No News is, well, No News

I'm going to stop updating people on my brain / surgery status, because my operation has been delayed twice and has a likelihood of being bumped again and again. As such, I'm just going to live my life and post bikey stuff on this blog instead. Right after this.

I have repeatedly sung the praises of the Canadian health care system and will continue to do so. Some of my friends have pointed to these delays saying "see, this is what free health care gets you; long waits. If you were in the States (USA) you would have been done by now (if you had the insurance or money)".

I take issue with that idea in my case. We have spoken with my neurosurgeon's office at length and we now understand a little more about this situation. The surgery I require can be done by very few people. Neurosurgeons who do what I need are very few and far between and the surgery itself requires a large team and lots of time, such that my surgeon does about 4 big operations a month. I have not been back-burnered as a less urgent case. I am a Priority 2. The only higher priority is assigned to people who will die without emergency surgery. These emergencies happen, and bump me and every other priority 2 down the calendar as needed.

If I were to "shop around" in other countries, I would not find vascular neurosurgeons specializing in AVMs just waiting to take my money, or if I did, I would have to wonder about their qualifications. What I need just isn't like that. It is way more uncommon than even complex heart surgery. People as rare as myself just have to wait; that is the whole story. There is nothing to be gained by being the squeaky wheel or looking further from home; I am lucky enough to have one of these rare specialists right in my city. I remain blessed in many ways, by my country's health care system, by my geographic location, and on and on.

So that's it. No more updates on this stuff will be forthcoming. Also I still want a fat bike but can't justify the expense among all the other stuff we should be spending any spare cash on. If you loved me, you would send me a fat bike. Fat bike please. C'mon, I have a weird thing in my brain. So give me a fat bike.

Fat Bike.

R A N T W I C K

PS - If one of my dear readers sent me a fat bike, I would not accept it. That was supposed to be a joke. If you have cash to throw around please give it somebody in real need. On the other hand, if some Bike Company with a soft spot for weirdos knocked on my door with a fat bike, how could I say no? (See above for wink).

Strokie Joe No Go

For anyone who's been seeing me post recently who thought, hey wait, I thought he was gonna be in brain surgery, my operation has been postponed until October 26. One feature of Canada's health system is that those in greater need can bump others. I'm sure this is a feature of even more privately funded systems, since triage is a fundamental principle in all health care as far as I know.

I was not given a reason; I'm assuming somebody with a more urgent need for a neurosurgeon got my spot; although I'm disappointed, if that person had been someone I loved I would have said, "hell yeah, bump that rantwick guy".

Anyway, October 26 is the new date to expect this blog to go silent for a bit.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

Strokie Joe Now Knows Mo - AVM

Some of my regulars would know that I had a stroke about a year and a half ago. That's why, especially when I'm being clumsy or dizzy or whatever, my family (myself included) calls me Strokie Joe. I still experience more fatigue and headaches than an un-stroked-out person, but otherwise I am back to normal. My bike rides are getting longer and more frequent; life in general is good.

The other Strokie Joe, in the Sno befo, but not no mo.

One thing that has always bugged us was that we had no clear reason for my stroke. Until now! The radiologists assigned to my case were not content to let clear MRIs even a year later dissuade them from looking harder, with an Angiogram. Wouldn't you know it, they found the cause of my stroke, an Ateriovenous Malformation, or AVM, in my cerebellum where the bleed causing my stroke was. An AVM is basically a congenital birth defect (not hereditary, thankfully) where you get Arteries dumping straight into Veins without the usual Capillaries in between. Sooner or later these things usually bleed, which was the cause of my stroke.

The bad news is that if left alone, my AVM could quite possibly bleed again and kill me. The good news is that it is quite operable and a neurosurgeon is going to take the sucker out. With a successful surgery, I will never have to worry about another stroke from this thing. The damage from my stroke will not be undone, but like I said, life is good so that's fine.

My surgery is currently scheduled for October 2. It is full blown day-long, knocked out, hole in yer skull kind of surgery involving a couple of months recovery time. Honestly, I can't wait. Just one hurdle and the Rantwick family can leave all this behind. The way I see it, I was lucky to live through my stroke, lucky to recover very well and now I'm lucky to have a permanent fix on the near horizon. Since I'm writing for an audience largely based in the States, I am also incredibly lucky to live in Canada, where questions of who's going to pay for this don't really come up. I'm scared, for sure, but feel way more lucky than anything else.

As I've stated before, I don't want this blog to be about stroke or AVMs, so my next post will be cycling related for sure. Cycling, particularly those longer rides when you fall into the joyjoy rhythm of the bike and feel like you could pedal forever, remains the best brain tonic available. 

When I stop posting for a bit come October, cross your fingers, say a prayer, howl at the moon or whatever the hell you like if you think it will help, and I will update everyone as soon as I am able. 

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K

PS - Yes, that is a heavily modified Homer head and yes, I am fully aware this gag is stolen.

We Shall Not Speak Of This Again

Hi all! I have the BEST excuse for not writing ever. I had a stroke! Honest to god, yer pal RANTWICK had a scary incident involving a brain hemorrhage in his cerebellum. Your cerebellum is at the bottom, right behind the brain stem, which in my case was in danger from the bleed; I was super lucky to live through it. I am even luckier that a full recovery is likely, although it may take some time.

One reason things look good is that I'm 46 years old, which is young for a Strokie Joe. Strokie Joe is my new nickname around the house. My balance and motor skills with my arms have been affected such that cycling as a rehab goal may be possible by late summer. We shall see. At first my speech was halting and slurred, but it is almost back to normal now, so who knows, maybe it'll be sooner.

I had my stroke on March 29 under the best of circumstances. My wife and I were together at home and an ambulance took me to the best hospital in the COUNTRY for strokes, University Hospital at Western University in London Ontario. The level of competent care and compassion I got there still brings tears to my eyes when I think about it. I was there for 9 days. There was no findable cause for any of this. Scary, right?

I wasn't kidding with the title of this post. I wanted my online friends to know what happened, but I don't want this blog to be about this stuff at all. There are plenty of good online sources of online information and discussion about brain and rehab stuff. If you want to engage on those topics I recommend you try those. If, on the other hand, you have an appetite for the random ravings of an affable bike freak, I'm still yer man. My faculties, while still "special" as ever, have not been affected.

You can expect the next post to be a return to form. It may be about wheels or video or headsets, but definitely not heads. Well, I guess it could be about heads; I never really know. But not my head. Nuh-uh.

Yer Pal,

R A N T W I C K