Well……it’s time to get the blog up and running again……I must apologize for the long absence. My last posts were from last summer when I was hanging out in Tortuguero. As I was getting my phlebotomies in San Jose once a week everything was going well until I came down with a severe bout of depression. I was warned by my Dr.’s that was a common occurrence and they were quick to offer “happy pills”. But being stubborn I proved that I didn’t need them but it sure was a nasty summer. I got my iron down to normal by fall and felt the depression start lifting by early winter and everything has been back to normal since Christmas. Having had no prior experience with depression this has been a real eye opener and gave me a new understanding into the problems that people have with depression. Hopefully I won’t have any more firsthand experience.   But that is the reason for the long absence.

I am back in the store for the summer giving Marina a break and am looking forward to a summer of racing and a few good bike runs. I will be posting as I go.

July 27, 2009  Came into San Jose this morning and got a phlebotomy. A little dizzy this afternoon so I am taking it pretty cool for the rest of the day.  The technician that takes my blood thinks maybe we should do some blood tests and see where we are at. I agree. I think things are cool but it is time to make sure. I don’t want to get to dizzy/light headed while I’m out in the boat. See how I feel in the morning. Hopefully I can make the morning bus back to Tortuguero. I have felt better this week than I have since I started this circus. Hopefully tomorrow will be good. If I have to I will drop a week and heal up. Take it as it comes.

 This is a post that I made to my support group that I  have not been going to since last year. Since writing this I have thought about it a lot and have realized that another and probably the biggest reason for not going to the support meeting is that I gained weight since I saw the group last. It is really hard to admit that I failed at this “last chance”at being a normal weight. Well…..I have not given up and I continue the fight.

 Thanks for asking about me.  I am back in Costa Rica ….. San Jose till tomorrow when I will go into the jungle. I came down last Saturday.

I have not kept in touch with the group because I came to the conclusion that I was not a good influence to my fellow bandsters.  I do think that the band works for a lot of people but it did not help me with my obesity problems. I will try and explain. The reason I am obese is because I am hungry….. Simple as that. The band does not control hunger , it controls the intake of food.  To control my obesity I need hunger control not volume control. We (Drs and I) tried to control my hunger by going tighter and tighter with my band. Twice till I couldn’t “swallow spit” ( Dr. Ds words). The “problems” that I was expressing to the group were from trying to make the band do what it was no designed to do. If your band is too tight you will have problems …… guaranteed. I was fortunate that I did not do serious damage to my stomach.

I need to mention that I have been diagnosed with Hemochromatosis. This is a hereditary blood disorder that affects the iron levels in your body.   My body does not “flush” the excess iron that I take in; instead it stores the iron in my organs. If untreated this is fatal. The treatment is simple enough ….. Draw a pint (500cc) of blood a week till the levels of iron get down to normal. Unfortunately this might take a year or two.  I have arranged for this weekly procedure to be done in a hospital in San Jose while I’m in Costa Rica. First one today in Costa Rica; 6^th overall. The medical term for this procedure is phlebotomy. This is just a fancy word for giving blood.

But this is a WLS forum not a HH (Hereditary Hemochromatosis) forum. I can only hope each and every one of the group is in good health and are having a great summer.

P.S I have started a blog that I will try to update regularly. The primary function of this blog is to try and share the feelings that I have for the jungle.  I have a section in my blog about my WLS but I have not written much. Maybe I should try and share my defeat with WLS.  The address is www.airdriecomputer.com   My blog is not fancy ….. Come to think of it, it is pretty poor but my expertise is with hardware not web design. There are some decent videos of the jungle (crocs and monkeys) that I took last winter if anyone is interested.

Left my hotel and took a 5 minute cab ride to the hospital.  Was able to walk right into the International billing dept and talk to my rep. She took me over to admitting and got me signed up for my treatments and I could of had a phlebotomy right then. I chose to go in tomorrow morning as it will be a week Wednesday since my last treatment. Don’t want to push things. Was back to my room in less than hour total time. I hope tomorrow goes as well.

Well …. I am back in San Jose and am going to the Clinica Biblica Hospital in the morning to line up my treatments.  Will try for a phlebotomy (blood letting) for latter in the week. My last one in Calgary was on Wednesday and I don’t want to get much under a week apart. I feel pretty good ……much better than a few days ago. I’m a little tired but that is to be expected.

San Jose seems to be a little quiet compared to when I was down here before. I think school is out for a couple of weeks and it is the weekend. There doesn’t seem to be as many Gringos around either. I guess it is off season.

I will post again when I find out more about my treatments.

Time for a little background.

                I have been diagnosed with  hemochromatosis.  Hereditary hemochromatosis is a genetic, metabolic disorder that results in iron overload; the body absorbs and retains too much dietary iron. It is a primary disorder of iron metabolism that can affect many organ systems including the liver, pancreas, heart, endocrine glands and joints. It is potentially fatal, but easily treated if diagnosed early, before the excess iron causes irreversible damage.

·         Treatment for hemochromatosis involves management of complications, screening for liver cancer, avoidance of supplemental iron and appropriate vaccinations for hepatitis A and B; however, an aggressive de-ironing protocol is most important. Excess iron is removed by a procedure known as phlebotomy, which is the drawing off of a unit of blood, using the same technique as a blood donation, but with a much higher frequency.

This is going to be some kind of weekend…..the forecast is for no snow….I will believe it when I see it. Hope that it is true. I got some much needed yard work done yesterday. It was just a beautiful day and the forecast is for another nice day today. I am going to take a run up Highway 40 and see if the gate is open…..I don’t think they open it till later in the year but I want to check it out. I need to go to work for a while but hope to get out of there by noon and make a run and then back to yard work for late afternoon. That is the problem with this late spring is that when the weather does turn nice you have to do the yard work that you normally have done in April. So it is “crunch” time…..working on the car, doing the yard and trying to get some riding in. Oh yah….and I have to show up at work…..at least for some of the time.

Well…..there is only one way to explain it……I,m pissed off……It’s still snowing, the Flames lost, and my bike has a dead battery and my race car is still in pieces. It’s been a really long winter. Not that hard a winter, just long. Boy am I ready for spring/summer. I just need a good run on the bike to get my head straight….maybe a run to the cabin….I should mention that the cabin is in Nova Scotia…..yes a 12000 km run…..that would do it.

Well…..I have about enough of this weather. Snow, minus 20 with the wind chill and supposed to keep it up till the end of the week. Makes living in Costa Rica look real appealing. My buddy from Nova Scotia called yesterday and they were going out to our cabin and doing some fishing….he said it was a perfect spring day there. Oh well, we have had a decent winter so far but it is turning into a LONG winter. Sounds like the main storm went north of us last night. QE2 highway to Edmonton sounds like it is pretty rough shape…..hope it get cleaned up by this afternoon…..I’m off to my support group meeting tonight at the Royal Alex.

That was some snow storm yesterday. It took me 1 hr to get from Country Hills to 64th on 14th. It wouldn’t be so bad but it probably isn’t the last storm of the year. Oh well…..it is better today and the weekend is supposed to be nice. We will see…….How about our Flames, got a split in San Jose and now are home for the next two. That will be the big test…..you know this one will go to 7. Blue Jays are still dropping winnable games…..but what else is new…..I hope to watch Kevin Martin tonight when he takes on the Scotts in the 1-2 page game.This is the world curling championship. Good luck Kevin.