Bummerness inside my head

So my church has this event called Tom’s Trek. Tom is for Fr. Tom, our pastor, and the Trek part refers to a hike around the Timberline Trail on Mt. Hood. The trek is about 42 miles, altitude 6,000 to 7,000 feet…

Before I’d learned the results of my open heart surgery, I was kinda hoping I could participate in the Trek this year. Of course, I had visions of running, too, and possibly even running the Portland Marathon. But, as I wrote in an earlier post, Not Good News, the surgery was unsuccessful and my Ejection Fraction actually dropped 5% from the day of surgery(35%) to my first echo cardiogram. So running and Tom’s Trek were out.

But Tom’s Trek also inlcudes lots of volunteers who support the trekkers. I signed up to help and–perfect for me, with my retreat experience from 30 years of Youth Ministry–was assigned to the 2 am shift to help get trekkers out early. It looked like pulling some “all-nighters” on the mountain would be exactly what I’d love to do.

That’s supposed to start this Friday evening, after Judy and I go on our Portland Spirit Cruise with Brett Dennen from 3 to 5. This would be Judy’s first work with St. Clare’s, too, and a perfect opportunity to meet everyone.

This afternoon I got an email from Jenny, my daughter, who works in the health insurance field and doesn’t miss much when it comes to my health. In her email, this is what she wrote:

… I do have one question though- you might want to ask about altitude with regard to your blood clot. Not sure how it would be affected or if there even would be anything to be concerned about- but it would not hurt to ask. I know you are not climbing/ doing the actual trek- but it’s pretty far up there.. Keep in mind- the higher the altitude- the more oxygen your body requires. This also effects the viscosity of the blood:

Blood clots
The increased number of red blood cells helps the climber get more oxygen to their muscles. However, more red blood cells increase the viscosity of the blood and can become a problem. If the blood becomes thick it increases the chances of clotting. A clot that gets dislodged can float around in blood vessels and may block tiny capillaries. If the clot blocks blood vessels in the brain a stroke occurs. If the blood clot plugs capillaries in the heart, the person will suffer a heart attack. Blood clots in the lung capillaries are called pulmonary embolisms.

High altitude affects both the circulatory system and the human respiratory system.

CHF and High Altitude

High altitude (Breathing is more difficult because of the lower level of oxygen in the atmosphere

Should you have a heart condition, such as CHF (congestive heart failure), or angina, avoiding altitude is advisable. The longer you are at altitude, the more your arterial vessels will dilate, increasing the flow of blood to the cardiac muscle. Exerting yourself too much, and too quickly could be fatal.

Yarks! So I called OHSU and they’re going to “check with the doctors” to see what the scoop is. In the meantime I’ve spent more time going through the research on Congestive Heart Failure and Ventricular Arrhythmias in relation to altitude. Not good news.

Unfortunately you cannot research CHF or Arrhythmias and Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD’s) without coming across tons of research on the mortality of patients with these health issues. I really hadn’t seen it all since last year when I first learned about my illness. Spirit buoying statistics like…“The 5-year mortality rate after diagnosis was reported in 1971 as 60% in men and 45% in women. In 1991, data from the Framingham heart study showed the 5-year mortality rate for CHF essentially remaining unchanged, with a median survival of 3.2 years for males and 5.4 years for females.“

Ugh. I was diagnosed January 13, 2006. Uh, let’s see…that’s 18 months…3.2 years they say…two carry the one…20 more months—what’s that, Valentine’s Day 2009? Morbid, I know. But don’t think you wouldn’t make the same calculation!

Evidently these statistics are exacerbated by other factors, including Ventricular Arrhythmia (hello, that’s me) , Inducible Ventricular Tachyarrhythmia (hello, again) and Blood Clot (Yikes! Can you spell ICD?).

I just fall into the “severely reduced left ventricular function” category (EF 30%) for which there are many more warnings about altitude (words like “avoid”). The advice is to watch activity and, if you experience symptoms, GET OFF THE MOUNTAIN! Duh!

So Should I Stay Or Should I Go, Now? (see the Clash). I DON’T KNOW! How much is stubbornness driving me? Or recklessness? I think when I’m in this place I’m better off deferring to the people who love me and who would be the most pissed off if I did something risky that cost me my life. Not much doubt what Judy and Jenny would say. harumph.

I’ll tell you one thing: if I did go up on the mountain and die, it had better be instantaneous or I’d check out with my last thought being, “Jeez, Judy is going to kill me!” Now THAT would suck!

Bummerness inside my head, as I said. Not so much about the Trek, but about the reminder about my overall mortality. Oh well. Good reason to get up every morning and kick some butt and take no prisoners!

I think I will err on the side of safety this time, no matter what OHSU says. Small chance, maybe. But I don’t have that many left to squander, do I?

Now go squander some quality time of your own!