Promises Not Kept
What’s up with Larry?
Where is the Pleasant Valley “stuff” as promised in the last column? Is RACEGUY
losing interest in the site already? Is the old guy turning his back on the MX
community? Is the king of verbal diarrhea suffering writer’s block?
I’ll start with a
sincere apology for not getting the Pleasant Valley piece together. In my mind,
that means I’ve let friends down. The reason for NOT posting the PV
piece has nothing to do with any of the reasons cited above. It couldn't be that simple. If I'm controlling a situation and I end up letting people down, that's frustrating, but it's my own doing. I pride myself on being in control, and what began last
Wednesday night was out of control.
Without getting into all
the details, (I will cover this during the off-season when I’m struggling for
things to talk about), the Wednesday afternoon before Pleasant Valley, I went
for about an hour walk, soaking up the summery warmth and sunshine. We’re not
talking brutal Texas heat here, and a walk covering that short a distance
wouldn’t normally result in breaking a sweat on my wrinkled forehead. I arrived
at my humble little house, unpacked a few groceries, then knocked back a big
cold glass of H2O (to replace what I’d lost during my little walk).
Then I barfed.
That was the beginning
of a downward spiral that I recognized from almost exactly 12 months ago.
Anything bad enough to cause me to miss my first National in over 30 years is
not to be taken lightly. At that time, I promised myself I would never ignore
such severe symptoms ever again. I promised my daughter the same thing, and
that I would not be a typical, pigheaded, male of the species and think I could
fight my way through ANYTHING without medical intervention. I also promised a
lot of my moto family that I would take care of myself.
Twelve or so hours after
those familiar symptoms began, I knew I was in trouble. Pretty smart of me,
huh? Anybody that smart must certainly be capable of reversing a little
dehydration, especially recognizing the symptoms so early, right?
By midmorning, I started
getting small sips of water and Gatorade to stay down. The doctor I can’t
escape called in an attempt to persuade me to go to Emerg for IV fluids. “I’m
starting to keep some stuff down, sweetheart,” I told her. “I think it’s coming
around. Check in with me later.”
As the clock closed in
on 24 hours since the whole thing began, IT
returned, even more determined to beat me down than before. The Gatorade and
water were no longer staying put. Body temp was now rising and falling –
sweating, then shivering, and when my vision wasn’t blurry, it was doubled. Of
course, as smart as I am, I determined if I got fluids down once, I could do it
again. Then I stonewalled my daughter again as she implored me to go to the ER
and I was insistent, if I could just sleep a bit, I was sure I’d be able to
start keeping down fluids again. Really!
I tried to check my
heart-rate. I couldn’t count. Sometimes, the beats seemed to just run together.
I noticed my breathing was fast and shallow. One more try. Small sips 15
minutes apart lasted exactly two sips – a little more than ½ hour. “Elizabeth,
I think I’m ready for that drive.”
As I said, I’ll get into
this a little deeper at a later point, but I think you get the idea. I checked
in at Emerg with a resting heart-rate of 140. Creatinine is the byproduct of
burning muscle tissue. It can build up in the kidneys causing renal failure. My
creatinine was up in the “holy crap, check that again” range. The tachycardia
(140+ heart-rate) is a result of using up the body’s electrolytes (the stuff we
replace by drinking Gatorade) in particular potassium.
They pumped me full of
fluids, impaled my veins and sucked away my blood every 2 hours to chart the
progress, and then I begged, sweet-talked, and threatened my way to freedom by
noon Saturday (they wanted to keep me until Monday). Monday was not an option. I
had promised Mitch Cooke I would be in Pleasant Valley Sunday morning.
So, by my calculations I
broke a promise to my readers here to update the editorial. I also broke
promises to myself, and my daughter, I can do no more than to apologize to all.
Then again, while I was not at my best at PV, I didn’t break my promise to Mitch. That makes me one-for-four… still not a
great record.
I will take this as a lesson
hard learned. I think I’m finally getting it. I can truly appreciate the irony
of having just written about hydration here on this site, and ending up days
later taking my lunch through my arm. I won’t let it happen again. I promise.
The doctor I can't hide from
WOW Larry! That was another close call! Strange how we (us guys at least) take our health for granted when things are going along OK, and even when alarms stat going off, we tend to figure all will be fine, just give it a bit of time, we can fight this off. It's often our downfall. Sometimes our fatal downfall. With most of us, if we suddenly cease to exist, there would be a short writeup in the paper, telling about how "he was" this or that, liked this or that. Then the next day it's all over, the name has vanished from the paper like dust in the wind and we move on, new things to think about, new things to do. But with an occasional person, there is that extra, long lasting and widespread loss to a whole community. Such would be the case if we lost Larry, The Voice of Motocross in Atlantic Canada! So Larry, we need you to look after yourself. To those of us involved with the Atlantic MX scene, you're a necessary part of the whole experience. It just wouldn't be the same without you. Peace.
ReplyDeleteLarry, look after yourself man. Write a note to yourself "When I am not feeling well, and somebody suggests I seek medical attention, DO IT!" Too often, and unfortunately, when we are not feeling well we are also not THINKING well - a sick person is often the worste person to aks for their opinion on how well they are. Saw it lots as Chaplain of the Saint John Regional Hospital.
ReplyDeletePlease excuse typo typo above.
ReplyDeleteI considered hitting him with a baseball bat so he'd have to go. I have done a fair job of trying to guilt him into acting a little sooner should this happen again. It's difficult to "make" anyone seek attention even if you know they badly need it.
ReplyDeleteFortunately for all of us, Doctor McCaw is a convincing young lady. I may not be able to do the job but she can and I'm thankful for that.
Thanks for those thoughts, guys. This experience and last year's crash & burn have finally sunk in. Nonetheless, it's an experience motocrossers and athletes of all types should be aware of. Now...why are men so stubborn? Gentlemen, that's a thesis. Thanks again for thinking of me and for commenting here.
ReplyDelete