The Internet (and my wife) Literally Saved my Life

A couple of weeks ago, I slipped on an icy sidewalk taking out the garbage and thought I’d sprained my ankle. (Nice timing: by the next day, all the ice and snow was gone!) Although I felt something go “pop” inside, I was sure it wasn’t broken because within five minutes I could put a little weight on it (I limped back into the house) and within an hour was able to put almost my full weight on it. I spent the morning elevating and icing it. At lunch, my wife came home from work and insisted she take me for an x-ray. The doctor assured us it wasn’t broken but took an x-ray just in case. Was he surprised to see a double break in the fibula just above where it meets the ankle. Also, the entire ankle was dislocated a few millimeters to the left. (And of course it was sprained too, but that goes with the territory.) I had surgery that night to screw a plate into place to hold things together and reset the ankle displacement.

Life is a hassle dealing with an immobilized leg and crutches: you can’t carry anything so someone has to fetch stuff for you, taking a shower is a major production, stairs are scary, and I have to keep my leg elevated a lot to keep my foot from swelling too much. So, that means only a couple of hours a day at the computer and sleeping in a spare bedroom on the main floor of our house. My poor wife Peggy: her work load about tripled: doing all of my household chores in addition to hers plus taking care of me. I’m going to owe her big time once I get back on my feet!

Fast forward almost two weeks. Feeling like my life is on hold for six weeks but getting through it OK. Virtually no pain in my ankle. We drove to Winnipeg for the Canada West Short Track Speed Skating Championships, which my son qualified for. After a day of watching skating on Saturday, I developed a low-grade fever and some back pain right after dinner. It cleared up Sunday, but then I awoke about midnight Sunday night to the most excruciating pain I’d ever felt. Every breath felt like someone was stabbing me with a knife in my left-side ribs. I took some muscle relaxants and after they kicked in, I was able to fall asleep sitting up (laying down was still too painful).

Monday was much better. Still had a low-grade fever but the rib pain was manageable. We drove back home from Winnipeg and Peggy and I discussed what could have caused the pain and fever. I was sure it was pulled muscles in my ribs: I’d been sitting in a cold arena for a couple of days, getting up and down the bleachers, probably straining muscles in the process. I had something similar happen about six months earlier: I sneezed while in an awkward position and pulled the muscles in my right ribcage, and this felt just like that. However, I couldn’t explain the fever, so Peggy had me Google “fever after surgery” on our iPad while I rested on the couch.

The most common cause is infection, but since I didn’t have any pain in my leg, I doubted that was it. A few others didn’t make sense in my case, but one thing did seem slightly reasonable: pulmonary embolism. Circulation in an immobilized leg is reduced and as a result, a clot can form. If part of the clot breaks off, it can travel up and get stuck in the lung, causing chest pain, especially when taking deep breaths, and low-grade fever. However, it’s also often accompanied by altered heart rhythm, shortness of breath, and other symptoms I didn’t have. Plus the pain really felt like it was in my ribs rather than in my lungs and I didn’t think muscle relaxants would relieve lung pain. I was about to write that one off too when a sentence caught my eye: pulmonary embolism is fatal if untreated. I mentioned that to Peggy and she insisted we go to the ER the next morning. I agreed, thinking we’d eliminate that possibility and find the real issue.

After some preliminary tests, the doctor figured it was either a clot or pneumonia. I told him “I hope I have pneumonia. Hmm, I doubt that’s a sentence that’s been said before”. He laughed but agreed with me. After more tests, x-rays, and even a CT scan, the diagnosis came back: pulmonary embolism. Crap.

Fortunately, the treatment is straight-forward: blood thinners for six months to prevent further clotting and eventually the existing clots will erode. Blood thinners have their own hassles—I have to inject my belly twice a day for the next four days with a fast-acting blood thinner; I need daily blood tests for at least a week to make sure the dosage of blood thinner pills is correct; certain foods, such as spinach, are off limits; bruises form easily; I have to wear a compression stocking after the cast comes off (like that won’t make me feel like I’m an 80 year-old); and alcohol is discouraged (nooooooooo!). However, the doctor and several nurses told me while I was unlucky to have this happen, I was lucky it was a small clot (a larger one could’ve caused sudden death) and that we came into the ER early (lots of people wait for days, hoping the symptoms will go away on their own).

So, there are two morals to this story (well, three: stuff happens, so deal with it):

• Don’t be afraid to get an unlikely, even exotic-sounding, potential problem checked out. No one will laugh at you. Google is definitely your friend.
• Always listen to your wife. Always. She is smarter than you.

On the Catwalk Again

Last week, my wife Peggy and I both modeled in a fashion show fundraiser for Sofia House, a second stage shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence that Peggy used to be the Executive Director of (she now works for the United Way as Director of Community Investment). It was her first time, so she was a little nervous. Fortunately, I’d done it before.

We were both in four sets, although only one together, showing casual, business casual, and business outfits from local shops. Most of the models this year were inexperienced, so we had several practices in the weeks before the show. Things were a little rough even in the dress rehearsal the night before the show, but everyone magically pulled together on the actual night and it went without a hitch. It was likely the beer and wine we had backstage that settled the nerves.

This year’s theme was “Mamma Mia”, so all of the sets were done to ABBA tunes (I still have several running through my head). We could tell the 500 women (and a few men) in attendance were having fun because of all the smiles and singing along to the familiar songs.

Here’s the first set Peggy and I were in; she’s on the left. Everyone had to wear glasses for this set (which I normally do, so I didn’t need a fake pair like she did); I guess it made us look more business-like. I also have a wad of (fake) $50 bills in my coat pocket because the ABBA song playing was “It’s a Rich Man’s World”.

I had to do another set where I wasn’t actually modeling clothes. In case you can’t tell, we’re all wearing flippers. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know why. In addition to doing muscle poses, we also had to do the can-can together. I think this skit got the loudest reaction from the audience.

I’m not sure how much money the fashion show raised this year, but it’s was likely as least $15,000. Since Sofia House gets no government funding, everything they make comes from private donations, organizations like the United Way, and fundraising efforts from the dedicated board, making this a very worthy cause. Plus it was a ton of fun to be involved in.

Racing Again

This past Saturday, the Regina YMCA once again held the event I look forward to all year: Echo Challenge. Our team, Thunder, competed in 2007 and 2008, and with three original members and three new ones, we were up to the challenge.

For the second year in a row, my Wednesday evening ride before Echo Challenge was marred by a bike crash. This time, it was on the cool-down part of my ride around beautiful Wascana Lake. As I came around a corner, a woman on another bike going the opposite direction was in my lane, coming right for me (she wanted to turn left but didn’t check for traffic first). We both tried to veer out of the way, but ended up side-swiping each other and down we went. My left wrist hit her bike, smashing my watch, spraining my wrist, and leaving a watch-shaped bruise. We both made sure the other was OK, and I continued on my way home. A couple of hours later, my right knee tightened up. By morning, I could barely walk because I could neither bend nor straighten my leg. Stretching and ice helped, but I figured Echo was no go this year, which really bummed me out. Fortunately, with lots of stretching, the knee loosened up a fair bit over the next couple of days, so I was able to ride after all.

Saturday started out cool and a little rainy, but by mid-morning, it was beautiful: about 24C (75F), cloudy, and some wind. I had a chance to meet our new team members, including our swimmer who’s only 12 (but a member of a local swim team).

The swim event was first: 750 m in the cold lake waters. That has to be the toughest leg, but Jamie did great, finishing in 13:34, good enough for 11th of 18 teams and almost nine minutes faster than last year’s swimmer. He tagged Lisa, our hill runner, who finished in 5:15 (placing her 10th) despite struggling with a sudden flare-up of asthma.

Here’s a photo of Nick and I waiting for the cycling leg to start. You can see the lake and the hills where the cycling route goes in the background.

Lisa tagged me and off I went. Although my knee was a little stiff, I managed a speed of about 45 kph (28 mph) for the 1.5 km to the start of the hills. I passed seven other cyclists, all in their twenties, and went down the final hill at over 50 kph (31 mph). However, I was significantly slower than last year: this year’s cycling leg was longer, but my time over the hill part of the race was 21:11 vs. 16:29 last year. Part of it was the knee, part was a head-wind we didn’t have last year, but the major part was I wasn’t in as good shape as I was last year. Here’s a shot of me at a relatively flat part of the hill section:

I ended up finishing 8th, which was pretty disappointing. However, there were a lot of new faces in the race this year, many of whom are serious athletes, and I was the second oldest cyclist, so I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad.

Here’s a shot of Nick and I at the end of the race:

I tagged Bob, who finished the 7 km run in 34:30, 1:30 faster than last year, 16th of the 18. Finally, Mike and Adrian finished with the 1.6 km canoe event. Their time of 32:33 was two minutes faster than last year, putting them in 17th.

Overall, we finished 17th out of 18 teams, not as good as last year, but it’s for a good cause. Unfortunately, donations were down this year, but hopefully we can get more teams out next year and get donations back up again.

Congratulations to the YMCA staff and volunteers for putting on a well-organized and fun event once again. I’m already dreaming of next year’s event!

Southwest Fox, Post-Conference

On Monday, Rick and Therese Schummer headed for Sedona for their annual "corporate retreat". I also planned to go to Sedona, but my wife Peggy and son Nick didn't arrive until Tuesday, so I spent Monday taking it easy: sleeping in, working on emails, and getting some exercise.

Before they left for home, Tamar, Marshal, and I went to the Desert Botanical Garden near the airport, where we had a great time seeing a lot of varieties of cactus and other desert plants. I picked up a car at the airport, went back to the resort, worked for a couple of hours, then drove Christof to the airport. When I returned, I hung out with Craig Boyd and Bo Durban for a while, who are here for a couple more days working on a project together, then worked for another hour or so before the three of us went out for Mexican.

Tuesday, I picked up Peggy and Nick and we drove to Sedona. Although I've been there several times on day trips, I've never stayed there, and Peggy and Nick have never been to Arizona at all, so we were all really looking forward to a few days there (it was my 50th birthday celebration). We stayed at A Sunset Chateau, a very nice bed and breakfast with a great view of the mountains. We met Rick and Therese and they took us sightseeing to some of their favorite spots around Sedona, then went to a Japanese restaurant for a great meal. Here are some photos of the area around Sedona:

On Wednesday, we headed to the Grand Canyon. On the way out of Sedona, an engine light came on in the rental car, but it was for traction control, which I've had on my car from time-to-time, so I didn't think it was too serious. However, as soon as we got on the highway, I noticed that the engine was definitely lugging; I couldn't get the car to go over about 65 MPH even with the gas pedal floored. Since it was only about 40 miles to Flagstaff, I figured we'd get a replacement car there. Unfortunately, we didn't even make it that far: about 10 miles later, going up a steep hill and passing a slow-moving truck, the engine died and a message said that starting was disabled. It was a little scary trying to get the car off the side of the road with other cars zooming around us, and in fact I couldn't even get the car way all the way out of the right lane. I immediately told Peggy and Nick to get out of the car to be safe and flagged a couple of other cars over to help push it the rest of the way off the road. A nice couple on their way to Flagstaff gave us a ride to the Budget booth at the Flagstaff airport, where the folks there quickly got us going with another car. The rest of the way to the Grand Canyon was thankfully uneventful.

We had a great time at the Grand Canyon. It's one of those places that no matter how many times you go (this was my second visit), it's still awe-inspiring. We stopped at several viewpoints and spent several hours at the Grand Canyon Village. After a long drive back to Sedona, we finished with a very nice dinner at a gourmet pizza restaurant not far from our hotel. Here are some photos of the Grand Canyon. You can't really get a sense of the scale, especially in a photo, but the far side of the canyon is 11 miles away.

We did some sightseeing Thursday, starting with Oak Creek Canyon and Slide Rock State Park. Slide Rock is a very cool place: a natural water slide you can have a lot of fun in. Unfortunately, it was a little too cool to go in the water, so we just enjoyed the vistas while Nick splashed around a bit. We then went to Tlaquepaque, a gorgeous Mexican-inspired village in Sedona full of art galleries and stores. After lunch, we did a bit of shopping on the main street in Sedona, then went on a Pink Jeep tour of Broken Arrow Canyon. Wow, that was amazing. The jeeps went places I didn't think any vehicle could go, including what seemed like nearly vertical inclines and declines. Highly recommended!

We headed back to Phoenix on Friday and mostly took it easy: a couple of hours at Amazing Jake's riding go-karts and rock wall climbing (yes, even me), some pool time, a movie (Lakeview Terrace, with one of my favorite actors, Samuel Jackson), and then a very nice late dinner at Joe's Crab Shack.

Saturday's return home was uneventful, which is my favorite way to travel. All in all, a great family mini-vacation. Now it's time to catch up: it's been two weeks since I've been in the office and couldn't send emails since Tuesday (I had an Internet connection but my mail server would only let me receive, not send, emails).

Another Fund Raiser

Last month, we were at another fund raiser for Sofia House, a second stage shelter for women and children escaping domestic violence. This was a little more sedate than last year's fashion show, but my son Nick and I did have to get dressed up so we could be ushers. He was considerably more popular with the ladies than I.

This year's show raised over $10,000 for Sophia House. Since the organization gets no government funding (which is a crime considering that our provincial government is wallowing in cash right now due to high commodity and oil prices), everything they make comes from private donations, organizations like the United Way, and fund-raising efforts.

The Big 5-0

Today I, to use Tamar's words, "reached the top of the hill" (she's just a couple of days behind herself). Although I may look my age (I was considered to be the poster boy for the "this is what 40 looks like" birthday party at DevCon in Orlando ten years ago), I certainly don't feel it. I think I'm in better shape than I've been in 20 years.

Well, except I notice that injuries take a lot longer to heal. I actually had physiotherapy today for the first time in my life to help with my injured shoulder. And although I love snowboarding with my son, I definitely feel it the next day. And those darned kids with their loud music. I have to go chase some of them off my lawn.

.Me Domain Available

GoDaddy is offering .Me domains for $19.99 a year. Unfortunately, all the good ones, like Bite.Me, Eat.Me, and several other unmentionables are already taken.

Interview with Canadian Developer Connection

I was interviewed last week by Canadian Developer Connection: http://blogs.msdn.com/cdndevs/archive/2008/07/17/mvp-insider-q-a-with-doug-hennig.aspx

Another Day at the Races

On Saturday, I competed in my second Echo Challenge, a fund raiser for our local YMCA to help disadvantaged kids go to summer camp and many other important programs run by the Y. Our team finished much better this year, placing 11th of 19 teams. That's not bad, considering we finished last in 2007 and many of the teams are comprised of 20 year old athletes.

Conditions were ideal this year: warm (about 24 C or 75 F) and little wind. The lake was like glass, which was much easier on the swimmers (last year, swimmers had a hard time catching a breath in the meter-high waves). Our swimmer finished ahead of last year's pace, in 13th. Our hill runner did great, finishing in the fastest time, which was tough considering both the competition and the fact that the leg was lengthened by about a kilometer this year.

I was a little nervous about this year's bike ride. On Wednesday, I was doing some hills to train for the event and a combination of new shoes and pedals (the click-in kind, which I've only used once before) and someone in a truck cutting me off on a gravel road up a hill resulted in a nasty crash. I had a lot of gravel-embedded road rash on my right forearm, leg, and back, but the worst part was my shoulder; I landed on my right shoulder and although it didn't hurt much then, by the time I got home it was agony. I got x-rays Thursday morning and fortunately nothing was broken or separated, so it was just soft tissue damage. It was a little better by Saturday morning but still very sore and tight. Fortunately, cycling is all lower body, so I was hoping it wouldn't be too much of a factor. I also have a dark purple bruise the size of a football on my right hip, but there's no pain, so I wasn't worried about it.

This year, I decided to use a road bike rather than a mountain bike and it made a huge difference. It wasn't a very fancy bike -- a $149 no-name brand -- but the lighter frame and much smaller tires really helped. (I did not, however, use the new shoes and pedals.) The other big difference was no head-wind this year. As a result, I felt like I was flying through the race. I passed three other cyclists like they were standing still and felt so strong I didn't even shift down on most of the hills. As they did last year, Peggy, Nick, and friends cheered me on at the start of my leg, drove ahead and cheered me on again, but couldn't beat me to the finish line because of traffic on the narrow, hilly road.

Here's a shot of me just starting off, with my son Nick chasing me:

I finished the 9.45 km race in 16:29, an average of over 34 kph, which I figured was pretty good for an old banged-up guy. It turns out that was the second fastest time of the day, which I was extremely happy about, considering the number of 20 year olds in the race. The only humbling thing was the fastest cyclist finished over a minute ahead of me, and he was in his 60s! He's a serious cyclist, though, with an $8,000 carbon fibre bike and a body that looks like he's made of steel, but he's in my sights for next year.

Here's Nick and I after the race:

Our swimmer from last year was our runner in the 6 km run this year, and he fared much better in this event, finishing 14th. Our canoeists also did much better this year (considering they swamped the canoe last year, they couldn't have done worse), also finishing 14th for their leg.

Echo Challenge raised over $25,000 for the YMCA this year, up significantly from last year. It felt great to have fun, engage my competitive side, and do something worthwhile for the community. I can't wait for next year!