Thursday, July 31, 2014

Feeling a Little Better

Still in the hospital.  My temperature seems to have stabilized near normal, I'm coughing a little less, and blood oxygen (without supplemental oxygen) is up in the 94% range.  However, pulse rate and respiration rate are unchanged and much higher than normal, so the jury is still out.

For the medically inclined:  I was started on a Z-Pak (azithromycin) Monday, then in the hospital they added a cephalosporin IV antibiotic Tuesday.  By today (Thursday) we didn't see much progress, so the hospital doctor finally talked me into oral Levaquin, dropping both of the others. That dose was this noon , so it's had only about nine hours to take effect, and obviously I don't know which antibiotic regimen might be working, if indeed anything really is working.

I'm nervous about Levaquin, because it's one of the drugs that can cause the Achilles tendon to rupture.  If that happens my running will be dramatically curtailed (zero).  However I finally agreed to Levaquin because I didn't see progress on the other meds, and I can live without running but I can't run without living.

As always, I'll know more in the morning.  I'm still alive and there is a little more light at the end of the tunnel.


Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Pneumonia Again

July 30, 2014

CRAP! Pneumonia certainly puts a crimp in marathon training. I have a marathon coming up in early september, with a good plan for ramping up carefully to a 20-mile long run three weeks ahead. That's what you do. Setting aside the obvious life-threatening aspect of pneumonia, however, at the very least it puts a big crimp in the training plan.

I've had pneumonia five times in my life now; three times it was viral, once bacterial (last February), and now as-yet undetermined. In February the high-power IV antibiotics took effect within a day, and got me out of the hospital in two days. This time I've been in and out for two days already, and there is little evidence of improvement. I still have a little fever, low pulse oxygen level, a high pulse rate, and a high respiration rate. If it's viral instead of bacterial, prevous experience suggests that the resolution will take weeks instead of days. Grrrr.

Maybe I should just stop whining and be glad I'm still alive. Eventually I will be running again, but that's not the top priority.

I'll know more in the morning. Perhaps the pneumonia will take a sudden turn for the better, or the doctors will try something different.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Runner's World Cover Contest

I have entered a contest by Runner's World Magazine to determine who will be on their December cover. I hope you will click here http://covercontest.runnersworld.com/entry/655/ and vote for me. You can vote every day, and that would be marvelous. The contest goes until mid-August.

You can help even more by spreading the word on your own facebook or twitter page - let's make it viral! Be sure to include the magic hashtag #RWCoverContest.

Thanks!

Don W

Monday, July 14, 2014

We Miss Caroline Shallman

After a courageous three year battle with ovarian cancer, our sweet daughter-in-law Caroline died Saturday evening, July 12, 2014.  Here is a link to her husband David's heartfelt goodbye message on caringBridge:  http://goo.gl/SsKFF4

Information about the memorial service is listed here: http://goo.gl/Khg6bo

Here is her obituary in the Minneapolis paper: http://goo.gl/OAPuDo