Grueling morning, but ...

Brennen had an appointment at Lucille Packard with his pulmonologist this morning. It was a grueling morning, because Brennen got really nauseated on the way to Stanford, then we had to wait forever for his bloodwork. However ...

His blood gas results look great! And he says, aside from the nausea which passed, that he feels good again. And the bridge of his nose has healed, so he is having almost no mask problems at night.

My frustration has been that he has been up and down since last September, but he is on the upswing again.

Can't wait 'till she gets her drivers license ...

Texting Teen Unaware As She Falls into Sewer

And it's not October ...

Drunk badger disrupts traffic in Germany

Brennen Update

Today was Brennen's semi-annual MDA Clinic visit at Lucille Packard. Naturally, one of the topics was whether he should transition to the adult clinic, since he's going to be 24. The decision was no, because even though his cardiologist and his ENT are on the adult side, his pulmonologist is still on the pediatric side.

The MDA Clinic is a gateway to other services as they are needed. For example, the Clinic first pulled in the pulmonologist when Brennen showed symptoms of sleep apnea. The Clinic also helped us get the genetic testing done to show that our daughter Shannon is not a carrier of DMD.

So, aside from Brennen getting older, the other topics we brought up today were:

• Might prednisone help Brennen? (While useful earlier in DMD's progression, the side effects aren't worth it during later stages of DMD)
• How can we find out about home nursing care should it be needed in the future? (The MDA rep gave us a contact)
• Are Brennen's "out of it" feelings consistent with a sinus infection, since that is how it is being treated? (Yes)
  
• Who should we talk to about Brennen's ventilator alarm problems? (Start with the respiratory therapist)

Ten out of the last 12 nights have been hellish because of ventilator alarms. Neither Brennen, nor Tracy and I, are sleeping well due to the eight to ten alarms a night, so this was really the most important topic. I followed up with both the repiratory therapist and the pulmonologist about this after the Clinic, and we discussed CPAP masks and a new one will be delivered soon.

The best news today was that Brennen's gained another 1.5 pounds and his blood gasses looked great. About as good as they have looked for years. So something's working.

Race Report

Last Saturday I ran the Henry Coe Hunting Hollow 5K, an out and back trail run. The field was limited to 200, but the very enthusiastic Red Power Divas made it seem like more.

The trail is relatively flat, but crossed by numerous stream beds. Luckily only two had water in them. But that's four wet crossings. My formerly white shoes required a good scrubbing afterward.

The event was well run; the scenery beautiful. The high point for me was seeing a doe and spotted fawn as I was warming up.

25th Anniversary

Tracy and I escaped for a couple of days for our silver wedding anniversary. Much thanks to Tracy's parents and Dallin for making it possible.

Pictures are at http://picasaweb.google.com/JeffTheTwoThirds/AnniversaryTrip.

Healthy again!

I just had to take a week off of exercising because of a sinus and ear infection. My muscles were cramping and my foot hurt, so I was sooooo glad to run 1.5 miles and do some lifting this afternoon.

The down time came as family was in town to celebrate Brennen's graduation. All the grandparents insisted that I get enough rest, so I did. [Thanks, to all of you!]

My June race will be the Hunting Hollow 5k/10k on the 13th.

Peace Talks

Ironically, the result of my internal peace talks has been discovering that I want two things most of all:

• Some time for peace and quiet
• Feeling in control of my commitments

For the first, I really like to have daily reading time Maybe 1/2 an hour. And I enjoy my monthly race, because I am not interruptable.

For the second, I learned that the only one who knows my schedule is me, so I have to decide what I can do. I did that, and it works. Weird.

My own tyrant

Isn't my wife

Or my boss.

My tyrant's face

Looks like mine.

In life's tug-of-war, I often permitted myself to be the rope. It just dawned on me (duh!) that a strategic end to my internal tug of war, now that I have a better handle on not becoming the rope in external ones, is my primary mission.

The peace talks have started.

I think I'll do that ...

See http://img2.pict.com/01/18/06/f2cc3c3e9c355a5631783c9669/SOqD0/2zcg.gif

Now imagine me doing that.

Now stop rolling on the floor laughing.

Slack-Man

Did you know that I can't please everyone? Or do everything? Go figure.

My counselor's been saying "You have to be happy with who you are."

I thought it meant that I shouldn't want to be better, but what it really means is that I have to understand and accept my current limits.

Looking back, I see a pattern of expecting myself to always act and feel as if I was much more perfect than I was. To accept tasks based on what I should be able to do rather than what I could do. To fear ruffling feathers because I might not handle it perfectly.

So, I have cut myself a huge piece of slack. Meet the flawed Jeff.

Ahh, Oregon

Oregon's naked frisbee team just needs some freedom

The two Jeffs

If you have read this blog for long you know that I lost a lot of weight, but have struggled to keep it off. After losing over 100 pounds, I started sabotaging my efforts and packed some of the weight back on. My cardiologist suggested that I get counseling to figure out why.

So I did. And it's been a series of "aha" moments that seem so obvious in hindsight. Here's the latest:

Since I sabotage my own efforts I must have internal conflict about the goal. I visualize that internal conflict as between "Skinny Jeff" and "Baby Jeff". Skinny Jeff keeps making plans and goals and lists that work for two or three days before Baby Jeff rebels.

So my task is to make peace between these two.

I have no internal conflict about exercising or racing. Skinny and Baby love these. It's the "take aways" that Baby Jeff doesn't like. My counselor says that I have so little "Jeff time" that this isn't surprising at all.

I made deal with myself that I would place some modest limits on eating high calorie foods, in exchange for some "Jeff time". It's a start.

Race Report: The Running Of The Bulls 5K

I ran The Running Of The Bulls 5K on Saturday. My goal was to keep a 10 minute/mile pace, and my official time was 30:32.

It was a very fun, low-key run. The added "motivation" in this race was to stay ahead of runners dressed as bulls and cows. I didn't get passed, though I couldn't catch the two costumed young ladies that started right ahead of me.

Tracy was happy that I wore the new green, white, and black running outfit that she got me for Christmas, but sad that I had to wear my white long-sleeve shirt too. It was a classic spring Silicon Valley race: you freeze until you get to the starting line; suddenly the temperature jumps 10 degrees; it's pleasant during the race; the temperature drops 10 degrees as soon as you cross the finish line and you freeze again. At least it feels that way. Layering is your friend.

After the race I took my boys to Chinatown in SF; Brennen had a class project. After I dropped the boys off and parked, I had to walk uphill to get back to the restaurant where they were filming (and eating). My right glutes and hamstring had stopped working sometime during the drive. I hobbled up the hill and slowly loosened up.

The best news: my foot didn't hurt! I plan to run a 5K a month now.

Nerds Are Easily Entertained

While on vacation last week I stayed at Tracy's aunt's house. I didn't bring shaving cream, so I borrowed her grandson Adam's. Adam is stationed in Fallujah and hadn't used the shaving cream for a while. As I tried to squirt some in my hand, it (the shaving cream) shot all the way across the bathroom and nailed the wall.

Naturally, I had to calculate the muzzle velocity of the shaving cream.

Before cleaning up, I took some rough measurements: 5 feet of horizontal travel; 2 inches of vertical drop.

Later, while driving, I did some rough calculations:

distance = half of the acceleration of gravity times the time squared
5 ft = 1/2 X 32 ft/sec/sec X t squared
t = the square root of 5/16ths = approximately half a second

The muzzle velocity: 5 ft/0.5 seconds, or 10 feet/second. That's 10 ft/second X 3600 seconds/hour / 5280 feet/mile, or approximately 7 miles per hour.

Doesn't sound very dangerous after all. Bummer.

It was only a matter of time ...

Pop star dressed as pineapple robbed

Don't be like Jeff

Last week I had a wonderful time visiting my daughter and son-in-law in Utah. I didn't exercise once. This Monday I headed for the gym, all raring to go. You can guess the rest.

Not only did I regress in my conditioning a bit, but by the end of Monday you coulda mopped the floor with me.

I promptly signed up for the Running of the Bulls 5k on 4/11 to force a little diligence.

I know I should be working but ...

I feel compelled to spread the word:

Investigation Shows How Flammable Adult Diapers Are

Dashed Hopes

Barry Manilow To Be Used Against Mall Rats

I was disappointed to learn that only his recordings were going going to be used.

Rude Computer

The fingerprint reader on my laptop is a convenient and time saving way to log in, but it is rude. Its favorite catty message is "joint detected". Why would it think that?