of bed and walk around. I was not ready to get old and fade away. I could only walk a hundred feet or so and had to sit down.
but I kept at it and eventually went back to work. I tried riding my manual bike but it was difficult. I trained like crazy to ride a 25k charity event, I used to ride the 100k without training, the 25 k was brutal.
after that I bought my first ebike. That bike got me outside and active as I rebuilt my body. Two years later I bought a Vado 4. I ride that bike everywhere and I have gotten stronger. My doctors (and I have many) cannot believe my progress. They ask me how I stay motivated and I can’t explain it I just like to be active.
I turned 65 this year and just signed a 3 year part time contract at work. They asked me for 5 but I didn’t want to commit for that long.
Ebikes may not have saved my life but they were certainly involved with my recovery. The joy of getting out and riding give me something to look forward to.
I learned to ride a bike as a kid and developed a love for getting around on two wheels. I rode motorcycles for many years and traveled across Canada on one.
By the age of forty I was carrying a few too many extra pounds and decided I needed to do something about it so I bought a bike and starting pedalling again. I eventually got up to 160km/week. I lost weight, I gained energy and felt good.
At the age of 57 I started to lose energy and was always tired.
I ended up in hospital and almost died with no diagnosis of my illness. I was put into an induced coma and flown by helicopter to a major Toronto hospital.
During this time my kidneys failed and the drug cocktail I was given to keep me alive damaged my heart. Over the next two years I lived in a hospital. I was diagnosed with Waldenstroms Macroglobnia a rare form of Lymphoma that attacks your bone marrow and reduces your ability to make red blood cells.
Each time I was given chemotherapy I ended up in ICU because I was so weak I couldn’t handle it.My odds of surviving were not good and twice my family was told that I probably wouldn’t make it.
Slowly I worked my self to a point where I could get out of bed and walk around. I was not ready to get old and fade away. I could only walk a hundred feet or so and had to sit down.
but I kept at it and eventually went back to work. I tried riding my manual bike but it was difficult. I trained like crazy to ride a 25k charity event, I used to ride the 100k without training, the 25 k was brutal.
after that I bought my first ebike. That bike got me outside and active as I rebuilt my body. Two years later I bought a Vado 4. I ride that bike everywhere and I have gotten stronger. My doctors (and I have many) cannot believe my progress. They ask me how I stay motivated and I can’t explain it I just like to be active.
I turned 65 this year and just signed a 3 year part time contract at work. They asked me for 5 but I didn’t want to commit for that long.
Ebikes may not have saved my life but they were certainly involved with my recovery. The joy of getting out and riding give me something to look forward to.
Dallant
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
I want to encourage any newbies wanting (or needing) to come back from illness (or procrastination) to just do it, get an ebike and have fun/get to work. Lots of stories on this forum (my triple bypass/valve repair included) of folks who’ve come back and lived longer/fuller lives by just doing it! Biking/ebiking has been a godsend for so many of us here and it can be for you and yours! Do it!
I build what I call health bikes. They are all cadenced sensed bikes, not torque sensed bikes because torque sensed bikes require you to put in energy you may not have or you might run dry in energy quickly while still out. A cadence sensed bike also acts as a therapy bike and can be used to loosen up before regular biking. You can trace through the pedal stroke with zero resistance and loosen joints and warm things up before adding some resistance.
You take someone whom is recovering and put them on the right bike build around their handicaps and you get nothing but tears of joy. I have the talent to build any machine I can dream up so I can tailor build to suit the situation. I do so without charge.
I have considered starting a 501C to build recovery bikes even though it opens a whole new can of worms.
You can imagine my response to people whom look at it and say its cheating and really mean it. By their standards, they are hypocrites every time they get into their cars.
You take someone whom is recovering and put them on the right bike build around their handicaps and you get nothing but tears of joy. I have the talent to build any machine I can dream up so I can tailor build to suit the situation. I do so without charge.
I have considered starting a 501C to build recovery bikes even though it opens a whole new can of worms.
You can imagine my response to people whom look at it and say its cheating and really mean it. By their standards, they are hypocrites every time they get into their cars.
Alaskan
Well-Known Member
I love that this thread has been revived and that new stories of survival, recovery and hope like those of @Bafangalang @Dallant and @CyclingFANatic are being added the list of journeys from injury and illness back to health and vitality. What I find curious is how many of the ebike companies ignore our sector in their marketing and still persist in touting their products to the 25-40 crowd. I think they are overlooking an an important market segment. Oh well, their loss
UPDATE:
By late November my leg was fully rehabilitated after the surgery, with nearly equal strength in both legs. I was back riding strong and hard and decided to reward myself for my efforts with a new lightweight and fast ebike, a Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon 3 with Bosch speed class 3 motor and a 500 watt battery. The lighter weight (39 lbs) and more aero, drop bar ride position means much greater range and a way faster ride.
Then, in December, a routine CT scan found 5 metastasized nodules in my lungs from the Sarcoma. I have been on chemotherapy, once every fourteen days since early December. In fact I go in today for yet another infusion. Thus far the scans I have gotten at the end of January and again in March have shown no new nodules and shrinkage in the ones found back in December. My leg remains clear. This is encouraging but the chemo really impacts my energy level and appetite. I get knocked off the bike for five or six days of every two week period.
I still ride whenever the weather allows and I feel up to it. Being able to adjust the assist level to control my exertion level has been critical as the chemo can induce slight anemia and/or elevated heart rate beyond what the exercise level would be ordinarily. There are days when I am on the edge, tired and lacking energy. If it is not raining on those days, I ride anyway. It starts out difficult but after 5 miles or so, the endorphins kick in, my strength returns, I ratchet down the assist and I know I am smiling. I always get home from the ride feeling so much better. Nancy is astounded at the transformation between the guy the left the house and the one who came home. Last month (April) I rode 425 miles and have already put on 173 miles thus far in May.
I am still riding with my roady friends two or three times a week. Four of them are now riding e-road bikes, two Turbo Creo and Two Trek Domain +. We are all age 60-80. Riding in a pace line, averaging 16-17 mph over 30-40 mile rides, with these awesome athletes is such a blessing. They are all concerned, supportive and encouraging. These guys who looked at me with disdain and called me "cheater" three years ago are now good friends who really care. I am so blessed and grateful for every day I can ride.
UPDATE:
By late November my leg was fully rehabilitated after the surgery, with nearly equal strength in both legs. I was back riding strong and hard and decided to reward myself for my efforts with a new lightweight and fast ebike, a Cannondale Topstone Neo Carbon 3 with Bosch speed class 3 motor and a 500 watt battery. The lighter weight (39 lbs) and more aero, drop bar ride position means much greater range and a way faster ride.
Then, in December, a routine CT scan found 5 metastasized nodules in my lungs from the Sarcoma. I have been on chemotherapy, once every fourteen days since early December. In fact I go in today for yet another infusion. Thus far the scans I have gotten at the end of January and again in March have shown no new nodules and shrinkage in the ones found back in December. My leg remains clear. This is encouraging but the chemo really impacts my energy level and appetite. I get knocked off the bike for five or six days of every two week period.
I still ride whenever the weather allows and I feel up to it. Being able to adjust the assist level to control my exertion level has been critical as the chemo can induce slight anemia and/or elevated heart rate beyond what the exercise level would be ordinarily. There are days when I am on the edge, tired and lacking energy. If it is not raining on those days, I ride anyway. It starts out difficult but after 5 miles or so, the endorphins kick in, my strength returns, I ratchet down the assist and I know I am smiling. I always get home from the ride feeling so much better. Nancy is astounded at the transformation between the guy the left the house and the one who came home. Last month (April) I rode 425 miles and have already put on 173 miles thus far in May.
I am still riding with my roady friends two or three times a week. Four of them are now riding e-road bikes, two Turbo Creo and Two Trek Domain +. We are all age 60-80. Riding in a pace line, averaging 16-17 mph over 30-40 mile rides, with these awesome athletes is such a blessing. They are all concerned, supportive and encouraging. These guys who looked at me with disdain and called me "cheater" three years ago are now good friends who really care. I am so blessed and grateful for every day I can ride.
Alaskan
Well-Known Member
I hope no one feels sorry for me. I have had a most fortunate and blessed life, full of love, adventure, a career that allowed me to build a good business doing what I enjoyed most, an amazing partner in Nancy, three great sons, and an abundance of truly good friends.
Life owes me nothing. Yes I want to stick around for more and am pedaling as hard as I can to make it so. If this thing beats me sooner rather than later, I will endeavor to walk (or ride) that path with grace and humor, knowing that no one could reasonably ask more from a life than I have been given.
Alaskan
Well-Known Member
That is yet another thing that both of us can look forward to when this pandemic eases up. It will be a blast, I'm sure.
Dallant
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
I have friends in Bellingham and hope to get there this year somehow..possibly with our ebikes. Would really enjoy meeting you if that happens.
Catalyzt
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
What a tremendous thread! Alaskan, two of your quotes really inspired me: "Life owes me nothing" (yes, that one's been around for a while, I guess) but also, "I ride anyway." That's a song, book, or album title right there!
My health issues are less acute, but more long-running-- but I really relate to Alaskan's sentiment of just not feeling it, and then saying "to hell with it" and jumping on the saddle anyway. My connective tissue disorder first showed up on a bike trip, actually, cycling from Jacksonville to St. Petersburg FLA in the early '70s-- I was just more tired than I thought I should be, and had to stop and lie down a few times a day, which didn't seem right for a 15-year-old kid.
(Cyclefanatic, man, I hear you about the long diagnostic road and the rare disease thing-- thanks so much for sharing your story. I'm 63, my first dx at 15 = Lupus, currently MCTD, which has a different antibody marker, but is very similar to Lupus. And I have blood chemistry issues too, though it's not clear exactly what triggers them, or what the prognosis is.)
Anyway, the next year, I started getting high fevers every two weeks, and missed 1/3 of my Junior year of high school-- but if I was well enough to go to school, I was well enough to ride, which I did whenever weather permitted. I went into remission in senior year. I was an OG Manhattan urban racing bike maniac before the bike-messenger thing even got started.
Next crisis was late Freshman year of college, pericarditis, inflammation of the lining of my heart. Limited to 100 BPM, activity restrictions were lifted after a few months, but the docs warned me the symptoms would probably come back a few times, though not as bad. I remember a trip to Yosemite in '82 when the heart-rate restriction got turned back on, and just like Alaskan, my buddies were the best. They'd figure out hiking routes where I only did the easier bits, and they could rendezvous with me later, planned the entire vacation around my health restrictions. We're still as tight today as we were then.
Moved to LA in 1991, and very few symptoms until my early 50... first, a massive ileofemoral DVT in my left leg-- immune disorders can screw up your coagulation, and we think it was that combined with a very minor skiing accident-- and my doctor cut me off from skiing and body boarding when I went on blood thinners. 18 months later, we discontinued the blood thinners, and I went back to skiing and boarding, had a few great years before the second DVT in the same leg. So then, I became a lifer on blood thinners-- but my doctor's attitude changed when her own brother died. Life is short, and she could see how outdoor sports really helped me, so the new rule was: Be careful. No crazy big days in the water, no night or weekend skiing.
Almost immediately, I was stung by a stingray in my bad leg! What should have been a three day recovery was more like four months. At first, I was so angry I sawed up my board and stuffed it in the recycle bin. My left foot is still swollen and kind of blue to this day, but after months of slow swimming in my backyard pool, most of the function came back.
Then I got a better board, fins, armored booties, quit smoking, stopped drinking and smoking weed, and learned how to REALLY bodyboard. I never would have guessed it, but my best skiing and boarding was probably in my late '50s! I had to learn to do it right-- I didn't have the strength to do it wrong. I even went scuba diving in 2017, just hounded my doctor and kept training until she gave me the green light.
All this time, I'd been trying to keep up my biking in the winter-- it was always painful here in the hills, and after the second clot, my route was really limited, I'd skip the biggest hills, but still end the rides often feeling worse than I started. I still skied until 2019, but had my first round of diverticulitis that summer-- probably the immune disorder again + twisted colon, though hard to know. My second attack was fall of last year, and was much worse-- lost a lot of weight, got super weak, IV antibiotics at home for two weeks, and then had an atypical allergic reaction to the antibiotics that was as dangerous-- or more so-- than the diverticulitis.
In December, I couldn't even walk the dogs up the hill to my house, I was that weak. Now, I'm riding a little less than half the distance Alaskan rides, but minimum of 800 feet of vertical for the smaller rides and 1,500+ for the longer ones and I'm getting over 200 minutes of serious cardio every week. I'm a psychotherapist, my schedule is full, and e-biking not only helps me physically, it helps me clear my head. I have nothing like the stress of front-line healthcare providers, but hearing about the carnage from COVID has not been easy, it completely changed the work I do. So much is about safety planning now. I work with college kids, mostly young adults, many international students who are worried about their families back home, and I've been hearing unthinkable stories from all over the world.
I don't know which direction my own health is going; I kind of don't have a good feeling about it-- either the musculoskeletal or the GI problems. It's not unusual for me to need a cane for the first few hours when I wake up-- more for safety to avoid any fall risk-- but to ride 15 miles / 1,500 feet in the evening.
Yeah. "I ride anyway." I'm going with that!
My health issues are less acute, but more long-running-- but I really relate to Alaskan's sentiment of just not feeling it, and then saying "to hell with it" and jumping on the saddle anyway. My connective tissue disorder first showed up on a bike trip, actually, cycling from Jacksonville to St. Petersburg FLA in the early '70s-- I was just more tired than I thought I should be, and had to stop and lie down a few times a day, which didn't seem right for a 15-year-old kid.
(Cyclefanatic, man, I hear you about the long diagnostic road and the rare disease thing-- thanks so much for sharing your story. I'm 63, my first dx at 15 = Lupus, currently MCTD, which has a different antibody marker, but is very similar to Lupus. And I have blood chemistry issues too, though it's not clear exactly what triggers them, or what the prognosis is.)
Anyway, the next year, I started getting high fevers every two weeks, and missed 1/3 of my Junior year of high school-- but if I was well enough to go to school, I was well enough to ride, which I did whenever weather permitted. I went into remission in senior year. I was an OG Manhattan urban racing bike maniac before the bike-messenger thing even got started.
Next crisis was late Freshman year of college, pericarditis, inflammation of the lining of my heart. Limited to 100 BPM, activity restrictions were lifted after a few months, but the docs warned me the symptoms would probably come back a few times, though not as bad. I remember a trip to Yosemite in '82 when the heart-rate restriction got turned back on, and just like Alaskan, my buddies were the best. They'd figure out hiking routes where I only did the easier bits, and they could rendezvous with me later, planned the entire vacation around my health restrictions. We're still as tight today as we were then.
Moved to LA in 1991, and very few symptoms until my early 50... first, a massive ileofemoral DVT in my left leg-- immune disorders can screw up your coagulation, and we think it was that combined with a very minor skiing accident-- and my doctor cut me off from skiing and body boarding when I went on blood thinners. 18 months later, we discontinued the blood thinners, and I went back to skiing and boarding, had a few great years before the second DVT in the same leg. So then, I became a lifer on blood thinners-- but my doctor's attitude changed when her own brother died. Life is short, and she could see how outdoor sports really helped me, so the new rule was: Be careful. No crazy big days in the water, no night or weekend skiing.
Almost immediately, I was stung by a stingray in my bad leg! What should have been a three day recovery was more like four months. At first, I was so angry I sawed up my board and stuffed it in the recycle bin. My left foot is still swollen and kind of blue to this day, but after months of slow swimming in my backyard pool, most of the function came back.
Then I got a better board, fins, armored booties, quit smoking, stopped drinking and smoking weed, and learned how to REALLY bodyboard. I never would have guessed it, but my best skiing and boarding was probably in my late '50s! I had to learn to do it right-- I didn't have the strength to do it wrong. I even went scuba diving in 2017, just hounded my doctor and kept training until she gave me the green light.
All this time, I'd been trying to keep up my biking in the winter-- it was always painful here in the hills, and after the second clot, my route was really limited, I'd skip the biggest hills, but still end the rides often feeling worse than I started. I still skied until 2019, but had my first round of diverticulitis that summer-- probably the immune disorder again + twisted colon, though hard to know. My second attack was fall of last year, and was much worse-- lost a lot of weight, got super weak, IV antibiotics at home for two weeks, and then had an atypical allergic reaction to the antibiotics that was as dangerous-- or more so-- than the diverticulitis.
In December, I couldn't even walk the dogs up the hill to my house, I was that weak. Now, I'm riding a little less than half the distance Alaskan rides, but minimum of 800 feet of vertical for the smaller rides and 1,500+ for the longer ones and I'm getting over 200 minutes of serious cardio every week. I'm a psychotherapist, my schedule is full, and e-biking not only helps me physically, it helps me clear my head. I have nothing like the stress of front-line healthcare providers, but hearing about the carnage from COVID has not been easy, it completely changed the work I do. So much is about safety planning now. I work with college kids, mostly young adults, many international students who are worried about their families back home, and I've been hearing unthinkable stories from all over the world.
I don't know which direction my own health is going; I kind of don't have a good feeling about it-- either the musculoskeletal or the GI problems. It's not unusual for me to need a cane for the first few hours when I wake up-- more for safety to avoid any fall risk-- but to ride 15 miles / 1,500 feet in the evening.
Yeah. "I ride anyway." I'm going with that!
mschwett
Well-Known Member
- Region
- USA
@Cyklefanatic and @Alaskan and @Catalyzt thank you for sharing your inspirational stories. I truly wish you all the clearest path through your health issues. I’ll share a very abridged version of my story, which is a bit different.
In my 30s I got very into long distance running, and after a few years started getting light headed while I ran, and sometimes after. On a few occasions I became very weak and confused, so I saw a doc. Eventual diagnosis, a rare heart rhythm condition in which extreme exercise causes the heart to form small scars. The scars cause an irregular rhythm, leading in many cases to sudden cardiac death. My light headed spells were ventricular tachycardia, an uncoordinated heart rate in the 200 range.
I was given meds and an ICD, told no more exercise, and that it could be controlled as long as I didn’t exercise enough to make it worse. But it wasn’t, the meds made me feel terrible, I was fainting out of the blue and getting shocked by the ICD. Went in for a few procedures to try and fix it, and on the second try, the doctors inadvertently made a hole in my heart. Emergency open heart surgery ensued, and despite the odds around such a thing I survived. Two years of awful “recovery“ followed with talk of transplant, months of barely being about to get out of bed, massive infections, medication problems, anxiety and aGóra phobia, many more shocks from the ICD, and dozens if not hundreds of trips to doctors. I had a one year old at the time, both my wife and I work, and I was also attempting to care for two ailing parents. Certainly the most difficult period of my life.
With much trial and error and pain, things eventually stabilized, the right cocktail of meds was found, and other than no cardio, things were OK. I keep my heart rate below 130 (resting is around 40-45) and avoid anything that would ordinarily trigger a big adrenaline rush.
This January, wooed by Facebook ads, I got an eBike. In March I got another one. I’ve ridden around 500 miles and 35k vert in the last month, and for the first time in 9 years (since all this started) I feel like I can do something outdoors that I love while controlling how hard my heart is working. I turn the motor off except for big hills and strong headwinds. It’s tempting to push it harder than I should, but I remind myself of everything my family and I went through, of everything that so many others have gone through, and remember the fact that the joy is simply being outside on the open road (mostly) under my own power, seeing beautiful places and meeting some amazing people - not shaving another few seconds off a segment PR.
Your stories are all inspirational, thank you again for sharing!
In my 30s I got very into long distance running, and after a few years started getting light headed while I ran, and sometimes after. On a few occasions I became very weak and confused, so I saw a doc. Eventual diagnosis, a rare heart rhythm condition in which extreme exercise causes the heart to form small scars. The scars cause an irregular rhythm, leading in many cases to sudden cardiac death. My light headed spells were ventricular tachycardia, an uncoordinated heart rate in the 200 range.
I was given meds and an ICD, told no more exercise, and that it could be controlled as long as I didn’t exercise enough to make it worse. But it wasn’t, the meds made me feel terrible, I was fainting out of the blue and getting shocked by the ICD. Went in for a few procedures to try and fix it, and on the second try, the doctors inadvertently made a hole in my heart. Emergency open heart surgery ensued, and despite the odds around such a thing I survived. Two years of awful “recovery“ followed with talk of transplant, months of barely being about to get out of bed, massive infections, medication problems, anxiety and aGóra phobia, many more shocks from the ICD, and dozens if not hundreds of trips to doctors. I had a one year old at the time, both my wife and I work, and I was also attempting to care for two ailing parents. Certainly the most difficult period of my life.
With much trial and error and pain, things eventually stabilized, the right cocktail of meds was found, and other than no cardio, things were OK. I keep my heart rate below 130 (resting is around 40-45) and avoid anything that would ordinarily trigger a big adrenaline rush.
This January, wooed by Facebook ads, I got an eBike. In March I got another one. I’ve ridden around 500 miles and 35k vert in the last month, and for the first time in 9 years (since all this started) I feel like I can do something outdoors that I love while controlling how hard my heart is working. I turn the motor off except for big hills and strong headwinds. It’s tempting to push it harder than I should, but I remind myself of everything my family and I went through, of everything that so many others have gone through, and remember the fact that the joy is simply being outside on the open road (mostly) under my own power, seeing beautiful places and meeting some amazing people - not shaving another few seconds off a segment PR.
Your stories are all inspirational, thank you again for sharing!
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