Bud Baker
-
Posts
1,423 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Downloads
Store
Profiles
Forums
Gallery
Blogs
Events
Posts posted by Bud Baker
-
-
Yes, I'd say that Ned's scan is pretty big news, as long as the doctors don't find anything new. We don't get to hear of improvement this far down the line nearly often enough. Congrats and best wishes, Ned!
-
I admire you for your biking. I get winded so easily, I don't think I could do that. Was curious if you had breathing issues when you first started and if your hard work helped the breathing improve?
Judy, I've always had lung issues. When I was a child, I always seemed to be getting bronchitis, and I had pneumonia at 15 and again at 21.
But, having started cycling three years before I was diagnosed with lung cancer, I was already very fit, and hadn't had any lung issues at all until the months just before my diagnosis.
I tested high-normal at my pre-surgery pulmonary function test, and the tech seemed very surprised that I had been diagnosed with lung cancer. After surgery, I had terrible shortness of breath when I climbed hills on the bike, but I think it was just a case of having a body that was better trained than my lungs could keep up with (my lungs were the weak link, so to speak).
That improved a lot with time, but I also developed exercise induced asthma after the surgery. I still use inhalers to keep it from being too big of a problem. I'm not sure if it's because I was already close to being asthmatic and my remaining lung tissue having to work harder triggered it (that seemed to be Dr. West's theory), or if it's just because of scarring and damage from the surgery. I really think that some kind of aerobic exercise after cancer and surgery will go a long ways toward preserving what lung function you have and very likely improve it, even.
Riding a bike is a mixed bag for lungs, though. On one hand, with hours of elevated breathing on the bike, I can't imagine a better therapy for the lungs. But, all that elevated breathing means you will be breathing in more allergens, pollution, and everything else that's in the air. I'm convinced, though, that all my riding is the secret of my strong recovery and continued good health (of course, anyone who loves to ride would probably say that).
-
Good morning, everyone!
It was 59 degrees as I rode to work this morning. The forecast high for today is 85 degrees.
Ned, the CT results sound very promising. I'll join you in hoping the doctors don't find anything else. Judy, I hope you enjoyed your walk. I hope you're feeling better by now, Judy in MI, and you too, Stephanie.
Wouldn't you know it that yesterday, the day the weatherman forecast sunny and dry ended up being the commute day that got me the wettest? I got within three miles of home, then the downpour hit. Twice, when wind gusts reached 50 to 60 mph, I stopped and took refuge for a few minutes. A mile from home, I was coming down a hill to a stop sign. I was watching the intersection, rather than the road in front of me, and forgot how deep the water can get at the low spot in the road just before the intersection.
I hit the water too fast, then hit my brakes too hard, and was down on my right side instantly. Thankfully, skidding on concrete that has 11 inches of water on it removes a lot less skin than skidding on dry concrete, and I only suffered a minor scrape on my right arm.
As I stood in the garage, wringing the water from my skullcap, Rose stepped out of the house, took one look at me, and said, "Oh well, it's not like you haven't gotten wet before." (If you missed the humor in that, go back and read my post in Saturday's Air.)
Have a great day, all!
-
Good for you, Dana! My own journey to lose weight and get healthier started in 2003, after I suddenly put on a lot of weight after quitting smoking.
I studied nutrition, bought a stationary bike, and started slowly making changes to get me healthier. It was almost a year later, with not much weight lost, when I bought a bicycle and discovered that I loved riding as much as I had as a kid.
My diet is much improved these days, and I ride 140 miles a week on the bike. Every year, though, I see people start new exercise and diet programs, and give them up within a couple of months. The best advice I can give is to find the healthy changes in both nutrition and exercise that you can love, like, or at least be able to tolerate, long term.
But I don't think it ever gets easy. I'd been dragging around an extra 10 pounds for the last year and a half. It's amazing how hard it is to lose weight after cancer. The thought is always in the back of your head that lost weight = cancer back. We have scheduled scans to remind us that isn't necessarily so, though, and I'm almost back to my target weight again.
Good luck!
-
Bud, glad to hear your no-lead split shots and jigs are working well. Between that and biking to work, you're doing your part for the planet. Any patents coming soon?
Judy in KW
Judy, I'm still tinkering. Between working 45 hours a week and riding a bike 140 miles a week, it's going to be a while before anything really happens. I'm thinking I can at least prove things out and get my online store opened for unpainted jig heads and weights. The rest of it will probably have to wait until I'm not working full time any more.
-
Good morning, everyone!
It was 64 degrees as I rode to work this morning. It's a beautiful day, sunny, light winds, and a forecast high of 86 degrees.
Friday became the first day in almost four weeks that I didn't take any hydrocodone. I had been down to one pill a day for several days. I wasn't on hydrocodone that long after lung surgery! It says something about how painful shingles can be.
Rose, her sister, and I had fun yesterday, catching crappie at Cedar Creek Lake. It was another good crappie day, and we caught everything on the new lead-free jig heads I'm making. I've had a really good spring of crappie fishing, using them.
We also tried out some new split shot weights I made. They had to be made from a different alloy than the jig heads (a mostly bismuth alloy won't bend). I made them out of pure tin, and they worked very well yesterday.
Have a great day, all!
-
Good afternoon, everyone!
We had a serious downpour yesterday afternoon. At 3:00 pm, a half hour before I get off work, it was still pouring, and Rose sent me a text asking if I wanted her to pick me up at work. I thought the rain was going to let up by quitting time, so I answered no, that it wouldn't be the first time I got wet on the bike. Rose had just gotten home from her oncologist visit, where her latest blood test had confirmed that her tumor marker count was falling, and he pronounced her cancer free.
Sure enough, right on cue, the rain let up just before quitting time. I hit only light rain here and there on the way home, but the roads were wet enough that I was glad I have fenders on my commuting bike.
Since I had ridden to work four days in a row, and don't want to be too tired for tomorrow's fishing trip, when I will be taking Rose and her sister crappie fishing, I decided to settle for a short ride today. I did a loop south of Crowley, then followed my commute route north into Fort Worth, and stopped at a local bike shop, City Cyclist. I drank coffee and chatted there for a couple of hours before finishing my ride. I ended up with just over 40 miles.
Have a great weekend, all!
-
It was 73 degrees and cloudy as I rode to work this morning. They're calling for a high of 82 degrees today. I missed all the storms yesterday, watching them off in the west as I rode home. This afternoon may be when I finally get caught in the rain; it's not looking very promising right now.
Have fun with your sister, Laurie! Have a great day, all!
-
Carole, so sorry you suffered a collapsed lung. One of the worst things about this disease is that what the doctors do to you can be as bad as the disease. I'm sending positive thoughts that you'll recover well from this and have better luck with future treatments.
Yes, the surgery is pretty scary, but lots of us have gotten through it and done well. Good luck and keep us updated.
-
Good morning, everyone!
It was 71 degrees, humid, and cloudy as I rode to work this morning. There were storms just west of here, but their northeast movement was sliding them just north of me, so I went ahead and rode.
It's supposed to get up to 80 degrees this afternoon with more storms. In fact, the 10 day forecast is consistent: storms, storms, and more storms.
I stayed dry on the ride in, but whether or not I can on the ride home is iffy. There are fierce storms out near Abilene right now. Usually, whatever's in Abilene will be here in a few hours.
Judy in MI, sorry they didn't find the source of your pain. At least that's a few things eliminated. Heidi, always fun planning vacation time. Eric, that would be a fun trip. Let's both stay cancer free until I retire, and maybe I can make a trip to there.
Have a great day, all!
-
Good morning, everyone!
It was 75 degrees, cloudy, and humid with a 20 mph south wind as I rode to work this morning. It's supposed to get up to near 90 degrees again this afternoon.
As I was riding north on a flat stretch of Crowley Road just before Sycamore School Road, a Fort Worth Police cruiser pulled up beside me. The officer rolled down his window and said, "Just so you know, I clocked you doing 25 mph". We both laughed (I was in a 50 mph zone). He asked if I was always that fast on a flat road. I pointed out that I had a good tailwind this morning. He drove on, and as he pulled up to the red light at Sycamore School Road, I slowed and crossed behind him to get in the left turn lane. Just before I pulled up to the light, it turned green. This is one of those left-turn-on-arrow-only lights. My bike almost never triggers the arrow, so I normally just turn on a regular green light. On this morning though, I stopped and waited for the next light as I watched the police car travel through the light.
Ann, I've sat on a jury, too, though thankfully, it wasn't a murder trial. I hope everything gets back to normal for you soon.
Have a great day, all!
-
Eric,
Wow, some things are the same everywhere. I used to keep a small cigar lit all the time when I was fishing in the evening or at night to keep the bugs off. It wasn't such a good idea after all, it seems.
I'd love to see some of the lochs there. Lake Caddo is the only natural lake in the entire state of Texas (created by an earthquake in the 1800's). All other lakes here are manmade; they started out as creeks or rivers and man impounded them to make lakes.
-
Good morning, everyone!
It was 70 degrees as I rode to work this morning. It's supposed to get up to 90 degrees this afternoon, and I'll be battling a strong headwind on my ride home.
My sister had to evacuate her 28th floor office as the storms approached Oklahoma City yesterday. It sounded pretty scary. I was glad that it all missed us here.
Have a great day, all!
-
Donny, I still have a lot of pain from the shingles, but it's slowly becoming less so.
Heidi, bicycle riding distances are definitely relative. When I first started riding, I did 3 1/2 miles and was exhausted. When a co-worker found out I was riding 12 1/2 miles to work, he asked me if I was crazy. Of course, both of those distances are very short to me now. My longest ride has been 390k (243 miles), but I ride with randonneurs who routinely do 600k, 1,000k, and even 1,200k rides. So, as a randonneur, I'm a wuss. It all depends on your own perspective, I guess.
-
Great news, congrats, Bruce!
-
Dangit, it doesn't sound all that good, does it?
It says something that you had seen this kind of thing before and knew exactly how to best treat it. Even if it's progression, it sounds like very slow progression. I'm sending positive thoughts that there is no discernible change on the next scans.
-
With the places I hang out, it's always the cycling jokes that I hear. Here's another:
My neighbor found out that her dog could hardly hear, so she took it to the veterinarian. The vet found that the problem was hair in the dog's ears. He cleaned both ears,and the dog could hear fine.
The vet then proceeded to tell the lady that, if she wanted to keep this from recurring, she should go to the drug store and get some "Nair" hair remover and rub it in the dog's ears once a month..
The lady went to the drug store and bought some "Nair" hair remover. At the register, the druggist told her, "If you're going to use this under your arms, don't use deodorant for a few days."
The lady said, "I'm not using it under my arms." The druggist said, "If you're using it on your legs, don't shave for a couple of days."
The lady replied, "I'm not using it on my legs either. If you must know, I'm using it on my schnauzer."
The druggist said, "Stay off your bicycle for about a week."
-
Good morning, everyone!
It was 66 degrees when I got up this morning. The forecast high for today is 88 degrees, and the wind is supposed to be blowing 30 mph this afternoon, with a chance of storms.
I enjoyed my week off work. I did some fishing and some things around the house. I guess I should have asked for a hall pass. I got out of my routine, and just never did stop by here and post.
I did a 125 mile ride with a couple of friends Saturday, my first long ride since I got shingles three weeks ago. It was nice to start to get back to normal.
I hope everyone had a good week last week. Have a great Monday, all!
-
Congrats, Dana! I'm past two years now, too. Let's make it a bunch more!
-
Good morning, everyone! TGIF!
It was 72 degrees with a south wind gusting at over 30 mph as I rode to work this morning. Storms are approaching, but they're supposed to be gone by the time I head home, and it's supposed to get up to 86 degrees this afternoon.
Rose is home. She's sore, but doing well. I'm on vacation next week, so when I leave work this afternoon, I won't have to return until a week from Monday. I'm not making any far away trips, just going to do some fishing, and some things around the house.
I hope your eyes are better soon, Judy. Have a great day, all!
-
Good morning, everyone!
It's 62 degrees with a howling south wind this morning. It's supposed to get up to 85 degrees this afternoon.
There will be no ride to work for me this morning. It's surgery day for Rose, reconstruction and they are removing her port, so I will be taking her to the hospital in a couple of hours.
Have a great day, all!
-
Welcome, Keli! I'm not in your situation, but I wanted to welcome you anyway.
Stage 3 is the most controversial when it comes to treatment. Even doctors armed with your scans and all the best information they can get don't all necessarily agree.
GRACE is a great place to post medical questions regarding lung cancer. The doctors there are lung cancer experts.
I'm sure you'll have responses here from others whose circumstances are more similar to yours. Again, welcome!
-
Good morning, everyone!
It was 45 degrees as I rode to work this morning. It's hard to believe how many 40 something degree mornings we're still having here, this close to May. But the warmup is coming. It's supposed to be 82 degrees this afternoon, and 86 degrees tomorrow afternoon.
Here's geography for the day. Crowley is a south suburb of Fort Worth. Fort Worth is the 17th largest city in the United States, and was established originally in 1849 as a protective Army outpost.
Have a great day, all!
-
Good morning, everyone!
It was 45 degrees as I rode to work this morning. The forecast high for this afternoon is 75 degrees.
Enjoy group and dinner, Judy! I hope Stan has a good day fishing. Have a great day, all!
Update to "Test time again"
in MEMBER UPDATES
Posted
Dawn, if there was ever a place to vent, this is it! Sorry you're having so much trouble getting the treatment you want. Congrats on the scans, though!