Saying Hello!

[Danariel]

Hello, all. I'm new to both TE and to biking (at least since childhood ended with the purchase of my own car.) I thought I'd share a little (ok, a lot, I know this is really long, but I think you'll find it interesting) about myself, and get some encouragement on my journey.

Another thing, my husband (DH I believe you call them? :-)) has also just gotten a bike, and has read some here on the forums, we are both signed up with the BikeSpeak forums, too, but TE seems to be very busy. He was wondering if it would be ok for him to sign up and post here, too, seeing as he is estrogen-challenged (though he may well have more than most guys, he's the epitome of the word gentleman, and he's often more sensitive to the feelings of others than I am, though he's working on me.)

Ok, now for the Too Much Information stuff.

My name is Tiffany. I am 35 years old, married w/2 dogs and 2 cats (these are our kids for now), and I live in Nashville TN. I'm a Gulf War Veteran, was an Auto Claims Adjuster for the past 6 years, am now unemployed but will be going back to school in October for an Associates Degree in Visual Communications (think Graphic Design plus) and am currently seeking a part time job to complement school.

I've had a pretty tough year, but it's beginning to really turn around for me. I was burned out on my job as a Claims Adjuster last year (if anyone has any Auto related claims questions, I'll be glad to answer them, but you'll also hear from me that Adjusters aren't the bad guys lawyer commercials make them out to be) so bad that I was having almost constant migraine headaches. I went to a Neurologist, and he gave me some sample packets of Relpax to try the next time I felt one coming on.

Begin Long Sob Story feel free to skip if you wish.

Friday, December 17th, 2004 about 8:00 pm, I began to see auras. Now I had never seen auras before, but they are a classic precursor to migraines. I grabbed one of the sample packs, looked on it, and couldn't find any dosage instructions or warnings or anything, there were two pills in little bubbles. Knowing I had never taken it before, I figured one had to be safe, so I took one and laid down immediately to sleep, hoping it would be gone when I woke up in the morning.

Saturday morning about 5:50 am, I woke up and realized that the impending migraine from the night before hadn't been stopped by the medicine. I have Mepergan for the really bad ones (but I HATE to take them, they make me feel dopey and stupid) so I figured I'd take some and lay back down, maybe I could sleep the dopey feeling away too. I got up, went to the bathroom, got out the Meps, poured a glass of water, had everything set up on the bathroom counter ready to take when - I felt an all-over body flush, instantly sweating (and I don't sweat) and nauseous. I figured I was gonna be sick, so I placed myself in classic prayer position in front of the Porcelain God, and sat there for about 5 minutes. The flush went away, so did the nausea, I never did vomit or anything, but as I got up to take my medicine and lay back down, I realized my left arm was hurting. I had read an article just the day before about arm pain with migraines, so it didn't worry me too much at first. I took the Mepergan, laid back down, but it kept hurting worse. I mentioned the pain to my husband, and he asked if I had hit it or hurt it on anything, and I told him no, then told him about the flush with nausea. He looked up the article I had read the day before, and he agreed that it was probably the migraine.

By this time, I was hurting so bad, I was holding my arm and pacing the house, panting and gasping from the pain, crying even. My chest began to hurt, above the left breast and more toward the center of the chest, not really where I think of my heart as being, and I started to get scared. The Mepergan wasn't working, so I had him call Ask-A-Nurse, and I talked to the guy. He said that it was probably the migraine, but that if it persisted and the meps didn't take care of it soon, I might want to go ahead in to the ER.

Well, for about 5 minutes it almost seemed to abate a bit...then it came back even worse. I told my husband we needed to go, and while he warmed up the car, I called my parents (who live 4 miles away from us) to let them know I was going to the hospital.

We get there about 6:45 am and they take all my vitals, blood pressure is 108/59, pulse is 64, temp is 97.8. They decide to do an EKG "just to rule anything out." They hook me up, and the nurse looks at it and says, "The Doctor needs to see this." I ask if anything is wrong, and she just repeats that the doctor needed to see it. She went to get him, and he comes in and asks me my medical history and medications. I tell him my medical history (no history of heart disease, 5'4" and 144 lbs, other conditions I have) and then I mention the migraine I'm still suffering, and the Relpax I took the night before. He said, "Ah, well that must have done it, because it appears you're having a heart-attack right now." Well, my husband says I went sheet white, and I KNOW I lost it, bawling my eyes out, terrified. Jon calls my folks from my cell phone (I didn't think they'd let you use one in the ER, but they didn't say anything) and I ask if Mama will come down. They give me an aspirin, and nitroglycerine spray under my tongue.

Mama gets there, and she and my husband are each holding a hand. A cardiologist comes in, and says what they'd like to do is a Heart Catheterization to see where the blockage is, and get it out. I got really scared at that, until he and my mom explained that it's a very minimally invasive procedure, where they make a tiny incision in the femoral artery at the juncture of thigh and torso (you know, the fold where your undies band runs in the front) and run a small tube up the artery to the heart. Mama explained that she had had one a few months previously (with nothing found) and that it was really nothing, so I give my consent.

They kept me awake (though groggy, there was some anaesthetic of some kind) through the entire procedure, and I got to see what the little camera saw, no plaque build-up, nothing but where the clot was, and that it looked like the artery had collapsed on the other side. They did Angioplasty, where they take a tiny balloon and inflate it in there, they sucked the clot out, and then the artery opened back up. No holes, no other apparent problems. They kept me overnight and ran a battery of tests but couldn't find anything else that would account for the heart attack BUT the Relpax. Relpax (and all triptans) is a vaso-constrictor, which means it constricts the blood vessels to minimize migraine pain. He said what happened was I had an Arterial spasm, and it closed off just long enough for the clot to begin and the artery to collapse on the other side, then once the spasm let up, it was blocked.

They took me off Birth Control Pills due to the increased chance of blood clots, I'm never to go near triptans again, and they had me on Plavix for about a month, with a baby aspirin.

I went back to work a week later, after a 6-week absence from almost constant migraines. Very little had been done on my files while I was gone, and I was so far behind. My performance had been poor due to the burnout and migraines before the heart attack, and after I just found it impossible to get my performance back to acceptable. I was fired for performance issues on March 30th, so I've been looking for a job and on unemployment for the last 4 and a half months. It's a really weird feeling, I've never been on unemployment before, and never been without a job for more than 3 weeks at a time since I was 16 years old.

Oh, I've lost 39 lbs since the heart attack, and I look about 10 years younger. I had my 6-month post heart attack visit with a stress-echo, and there was NO damage. Everyone (doctors and medical assistants included) has been really impressed by the weight loss. I attribute it to getting me off birth-control pills, and I haven't had a migraine either. Of course, I'm also stress-free.

My husband suggested me going back to school, and it was like an epiphany. So I cashed in my 401K, which had 15K in it to pay off part of our credit debt, we re-financed our house to pay off the rest, he's working two jobs, and I'm looking for something part-time.

End long sob story, resume bike related stuff.

Now Wednesday my husband and I went to 3 bike shops on West End in Nashville, and I looked at bikes. He and I want to get in shape, and he wants to commute to his day job (about 12 miles each way.) I first looked at a Giant Boulder SE at the Bike Pedlar, the sales guy put me on a 12.5" frame and it felt like a dream! Bear in mind, I've NEVER owned a quality bike. Then we went to Nashville Bicycle Co. and they let me sit a Hardrock Sport, and told me about the 2006 Women's Hardrock Sport that was so new they didn't even have a catalog with a picture in it. They had a small and a medium at their Franklin store, so today, just to make sure I really wanted the Giant, I went out to Franklin and tried the Women's Hardrock...and ended up with it instead.

It's an absolutely gorgeous electric satin blue, and the pictures really don't do it justice. The one I ended up with had higher end shifters than it's spec'd with (Specialized's mistake, and I reaped the benefits with no additional expense) they are SRAM X-7's instead of the X-4's. I'm 5'4" and 105 lbs, and I figured I'd end up with the small, but the sales guy thought there was just too much seat post showing, so I got the medium (15".) I can't wait to take to the trails around Percy Priest Lake.

If anyone is interested, Here's my Buzznet Page. If you look down the side, I have a Gallery for my bike, too.

I've gotten some really good info from you all the past two days, and I'm sure I'll get a lot more!

[KSH]

Thanks for sharing your story! That heart attack sounds so scary.... but it sounds like it made you improve your life and your health... so it had it's purpose.

Also sounds like getting rid of your stress improved your life as well! Stress can do so much to a body.

Congrats on your new bike and riding it as many miles as you can stand!

[jobob]

Wow, what an amazing story ! I'm very glad it's turning out well for you. That's wonderful how you're turning your life around like that.

Welcome to our little looney bin, hope you enjoy it

- Jo.

[Danariel]

Thanks a lot, everyone. I appreciate the welcomes!

Would it be cool for my husband to post here, too?

[AutumnBreez]

Thanks for sharing, things like this can be a helpmate for others, if anything were to happen from taking this medication, we could reference this info. Very thankful you are doing well and on your way to a grand adventure in cycling! Welcome to TE!

[DeniseGoldberg]

Would it be cool for my husband to post here, too?

Danariel -
Welcome to the forum, and wow - what a story you have. I'm glad to hear that you've recovered.

On your question about your husband posting here, I'm not a moderator here, just another participant, and I have nothing to do with TE policy, but here's a quote from the forum use policy:

The primary focus of this forum is women's cycling. Sub-forums exist for women's triathlon and general fitness.

You can see the full policy at http://forums.teamestrogen.com/faq.p...q#faq_policies

--- Denise

[singletrackmind]

Hello and glad you are here and on a bike, both of you!

If your DH does post knowing he's a dude would be nice. Lots of what's said could apply to anyone and what can't isn't (ususally) sleepover with the girls material, if anything it could be 'too much information'-more than a guy EVER wanted to know about a chick.

I think I just said it doesn't bother me (and that's just me, I am NOT speaking for anyone else here) and that I think we're naive if we think there aren't any other men lurking on this board. Does anyone else know of a bike board with the kind of support and lack of bashing as is on this one?

[LBTC]

Hi, Danariel! I'm pressed for time this morning and must read your long story later....but regarding your DH and the forum, I agree with the other ladies.

There are things here he'll read that he'll wish he didn't know! But there are lots of great tips to do with biking and lots of great support.

There have been a few guest posts by DH's....mine has, and I recall having seen one or two others. I think we'll all appreciate it if he always identifies himself as part of "team testosterone" so we all know!!

Welcome to the board, girl!

Namaste,
~T~

[singletrackmind]

Just was perusing another bike board to find a post of some woman's very suggestively tightly-t'd breasts....it's supposed to be a family board and this was put up by the moderator.
Oy.
That's one of many reasons why I like this board.

Which makes me want to add-I don't mind a man on the board, I'd just like it if he'd let us know AND keep to the spirit of the board. You know, support, humor, advice, and occasional non-suggestive but sweet-looking pics of George Hincapie and like......I'm sure those were posted strictly for educational purposes only!

[Irulan]

my 2¢

while there is nothing in forum policy that says men cannot post here, I for one like the fact that afaik this is a testosterone free zone. Sure there are the occasional guest posts by SOs, and who knows about lurkers, but I for one like the girls-only atmosphere.


Irulan

[SadieKate]

Danariel, has your husband checked out www.bikejournal.com? It is a very polite group and this forum even has their own team on it. The site gives you the ability to track your rides but also has a forum. Check it out.

[MightyMitre]

Hi Danariel - I have to agree with a few other posts. There are occasional discussions that might be a little too much info for even the most enlightened male. I'm not just talking about physical stuff, but sharing emotional stuff too.

I spend a huge amount of time with men, I've got 2 brothers, I work with 3 guys in a shop every day and lots of my cycling friends are men. In fact, I sometimes feel like I have to remind myself I'm a girl!!

What I'm trying to say is that I really appreciate this small, boy-free zone in my life and while I very much enjoy spending so much time with guys, I also need a soothing shot of estrogen every so often,to keep me sane.

Just my thoughts, and thank you for being so kind as to ask before your hubby just went ahead and signed up.

Liz

[bikerchick68]

Hiya and welcome! glad to hear you have recovered and made such huge and positive changes in your life...

also have your DH check out bicycling.com... the "Love Forum" is a bunch of nuts with some bashing etc but all the other forums are the serious forums... lots of knowledgable and nice people there too... I have met many of them now out doing rides!

[slinkedog]

Welcome Danariel! What a story! I'm glad you're okay and hope you have a blast riding and going to school! Looking forward to hearing more from you!

[Grog]

I too must say that I appreciate the girls' club atmosphere... I don't mind a DH/SO posting once in a while (usually using his DW's account) but I don't think it would be appropriate for a male to become a regular participant to this forum.

As for lurking: no problem!