Retirement Week 1: What a hell of a week...

This week went by with light speed and the dust is beginning to settle. Your well wishes and prayers (as well as your humorous emails) are really helping so keep them coming.

Friday was a big day because we finally had a chance to meet my surgeon, Dr. Misbach. I knew I would be in good hands, as I quickly learned that he was very athletic and had many years of heart surgery experience. In fact, we had trouble staying on-task (i.e. talking about the surgery). We talked about him having run the St. George Marathon, his pair of spikey Asics running shoes and my new pair, his almost taking a staff position at my Alma mater University of Arizona, and his singing with the Anchorage Concert Choir. My cardiac specialist, Dr. Linda Ireland, told me earlier that he was also into ice climbing and skiing. When we finally got around talking about the surgery it was focused and very informative. Should I require a valve replacement I chose the organic type (a pig heart valve) rather than the inorganic type, as it'll last as long, I won't have to worry about blood clots forming, and I won't be on blood thinners for the rest of my life. Check out Dr. Misbach's bio at the end of the blog...it's pretty impressive.

The surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, January 13 at 7:30 am (Alaska Time), and should last about 4 hours (or longer if additional scarring is discovered). I'm told I'll be brought out of general anesthesia over a period of "hours" while in intensive care, and stay in intensive care for a few days. I won't be able to have visitors until I'm moved out of intensive care...even Hurricane Hannah can't come see me while I'm in the intensive care unit. Hopefully I'll be able to go home after 4-to-5 days.

Many of you have offered lots of help...it's much appreciated and the support is overwhelming. Folks have offered: companionship for Marian and I while in the hospital and at home; to provide meals; play dates and over-nights for Hannah; rides to and from the hospital; to shovel snow when needed; to do our food shopping; and, to do chores around the house. Maybe I should have surgery more often...NOT! We're not sure where to go with all the offers to help, but we'll sort that out and let you know via this blog site and phone calls. Marian will have co-authorship privileges for this blog and intends to use it as the primary means to communicate with you about the surgery and its aftermath. She'll also monitor her email (mlilley@gci.net) and take calls at home (907-345-7315) and on her cell phone (907-230-2248).

I have a lot to do before Tuesday's surgery...some of it is my stuff and some is on Marian's honey-do list. Warmer temperatures in the teens will be here soon (by Monday) so I hope to get some outside time before going stir crazy next week in the hospital.





Gregory A. Misbach, M.D

http://www.denaliheart.com/drmisbach.asp

It's unusual to be an expert in both adult and children's heart care, but that is one of the special gifts Dr. Misbach offers to the rich diversity of the Denali Cardiac & Thoracic team. Recognizing the complex and different problems of children's smaller and more intricate hearts, Dr. Misbach specializes in pediatric and adult congenital and acquired heart disease "Cardiac surgery offers enormous challenges and tremendous rewards. I am grateful to have found a career where I can take pride in developing my skills while gaining satisfaction from helping others."

Dr. Misbach graduated from UCLA Medical School in 1973. He completed general surgery and cardiothoracic surgery residencies, as well as a research fellowship in cardiovascular physiology at the University of California, San Francisco from 1973 to 1982. From 1982 through 1990, Dr. Misbach served as Chief of Congenital Heart Surgery and tenured Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Washington. He also practiced pediatric cardiac surgery at Children's Hospital, and adult cardiac surgery at University Hospital in Seattle.

Since 1990, Dr. Misbach has continued his practice in acquired and congenital heart disease with Inland Cardiothoracic Surgical Associates in San Bernardino, California and now with Denali Cardiac & Thoracic Surgical Group in Anchorage, Alaska. He has experience in minimally invasive cardiac surgical techniques for congenital heart defects, valvular heart disease, and coronary artery disease.

"And, now, for something completely different.” Monty Python's Flying Circus

You know the familiar saying folks use when things aren’t going so well, “When it rains, it pours.” In Alaska we say, “When it gets cold, it gets bitter cold.” I’m referencing these sayings for two reasons. First, the cold snap continues with temperatures dropping to -18º last night and no good news about when our high temperatures will approach or even rise above zero. Second, well let me use another saying, “The best laid plans of men often go astray.” The medical tests I had this week to help determine the cause of my marathon training difficulties (i.e. shortness of breath and some dizziness) revealed some anomalies in my heart’s arteries which require immediate medical attention; therefore, my A Trampathon Abroad is called off…for now (emphasis added).

The short story is that next Tuesday, January 13, I'm having triple (yep, I said triple) coronary artery bypass surgery and possibly a heart valve replacement. Wild news isn’t it! The good news is that the medical tests revealed that I haven’t any coronary heart disease…so why all the fuss? To answer that question I have to go allllll the waaaaay baaaack to when at 19 years old (and attending the University of Arizona) I was diagnosed and treated for Hodgkin’s Disease, a cancer of the lymphatic system. Because the cancer was found both above and below my diaphragm, I received radiation treatments in both areas…chemotherapy was not needed (actually, back then it wasn’t even considered an option). Here’s the tie-in, medical research has found that exposing the heart to radiation can cause scarring in the heart’s arteries and valves…this is likely my case.

Now for the longer story. On Monday (January 5) I had my scheduled cardiac stress test, which involved running on a treadmill and having pre-and-post running scans of my heart using a radioisotope (lithium) that was injected into my blood stream. I had the same test done in 2006 and similarly, the scanning results indicated that my heart was healthy and getting plenty of blood. However, my EKG (which runs continuously before, during, and after the run) showed dangerous anomalies which coincided with one of my shortness-of-breath and lightheadedness episodes. The tending nurse, seeing me strain and go pale, stopped the test immediately after 13 minutes of running and before I could reach my target heart rate of 152 bpm. They freaked and gave me some nitroglycerin spray (tasted like crap) thinking I was having a heart attack…I wasn’t. After completing the test, I dressed and was told to see Dr. Linda Ireland, a cardiac specialist, the next morning (January 6).

An aside: Because my heartbeat was not climbing as fast as they wanted it to, they started talking politics and about Sarah Palin hoping that would get me going. Well it worked…my heartbeats increased and climbed to 126 bpm before the test abruptly ended.

Dr. Ireland, I find out, is a fellow New Jerseyite who grew up in the Atlantic City area. She was very familiar with my neck of the woods in North Jersey…Wayne (the town I grew up in was named after Mad Anthony Wayne who was a general in the Revolutionary War) and Paterson (which use to be the national silk capital back in the 1870s). Dr. Ireland was pleased with the 2006 and 2009 heart scan results but spent most of time explaining her concern over the EKG results. It was very obvious, even to an untrained eye, that the EKG footage of when I was having my “spell” was screwed up...screwed up bad. She recommended that I have a cardiac catheterization and angiogram (Google the topics for more info) on Wednesday (January 7) to check things out…and luckily I did. The nursing staff was fantastic...Susan and Bunny were hilarious. Dr. Ireland performed the procedure and interpreted the results with Dr. Thomas Kramer…the procedure revealed two narrowings (NOTE: Here’s your human anatomy lesson and there will be a test). One 70% blockage was found in the left main coronary artery which divides into two branches (the circumflex coronary artery which supplies blood to the back, left side, and bottom of the heart; and, the left anterior descending coronary artery which supplies blood to the front and left side of the heart) and one 90% blockage was found in the right coronary artery which supplies blood to the right side and bottom of the heart. Because of their location, neither blockage can be repaired with angioplasting and stenting (Google this stuff too); therefore, the need to have bypass surgery…bummer. On Friday (January 9), I have an appointment with my heart surgeon, Dr. Gregory Misbach, to discuss my upcoming operation on Tuesday, January 13. I was told I’d be in the hospital for about a week and then have many weeks of physical therapy…sounds like lots of fun, NOT!

I’m also told that because of my good health and young age (56 is young!), I should recovery quickly…but not quick enough to make my Trampathon Abroad. My buddy Bob Bowker (formerly known as my European travelling companion “Harris”) and I are already talking about our respective circumstances (my heart surgery and his being treated for prostate cancer) and are vowing to overcome these “inconveniences” and run our comeback marathon later in the year…maybe Humpy’s Marathon in August. Crazy thought…maybe so!

You know it isn't impossible. I certainly am motivated by the accomplishments of past runners in similar circumstances. I can't help but remember Alberto Salizar's moving presentation, at last year's Twin Cities Marathon expo, about his conquering heart problems and running again (albeit a lot less intensely). I'll use this photo of Salizar and I to help keep me thinking positively. I pray all goes well.

I thought about closing this blog site but was talked into keeping it open and updating it as often as I can while going through all this crap. Eventually, I’ll be back on the road training hard and running far. Hell, I’ll now have 14 months to prepare for the 2010 edition of A Trampathon Abroad and even have more time to learn some Italian and French!!

Please keep my family and I in your prayers.

Arrivederci, Aurevoir

Baby it’s COLD outside….

The bitter cold continues in Alaska, which is making things totally miserable for those of us who love to be in the great outdoors. What makes things worse is that we are having beautiful sunny, clear days. This morning it was -15° outside…it eventually got up to -5°…lucky us. However, it won’t stop the family from celebrating tonight’s 50th Anniversary of Alaska Statehood …lots of activities scheduled downtown including the largest fireworks display in state history. I just love my state and its state song...it gives me the chills every time I hear it. (AK State Song link) Afterwards we’re going to head over to my friend Neal’s home for a HUGE bonfire…lots of wood to burn!

I had a successful 10K run at the Dome today, which was particularly busy. The University of Alaska’s cross-country and track teams were training and they flew around the track.

The huge infield hosted the Colony High School Marching Band (Palmer, AK) who was practicing for their trip to Washington, D.C. to participate in the President's Inauguration parade. Earlier in the week, the nation’s second fastest high school runner, Trevor Dunbar (Kodiak High School, Kodiak, AK - Trevor Dunbar link) showed up with his equally fast father, Marcus Dunbar (who won the national indoor mile championship in 1994)…it was a treat and a thing of beauty watching both of them lap the hell out of me. I have another 10K scheduled for tomorrow…pray it goes as well as today’s.

Running into 2009…way behind, time to catch up!

On this first day of 2009, I can now relax and reflect on the reality of my plans and what has occurred since “birthing” this blog back in November. But first, let me explain the blog’s title. My tempter-friend Bill Parady, who has his own blog chronicling his Ironman training adventures, suggested I model my blog after a book written by Mark Twain: A Tramp Abroad . The book was published in 1880 and details a journey by the author, with his friend Harris (a character created for the book), through central and southern Europe. While the stated goal of the journey is to walk most of the way, the men find themselves using other forms of transport as they traverse the continent. As the two men make their way through Germany, the Alps, and Italy, they encounter situations made all the more humorous by their reactions to them. The narrator (Twain) plays the part of the American tourist of the time, believing that he understands all that he sees but in reality understanding none of it.

I was sold on Bill’s idea and after downing a cold Guinness, modified the book title to reflect what I had in store for “Harris” and myself. But then, who would be my sidekick…who would be “Harris”? This is when I now became the tempter. Being a fisherman, I threw out some bait and tried setting the hook in a number of individuals. I got a few curious nibbles but nothing that I could set the hook in and net. Then it happened, my buddy and running mentor Bob Bowker (known as the Silver Fox because of his flashy full head of silver hair) took the hook and ran with it. As I reeled him in I became more excited because I knew this would be a keeper…but my excitement was short-lived. Because of a recently diagnosed medical condition (more on that some other time), Bob had to decline the role of “Harris.” I’ve put my fishing pole away for now but may throw a hook out there later and see what I can catch.

So how did I get this wild idea of running some of the great European marathons? The idea came to mind in 2008 after reading an article in Runners World about must-run marathons of the world. The top 10 list was packed with familiar venues, Boston, New York, Berlin, London, Rome, Paris, Chicago, etc. I was thrilled to see that some I have already run were on the list (New York, Boston, Chicago) but what really caught my eye were the dates of the London, Rome, and Paris marathons…in 2008, they were scheduled to be all 2 weeks apart. So, my mind started to work…why not combine a 2009 trip to Europe with running the London, Rome, and Paris marathons? I had already fulfilled a lifelong dream of visiting some of the ancient ruins of Greece in 2002 (to celebrate my 50th birthday) and combining it with running the Athens Marathon, so I figured I’d also fulfill another lifelong dream of visiting some of the great cities of Europe and throw in a marathon or two or, in this case, three. Because in 2009 London was not scheduled close enough to Rome and Paris, I chose to add Vienna instead. Vienna will be very cool because I love the Great Masters’ classical music and often listen to it during my training runs. I’ll have to run London and Berlin some other time…it will happen! The timing of this Trampathon is perfect because tomorrow I’ll be retiring after ~32 years of federal civil service. Actually, my federal career is sort-of like a Trampathon…after growing up in Wayne, NJ and attending college in AZ (UofA and ASU), I took my first federal job in San Diego, CA, then took federal jobs in Spearfish, SD, East Lansing, MI, and then since 1982, I’ve been in Anchorage, AK.

TRAINING

It’s –10 degrees out and we are in the middle of a cold snap with no end in sight. Conditions like this make marathon training very challenging. However, thank God we now have in Anchorage an unbelievable indoor training facility…The Dome (check it out via the link I provided). I hate treadmill running so having an indoor 400-meter track is a lifesaver. After running the Twin Cities Marathon the first week in October and taking the rest of the month off, I started running at the Dome in November. I worked my way back up to 10-milers before being thrown on my back around Thanksgiving with a sinus infection, which also aggravated my exercise-induced asthma…real bummer (understatement). Attempts to continue running under this condition were met with exhaustion and total frustration. One training day, I couldn’t even run one lap without feeling dizzy. Currently, I’m off meds (hooray) and working on longer runs while under my doctor’s watchful eye. (NOTE: My doctor wants my knees when I die because recent tests - that’s another story - revealed I have the knees of an 18 year old). I had some blood work done last week and this next week I have a cardiac stress test scheduled…stay tuned. Bottomline: I’m not totally off schedule, but will be if I’m not regularly running 8+ miles by January 11. Luckily, I’m not training for a PR…just training to finish the marathons and have fun along the way.

TRIP PLANNING

Too much to report in this blog entry…I’ll save it for the next one. However, here are some key words to satisfy your curiosity: Sorrento, Munich, a new “Harris”, flights from/to Paris, my sister Carol, Holy Week, Rick Steves’ Europe through the Backdoor, and Keen shoes.

Have a great, healthy, and happy 2009!

Remember, Train hard...run far!