5 week update

Hi Everybody:

Getting tired of this yet? Don't really care about me anymore? Would prefer to hear more about Kim Jong-Il? Tough.

Laura and I have moved again - spending the week at John & Maureen's place while they're on vacation; looking after their lawn/garden as well as Bo-the-Pee-Dog. We now have our stuff scattered in 5 different places (3 homes, 1 trailer, and 1 storage locker), but we're hoping to resolve some of that in the next few days.

Here's the update:

Pain: Visited my GP today, and talked a bit about the ongoing chest pain. He's not surprised, and suggested I get used to it for a few more months. Gulp. Haven't resorted to Tylenol for several days now, so I guess it can't be that bad. Either that, or I'm exceptionally tough...

Concentration: I think it's back to "normal". Laura claims I still suffer from "man-hearing" and "man-vision" (also, "man-empathy"). I find I can concentrate on traffic really well when Laura's driving; providing many valuable tips and keeping an eye open for danger. Laura would prefer I stay at home and watch TV.

Food: The red wine taste is about 75% back. This is a very good thing. Most other foods are now near normal, although anything sweet still tastes off; not quite "diesel-platypus", more like "teriyaki-aardvark".

Strength: I'm walking around 10km a day now, and think that's where I'll leave it for a while. There are lots of hills around Port Coquitlam, so my challenge will be to get better at climbing them. Right now, I'm just fine on the flats but get a bit winded on the hills. I won't be able to run until my chest heals some more (somewhere around 8 weeks). I will be unable to make the Vancouver Canucks training camp this year ;-(

Bloodwork: Been reading a lot about heart disease, blood profiles, reversal of plaque build-up, etc. I'm getting a complete cholesterol/liver work up tomorrow which should tell me where I am, and where I need to get to. I'm serious about trying to manage my problem (low HDL, bad HDL/Cholesterol ratio) with diet and exercise, and try to reduce the meds as much as possible. My GP seems game to follow along on this experiment, so I'm pleased about that. If there's one thing each of you can/should do (if you haven't already), it's go and get your cholesterol levels checked out. Be aggressive with this stuff - I guess I'm especially "tuned" to this right now, but I'm hearing stories every day about people (mostly men) in their late 40's and early 50's dropping dead from massive heart attacks. Could have happened to me, but I got lucky and had some warning... Wow. This entire section was serious.

Living: We've spent the last 2.5 months living with other people (THANK YOU!), but we're both getting tired of not having a place of our own. We're looking for somewhere to park the trailer (with full hookups) starting next week, and sleeping in our own bed, cooking in our own kitchen, and leaving underwear on our own floor.

Travel: Laura and I travelled to a family reunion in Ponoka, Alberta last weekend. It was wonderful to spend a few days around close friends and relatives, and I think it was good for them to see for themselves how stunningly attractive I remain ... other than the Frankenstein Scar(s).

That's all I can think of for now. Thanks everybody for your cards, letters, email and for forwarding me all those chain letters! I just know that 25,000 people will be sending me $1 each anytime soon!

Platonically,
Doug