Health Thread

Mornin’ Great weekend everybody ?
MRI & X-Ray combo provided good hard evidence at the specialists appointment that my shoulder injury is mostly a result of previous injuries combined with more recent inflammation and slight fraying of a ligament.
In my 40’s I attempted to ride the “over 40 class” in local motocross for a couple years on a very nicely modified YZ250.
Unfortunately either the bike or worse yet I, was broken during half of the experience.
Washougal WA has a very reputable out door track (google a video) where I had my best experiences , as well as my last experience..
When I landed upside down after leaving the track, dislocating my throttle wrist on the way out, I landed on my left shoulder and helmet.
Bike landed right on its head.
My collar bone fractured (crushed) out on the end in two places.
X-Rays show it is not perfectly aligned and causing slight trouble. A tear at that time healed okay though. A more recent “fraying” nearby on a different ligament is causing most of the pain perhaps. Anyway, No surgery scheduled. I gotta “man up” and rehab it all to a strong status again.
I’m taking this as real good news.
Also, I have extremely fun memories of riding that YZ on tracks so regrets?
Na, I got lucky it wasn’t my neck that broke.
-RT

well I'm not sure if that is good news or not

Sounds like you got a thorough examination and diagnosis at least .

I guess its good to know finally what the cause of the issue is ...........but a bumma to know that it was probably all your own fault

So machine .....man up....... and knuckle down ...to some good ol rehab.....you never know you might not get a 16 stone East European female Physio with a beard and a face like a well chewed toffee

A co worker just told me.
“At over 50 years old, you wake up with pains.. If you don’t .. You’re dead”

Machine said:

Mornin’ Great weekend everybody ?
MRI & X-Ray combo provided good hard evidence at the specialists appointment that my shoulder injury is mostly a result of previous injuries combined with more recent inflammation and slight fraying of a ligament.
In my 40’s I attempted to ride the “over 40 class” in local motocross for a couple years on a very nicely modified YZ250.
Unfortunately either the bike or worse yet I, was broken during half of the experience.
Washougal WA has a very reputable out door track (google a video) where I had my best experiences , as well as my last experience..
When I landed upside down after leaving the track, dislocating my throttle wrist on the way out, I landed on my left shoulder and helmet.
Bike landed right on its head.
My collar bone fractured (crushed) out on the end in two places.
X-Rays show it is not perfectly aligned and causing slight trouble. A tear at that time healed okay though. A more recent “fraying” nearby on a different ligament is causing most of the pain perhaps. Anyway, No surgery scheduled. I gotta “man up” and rehab it all to a strong status again.
I’m taking this as real good news.
Also, I have extremely fun memories of riding that YZ on tracks so regrets?
Na, I got lucky it wasn’t my neck that broke.
-RT

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Well I’m happy to hear you don’t need surgery. If you can get better with physical therapy then that’s a win. Surgery is never fun. Injury or no, I gotta give you major props for taking on motocross racing at over 40! That’s a VERY demanding sport. At least it left you with a good story to tell.

I remember when I was still working, towards the end. I didn’t talk to my co workers about my interest in motorcycles. One day I rode to work on my Triumph and this young woman I worked with was standing outside and I could see her watching me ride in. When I got off of my bike and walked up, I could see her surprise that it was me, and she said “Well, you just got more interesting!”

And so did you with your motocross racing!

Mailman said:

Wow guys! We could start an MRI club. I had one on my head a couple months ago that for whatever reason was a really long one. First one I’ve ever had, it wasn’t really too bad, the hardest part for me was the fact that I have arthritis in my neck and they wouldn’t allow me any neck support and my neck became very painful laying on that hard table so long.
I wish you guys a lot of luck with your conditions, I hope it all turns out well.
Randy, I had chronic shoulder pain for years, so bad I used to have to immobilize my arm some days. You know what cured it? Retirement....go figure, it was just repetitive motion inflammation.

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I just got an MRI this week on my prostate. Required for high PSA score of 3.8 which is 3 x normal which could indicate aggressive prostate cancer. According to the images; no mass or other densities, benign hyperplasia (abnormal cell growth which is not cancerous but consistent with an enlarging prostate in the majority of older men) I can't say enough about having health insurance. the majority of leans on people's houses come from doctors. Think of health insurance as you would think of putting a new roof on your home. I've had terrible debilitating headaches for many years. It is part iof my chronic colitis. As soon as I have a flare up of acute colitis, the headaches vanish. Some of those sleep remedies can cause hangover-type headaches and black-outs I'm in remission on a high dose of prednisone. I will go on Xeljanz and step down the steroid and if it works, I'll be on this as a maintenance drug. But life is uncertain at this time, because if it doesn't work and I step down on the Prednisone, a rapid relapse will occur, so I do what I can when i'm feeling normal. Just got my bike out of the garage and into the porch to work on. There's too many bikes in there (I think they're multiplying) Just dragged my Evinrude up from the basement to go on my Jon boat. Three projects at the same time. It's time for action. I built weight bearing support braces for a removable bed for my van, too. So I apologize for less interaction. Also went hiking on Sterling Forest Lake, today.

sorry to hear that you are still having gut issues. I think we are beginning to take the gut more seriously recently and appreciate what an important part it plays in general health.. So many chronic diseases seem to be linked to gut disorders.
I seem to spend half my day researching health trying to reduce all my debilitating health issues.

You've got a great place to work on your bike. Nice and warm with a great view of the outside and food and drink to hand...perfect.

The lake looks like an idyllic place to go and camp ,unwind and recharge

peanut said:

sorry to hear that you are still having gut issues. I think we are beginning to take the gut more seriously recently and appreciate what an important part it plays in general health.. So many chronic diseases seem to be linked to gut disorders.
I seem to spend half my day researching health trying to reduce all my debilitating health issues.

You've got a great place to work on your bike. Nice and warm with a great view of the outside and food and drink to hand...perfect.

The lake looks like an idyllic place to go and camp ,unwind and recharge

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I consider myself lucky, peanut, with the mountains and ocean and big rivers less than hour away. That lake is for hiking, mountain biking and x-country skiing. There are other parks to go camping. Last week we were mountain biking on a Hudson River Bike Trail and met a guy around 70 that had a heavy old Hybrid bicycle all packed out. He was going to Harriman State Park to camp overnight. Averill Harriman donated a huge swath of land to the State of New York along with John D. Rockefeller to make it public parks. Averill Harriman was an American statesman and a participant in the Allied Summit with Franklin Roosevelt and Churchill on a ship off the coast during WW II. Rockefeller was an oil magnate and one of the richest men in the country.

Goldenboy said:

I just got an MRI this week on my prostate. Required for high PSA score of 3.8 which is 3 x normal which could indicate aggressive prostate cancer. According to the images; no mass or other densities

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GB,
That’s great news that you’re not facing prostate cancer, I had it and had my prostate removed over 14 years ago.
Clean ever since. I’ve never heard of having an MRI to diagnose prostate cancer, that’s a lot better way than taking tissue samples.

Make sure you keep up with your PSA tests. Early detection is key.

If there was an upside to surviving cancer, it was the paradigm shift. You get a real clear focus on the things in life that really matter and a realization that most of the stuff you spent your time worrying and feeling pissed off about are unimportant.

Goldenboy said:

I just got an MRI this week on my prostate. Required for high PSA score of 3.8 which is 3 x normal which could indicate aggressive prostate cancer. According to the images; no mass or other densities, benign hyperplasia (abnormal cell growth which is not cancerous but consistent with an enlarging prostate in the majority of older men) I can't say enough about having health insurance. the majority of leans on people's houses come from doctors. Think of health insurance as you would think of putting a new roof on your home. I've had terrible debilitating headaches for many years. It is part iof my chronic colitis. As soon as I have a flare up of acute colitis, the headaches vanish. Some of those sleep remedies can cause hangover-type headaches and black-outs I'm in remission on a high dose of prednisone. I will go on Xeljanz and step down the steroid and if it works, I'll be on this as a maintenance drug. But life is uncertain at this time, because if it doesn't work and I step down on the Prednisone, a rapid relapse will occur, so I do what I can when i'm feeling normal. Just got my bike out of the garage and into the porch to work on. There's too many bikes in there (I think they're multiplying) Just dragged my Evinrude up from the basement to go on my Jon boat. Three projects at the same time. It's time for action. I built weight bearing support braces for a removable bed for my van, too. So I apologize for less interaction. Also went hiking on Sterling Forest Lake, today.

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Hi GB,
us Canadians have health care pre-paid through our taxes so most of us have no health-related money problems.
(having to swap from a 4-level split house to a bungalow after my wife's knee replacement was a different matter.)
Doc told me one time that "they didn't worry too much about what the PSA score was, the important thing was that it stayed the same."
All I've heard about Prednisone is that the cure ain't worth the side-effects.
Have you ever considered a retreat or sweat lodge to purge your body of all the drugs & nostrums you are pouring into it?
WOW! That's one major shitload of bicycles. Cull the herd man, it's yardsale season. Or tune 'em up and give 'em away.
Good that you found the time and energy to go hiking.
Alas that your van carpentry reminds me of what my Dad said when pulling out the 50+ huge nails that held a small cupboard in our house:-
"Christ was a carpenter. The guys that installed this cupboard will not get into Heaven."

Mailman said:

GB,
That’s great news that you’re not facing prostate cancer, I had it and had my prostate removed over 14 years ago.
Clean ever since. I’ve never heard of having an MRI to diagnose prostate cancer, that’s a lot better way than taking tissue samples.

Make sure you keep up with your PSA tests. Early detection is key.

If there was an upside to surviving cancer, it was the paradigm shift. You get a real clear focus on the things in life that really matter and a realization that most of the stuff you spent your time worrying and feeling pissed off about are unimportant.

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Thank you, Bob. that's a good philosophy. The MRI may be a correlating test. Biopsy may still be necessary. I'm glad you came through with a good quality of life.

fredintoon said:

Hi GB,
us Canadians have health care pre-paid through our taxes so most of us have no health-related money problems.
(having to swap from a 4-level split house to a bungalow after my wife's knee replacement was a different matter.)
Doc told me one time that "they didn't worry too much about what the PSA score was, the important thing was that it stayed the same."
All I've heard about Prednisone is that the cure ain't worth the side-effects.
Have you ever considered a retreat or sweat lodge to purge your body of all the drugs & nostrums you are pouring into it?
WOW! That's one major shitload of bicycles. Cull the herd man, it's yardsale season. Or tune 'em up and give 'em away.
Good that you found the time and energy to go hiking.
Alas that your van carpentry reminds me of what my Dad said when pulling out the 50+ huge nails that held a small cupboard in our house:-
"Christ was a carpenter. The guys that installed this cupboard will not get into Heaven."

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My wife's father had a sugar maple split and had to go to a single level ranch when his arthritis got the best of him, too. American Medical Association guidlines call for action when PSA levels are over 3.2, according to my urologist. Sorry to say that Prednisone has so many side effects, but according to the specialist at Robert Woods Johnson it's what works. Fred, I was two weeks from death in February, losing 3 lbs a day. And, yes I do have side effects, which are unpleasant at best. All my bikes that are not being used as parts bikes are in working order, and we ride 10 speeds touring bikes, English light weight 3 speeds, cruisers mountain bikes and one of our favorites is a 5 speed tandem I created from an old rental cruiser that was chained to a bike rack in Ocean City New Jersey for two years. $450 in parts and mountain bike wheels, 100 lb messenger bike tires, 28 feet of brake and shifter cables on an old Worksman tandem frame. Worksman has been making these bikes since the early 1900's and hasn't changed much. There's a Worksman website, almost like the xs 650 forum with Worksman owners posting pictures of the way they customized their bikes. Noone has converted theirs to a multi speed. I had to buy $150 worth of new chain rings to make it. And it will only take a 5 speed rear gear cluster for the 5/8" wide nickel plated Rust Buster drive chain. You need a 3/16" chain to use a seven or nine gear cluster. I may not be a jet mechanic, but I am a bike mechanic and they did have something to do with flight As for my carpentry skills, I make no presumptions. everything I build is overbuilt. My drill press/ grinder table can support the weight of my van. I built a frame on wheels for my Buffalo attic fan that looks like a Medieval battle engine...I've heard that a lot of people can build things, but only a few can make money at it.

Goldenboy said:

- - - ..I've heard that a lot of people can build things, but only a few can make money at it.

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Hi GB,
you heard that right. Me and two friends started building FRP versions of Lazy E plywood sailboats.
We quit after building 15 of them. I reckon we lost $250 per hull and wasted a year of our lives doing it.
Sorry I nagged you about the bicycle hoard, I didn't realize they were an obsession.
The van woodwork? 2x4s work OK no argument but so does jigsawn 3/4" plywood and it looks better.
And is the medieval fan mount shaped like an arbalest or a trebuchet? Post a photo?

Goldenboy said:

Worksman has been making these bikes since the early 1900's and hasn't changed much.

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The Post Office has thousands of these old Worksman bicycles , still in daily use. I used to ride one just like this. That’s my old friend Dan
Working out of my old office.

You can’t believe how much weight we would pile on them. I snapped the front forks one time , coming down off of a curb.

Well guess it's time for my update from post #485, that's the one where I had a bad day of getting an MRI.

Well got two little pills from doctor and when wife picked them up at drug store she said I was going to have to reimburse her for the bill. Those two little pills not much bigger that a grain of rice cost her $0.27! Have to wonder what the street value is on those!

Well took one an hour before the MRI and another half an hour before. While they did not knock me out they sure did the trick about as good as a pint of JD would have done! Did take till the next morning to feel safe trying to do anything more that watch the boob tube!

Late that same night I got an email from my doctor saying:
"You have an empty sella - it's a variant of normal, but is possible to cause headaches. I want you to see a neurologist.

So it sounds like I do have a hole in my head and I'm not totally normal, so nothing new, most people could have told me for years with out an MRI!

I won't try to explain what an "Empty Sella" is you can Google it if interested! I did and still don't fully understand it.

Still have a couple other doctors to see about these problems so story goes on!

Hope things work out OK.

Well Ken, I’m happy to hear your MRI went better this time. Good luck with your future tests, I hope things all work out well for you. It’s a hell of a thing as we get older we start being afflicted by things we never even heard of.
I keep having conversations with doctors that go like, “ What did you say I have? How do you spell that? “
Take care buddy.

fredintoon said:

Hi GB,
you heard that right. Me and two friends started building FRP versions of Lazy E plywood sailboats.
We quit after building 15 of them. I reckon we lost $250 per hull and wasted a year of our lives doing it.
Sorry I nagged you about the bicycle hoard, I didn't realize they were an obsession.
The van woodwork? 2x4s work OK no argument but so does jigsawn 3/4" plywood and it looks better.
And is the medieval fan mount shaped like an arbalest or a trebuchet? Post a photo?

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Come on , Fred, you must have enjoyed yourself building those boats. And you can probably do it in your sleep after building so many. Obsession ? More of a passion. Some people like to bake. I enjoy building bikes from discards. You,ve heard of rescue dogs. These are rescue bikes. The attic fan frame on wheels reminds me of a siege engine. Push it up to the castle walls and break the doors down with a battering ram. Believe it or not, with the van, there was more planning than building with 2x4's. If you look at the pix. in the front support, the small block is bolted to the wall. The next one sits on the wheel well and bears the weight. The outer block supports the bed and the bed is notched to prevent it from sliding forward. The rear support block is screwed to the back frame of the van. A small block is screwed to that and through-bolted to the plywood bed frame. This holds the rear of the bed down when you sit on the front. The whole thing is topped off with a 4'x6' piece of 6" foam as a mattress. The bed slips out in five minutes and the support brackets are unobtrusive and out of the way. Before doing this, I went online to see what others did in their postings. The big intricate trusses they made took away the storage space underneath and were not easily removed. I put the center stand (that Marlin sent me) on the bike with a little difficulty. Last year at this time I partially tore my bicept tendon by trying to put the stand on a 1/2" piece of plywood and the stand had a bent tang. But the new center stand bolts wouldn't mate with the castle nuts. I immediately was brought back to the reason I abandoned my VW's. The parts were made in Mexico and nothing fit right. So, I checked the threads with a metric thread guage. They were correct. Then I remembered a thread when someone, (maybe Gary) said it was the bevel of the thread. So I put a little cutting oil on a castle nut and used it for a dye, running it over the threads 'til smooth. Now they're married. Then I ripped my back wheel off to replace the brakes with the confidence of someone who knows they can completely disassemble a Saturn Five Rocket. I kicked the tire. It is a 35 year old Goodyear Eagle. It feels like a piece of hard plastic. So I went online and found a classic tire replacement at Bike Bandit called Shinko. It resembles the Eagle and comes in whitewalls, too. Two speed ratings, 110 and 130. (If you have any problems at 130 mph, just send it right back and your money will be cheerfully refunded) Then I put the motor on my gator boat and I'll admit that after the lifting and twisting I'm a little sore. Then I went outside because everything looked orange. It was a wonderful sunset...

Mailman said:

Well Ken, I’m happy to hear your MRI went better this time. Good luck with your future tests, I hope things all work out well for you. It’s a hell of a thing as we get older we start being afflicted by things we never even heard of.
I keep having conversations with doctors that go like, “ What did you say I have? How do you spell that? “
Take care buddy.

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I'm not sure where to put this, but it could fall under health issues. I met this older gent in a parking lot in Sault Ste. Marie before heading down the Eastern Shore of Lake Michigan. We were waiting for the wives in the super market and got to talking when he saw my Jersey plates. He mentioned that his son stopped by one night and looked like he just got punched in the eye. He said something came in the window of his car and hit him in the face. But it wasn't 'til the next day that he found a dead flying squirrel on the floor in the back of his car.
When I rode to Santa Fe, I was on a side street and a big drooling bull dog starts chasing me, so I looked behind me and punched the throttle and went through a big pot hole in the street and got away from the dog. I looked at the back wheel and the rim was fine, but unseen damage was done to the high speed Continental. I came back on RT. 66 and the whole Pennsylvania Tpke at times doing over 90. And since I was running low on cash I decided to attempt a thousand miles in a day and set a personal record. On the trip out when I was with two friends, we did 650 and I did another 450 or so straight down from Denver to Santa Fe across the desert at night. But I ran out of road because it's only 950 miles from Terra-Haute to Paramus, and it took me 19 1/2 hours. I found out you can only average about 50 miles per hour, stopping for food, gas and other pit stops. And I also found out my tail bone could scream, JESUS! When I got home, I gave the bike the once over and found a big bare spot in the middle of the back tire with all the nylon cords visible. The bare spot was really thin.
My friend was on his 750 Honda and a big bumble bee came right between his lips and mashed all over his teeth.
I was going 55 or 60 on the highway one night and big moth hit me below the Adam's apple and right below my face shield and felt like I got hit in the neck with a soft ball.
I was on the Garden State Parkway on a sunny afternoon and was just winding down from 75 to get off the exit for Seaside. I was wearing sneakers and tiddly-winked up a fan pulley which hit me in the toes of my left foot. Boy did that smart! In anticipation and with every intention of getting the bike back on the road. I just bought a pair of steel tip Wolverines. Very comfortable boots (Available at your local Tractor Supply Store)
I also mentioned before, that I hit a speed trap trip wire at night that almost wrenched the handle bars out of my hands. The cops should have never had that wire across the road 6 inches off the ground. What if a bicyclist came by?
Well, if anyone has a story of road hazards they would like to share and maybe put it in a more appropriate thread, please let me know. I think the combined knowledge and experience of the group about these events on millions of miles of roads would be helpful in anticipating and preventing mishaps and would also be of interest to everyone. Everyone must have at least one incident to share.
Pictures are the locks at Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinack Bridge and a tanker below on Lake Michigan.

Machine said:

Mornin’ Great weekend everybody ?
MRI & X-Ray combo provided good hard evidence at the specialists appointment that my shoulder injury is mostly a result of previous injuries combined with more recent inflammation and slight fraying of a ligament.
In my 40’s I attempted to ride the “over 40 class” in local motocross for a couple years on a very nicely modified YZ250.
Unfortunately either the bike or worse yet I, was broken during half of the experience.
Washougal WA has a very reputable out door track (google a video) where I had my best experiences , as well as my last experience..
When I landed upside down after leaving the track, dislocating my throttle wrist on the way out, I landed on my left shoulder and helmet.
Bike landed right on its head.
My collar bone fractured (crushed) out on the end in two places.
X-Rays show it is not perfectly aligned and causing slight trouble. A tear at that time healed okay though. A more recent “fraying” nearby on a different ligament is causing most of the pain perhaps. Anyway, No surgery scheduled. I gotta “man up” and rehab it all to a strong status again.
I’m taking this as real good news.
Also, I have extremely fun memories of riding that YZ on tracks so regrets?
Na, I got lucky it wasn’t my neck that broke.
-RT

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You have heart, Machine. But even way back in our 40's our bodies begin to shed water and become less plyable and flexible. On the advice of my primary care doctor( I see her and she sends me to four other doctors) I went to see a vascular surgeon two weeks ago for swelling in my left leg brought on by prednisone, which I am taking for colitis and from an injury after hitting a utility pole on black ice 40 years ago. It was a hydrolic effect injury as a sudden rush of blood blew the veins in my left leg when I smashed the muscle to the bone on the inside of the left knee and caused swelling and intense throbbing pain for a month afterwards. Now its a little bigger than the right with a lot of surface veins and some swelling. I always feared I would someday lose the leg from loss of circulation. I also had a doppler ultrasound and there are no deep vein clots(thrombosis) The surgeon also said no action is warranted so I keep exercising to pump oxygenated blood to the tissue. I walk, bike, exercise and lift weights. But, ahhh, to be fifty four years old again... Just for a day.

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