ks1u
Viscount
Posts: 76
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Post by ks1u on Aug 22, 2021 22:39:44 GMT
Geez, I was hoping this summer would find me putting multi thousands of miles on my Viscount, but a small tick apparently had other plans for me. I have kept in top condition my whole life, and when I started feeling ill a couple months ago I thought it might be from overworking. I finally went to the walk-in clinic and they said I looked healthy and it was probably a muscle sprain. A week later I was in the hospital with both babesiosis and Lyme disease. They kept me for 5 days, my blood count dropped dangerously low, my spleen had enlarged and bled and there was an infarction in the spleen as well. After loads of antibiotics and anti-parasitics I began to improve, but slowly. I can't ride a bike for another 4 weeks until my spleen is reimaged due to risk of rupture. I'm lucky to be alive and hope we have a mild fall so I can get some miles in. I will never again take good health for granted and if I start feeling ill again, I won't wait to call the DR. If you live in an area with ticks, be careful. I had no idea how dangerous these diseases can be.
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Post by wheelson on Aug 23, 2021 0:06:20 GMT
Geez, I was hoping this summer would find me putting multi thousands of miles on my Viscount, but a small tick apparently had other plans for me. I have kept in top condition my whole life, and when I started feeling ill a couple months ago I thought it might be from overworking. I finally went to the walk-in clinic and they said I looked healthy and it was probably a muscle sprain. A week later I was in the hospital with both babesiosis and Lyme disease. They kept me for 5 days, my blood count dropped dangerously low, my spleen had enlarged and bled and there was an infarction in the spleen as well. After loads of antibiotics and anti-parasitics I began to improve, but slowly. I can't ride a bike for another 4 weeks until my spleen is reimaged due to risk of rupture. I'm lucky to be alive and hope we have a mild fall so I can get some miles in. I will never again take good health for granted and if I start feeling ill again, I won't wait to call the DR. If you live in an area with ticks, be careful. I had no idea how dangerous these diseases can be. I many times wonder about the well-being of list members who regularly post and then go silent for a while - especially in these times. I’m sure glad you’re doing better and wish you nothing but the best. I think we have several members with medical issues, Jim comes to mind. What is obvious and uplifting is that everyone seems to keep cycling near the top of the list of “must do’s”. At (almost) 73 and recently diagnosed with prostate cancer, I found myself selecting the treatment that offered the least amount of downtime. Something about a bike ends up being an integral part of the medical picture. So everybody hang in there and let’s look ahead to the next DFR! Best, John “wheelson”
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Post by brianbutler on Aug 23, 2021 2:39:56 GMT
Glad to hear you are on the mend. Yeah, deer ticks are a nuisance in New England especially. Lyme disease, and probably others diseases, rely on a cycle involving ticks, white-footed mice, and deer. All of these pests seem to be increasing rapidly. I kill a couple mice a month, can't see the tiny ticks, and can't shoot the deer due to close proximity to other houses (as well as not owning a sufficient rifle).
My wife is a busy gardener always working with plants and brush. She had a tick bite a couple months ago and the doctor said come in and get an antibiotic. Then he did a test and found that she had had a Lyme infection some time in the past but she wasn't sick and seems to have no side effects. Lucky.
At least with cycling, the feet are off the ground. On the other hand I usually manage a few bee stings every year.
John, you are right. We should check in occasionally.
Brian
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ks1u
Viscount
Posts: 76
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Post by ks1u on Aug 23, 2021 4:30:03 GMT
Thanks for your comments guys. I guess there is only so much we can do to stay healthy and the rest is up to chance. I know that I'm not the only one here facing challenges, and it does seem we, as a group, place cycling at the top of our list of things we must do.
Just before I started feeling ill, I put new tires on my Viscount. I had been running 32c tires and went down to 30c. They are much lighter and hopefully faster. I was planning on hitting a few Strava age group records, but that will probably have to wait awhile. In the past, when I read about some of the health issues of members, I thought about how lucky I was. I think we all have things to be thankful for and I can't imagine I would be as generally healthy as I have been without cycling in my life and the nostalgic thrill of using my Viscount. It's also really satisfying to share views like this with like-minded people. I'm really grateful I found this site.
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Post by oldroadietehachapi on Aug 23, 2021 14:09:42 GMT
I hate ticks! They may carry Lyme disease and are common in my area. I am so very glad you are on the mend.
Ride happy Jim
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Post by lighthousejim on Aug 23, 2021 20:44:54 GMT
Growing up on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, UK, we had it drummed into us to check for ticks after we'd been out in the woods. We used to ride our bikes (unfortunately not Viscounts) all over, not just on the roads, so it was a regular thing. I remember my father finding the tell-tale 'bulls-eye' mark of a Lyme infection a couple of days after removing a tick. As a retired doctor, he told the GP what medication to prescribe.
Glad to hear you're recovering, I understand it can be a very debilitating disease.
Jim
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Post by wheelson on Aug 23, 2021 23:37:04 GMT
Growing up on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, UK, we had it drummed into us to check for ticks after we'd been out in the woods. We used to ride our bikes (unfortunately not Viscounts) all over, not just on the roads, so it was a regular thing. I remember my father finding the tell-tale 'bulls-eye' mark of a Lyme infection a couple of days after removing a tick. As a retired doctor, he told the GP what medication to prescribe. Glad to hear you're recovering, I understand it can be a very debilitating disease. Jim Debilitating and deadly. When we lived in North Carolina back in the late 1970’s, my wife’s best friend and co-worker’s brother in law was a civil engineer running field surveys for the power company. He complained to his wife that he was constantly pulling ticks off. He fell quite ill and died within a week of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. He was in his late 20’s. Y’all be careful out there. Best, John “wheelson”
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Post by triitout on Aug 24, 2021 0:44:50 GMT
Glad to hear you're on the mend. Good health gives you the opportunity to stay fit, but good fitness doesn't always lead to good health which doesn't seem fair. Better to have good luck along the way. Somehow, despite all the obstacles life throws at you, we keep the pedals turning. Ride on all you geezer jocks!
Cheers, Michael
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Post by franco on Aug 24, 2021 18:24:14 GMT
Speedy recovery ks1u.
I never really gave these things a second thought but got bitten by something whilst working on a bike outdoors last summer. It didn’t bother me until I saw a red line travelling up my arm from the bite location, my missus said it looked like blood poisoning so I called the doctors. It was in the middle of lockdown but luckily I managed to get seen and they gave me a course of antibiotics.
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Post by triitout on Aug 25, 2021 1:40:37 GMT
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Jem
Viscount
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Posts: 3,389
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Post by Jem on Aug 25, 2021 12:58:20 GMT
Geez, I was hoping this summer would find me putting multi thousands of miles on my Viscount, but a small tick apparently had other plans for me. I have kept in top condition my whole life, and when I started feeling ill a couple months ago I thought it might be from overworking. I finally went to the walk-in clinic and they said I looked healthy and it was probably a muscle sprain. A week later I was in the hospital with both babesiosis and Lyme disease. They kept me for 5 days, my blood count dropped dangerously low, my spleen had enlarged and bled and there was an infarction in the spleen as well. After loads of antibiotics and anti-parasitics I began to improve, but slowly. I can't ride a bike for another 4 weeks until my spleen is reimaged due to risk of rupture. I'm lucky to be alive and hope we have a mild fall so I can get some miles in. I will never again take good health for granted and if I start feeling ill again, I won't wait to call the DR. If you live in an area with ticks, be careful. I had no idea how dangerous these diseases can be. Really sorry to hear that. Such a small thing causing such a big problem. That’s sounds like a rough time you had there. I hope you’re on the road to full recovery. Thanks for reminder though. They weren’t very common here in uk but cases seem to be on the rise. Worth checking at the end of a day. Take care!
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Post by brianbutler on Aug 25, 2021 18:31:01 GMT
That is good news, and UMass is my alma mater.
Brian
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