Welcome Back!

Wasn't really sure what to name this new entry, but I thought that "Welcome Back!" is fitting after being off for two seasons. Those who are close to me, know and understand why I was forced to take two competitive years off. And that is where I will re-start my blogging. Sorry, but this first one may be long, it's been over two years since I last posted.

The 2008 Olympics were successful, but I tore my left Patella tendon 3 days before qualifying (not complete and in-fact probably really small). That wasn't the only thing going wrong with me that year. I had chipped cartilage in my right knee in May before qualifying. This didn't make throwing a javelin easier. The big issue was my heart!

After the Olympics, I also accepted a teaching position at Basehor- Linwood Middle school as there Boys Health & P.E. teacher (more on this in another post). I also got married in November of 2008 to my now wife. Everything was great, except my body which felt like it was falling apart. Now, back to the heart.

You might say, "YOUR HEART!?!?!?" How does an Olympian have issues with there heart. I said the same thing, but at the time, there was a lot of publicity about a few NFL football players dropping dead at training camps that summer. So you might ask, how I figured out that I had a problem.

Well, one of my good friends in Kansas (Chris Dunback) asked me to play recreation basketball in Eudora, KS (10 minutes from where I live in Lawrence, KS). I thought it would be a great way to get back into shape after taking 2 months off after Beijing. One of the first games, we were playing a zone defence and I was in the middle of it. I felt tired and my heart was beating really fast, I felt completely out of breath and next thing I know is that I can't see anything. My field of vision narrowed and completely went black. I ducked my head and went out of the game under the basket. Everyone asked me what was wrong and all I could tell them was that I couldn't see!

I sat down on the bench and took some time to catch my breath. My friends wife said that I looked really pale. And I felt like it. I caught my breath and my heart rate decreased. At this point, I thought it would be a good time to get checked out by a doctor.

I asked the KU (University of Kansas) athletic trainers who they use for cardiovascular screenings. I guessed that would be a good place to start. The recommended Cardiovascular Consultants in Lawrence, KS. I called and set up an appointment.

Upon seeing my doctor, he said that it sounded like I may have Artial Flutter. For the next month, he hooked me up to a heart monitor to record what my heart was doing when I was having symptoms. The doctor said that I should not lift anything heavier than 10 lbs or do anything too strenuous. I told him that I am a world class javelin thrower trying to prepare for the next world championships (2009 - Berlin). That being said, I was only getting symptoms when I was active. So my doctor said I could do everything normal until I get 1 recording.

After wearing this monitor for a month, we found out that I have Atrial Flutter and possibly atrial fibrilation (Which my father was diagnosed with the winter of '08). On the follow up visit, I just wanted to know what the treatment was. After talking to my doctor for 30mintues, he held his hand above his head and said "Doc, it hurts when I do this." Basically, he was telling me to not do what hurts. All I really wanted to know was, is there medicine or surgery to fix it. When i aksed he directed me to an EP (Electrical Physiologist) in Kansas City, Dr. Ramza.

Best doc ever. He dumb down all the technical information (even thought I didn't need it). What they needed to do was a surgery called an ablation. Basically, they had to go into my femoral artery in my hip, travel up to my right atrium and cauterize (Burn with a laser) a nerve.

I had the surgery in October of 2010. The next day in the hospital, the nurses had me walk every half hour to get ready to go home. While walking down the hallway with my wife, I passed out completely! Hope I am fixed. It was great for a week, but got 100 times worse the second week. At this point I couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without my heart racing and having to bend over and rest. There were times teaching, that I was concerned I might pass out. I re-visited my doctor in KC and he told me that they treat it conservatively to not do too much damage. I thought, what a good idea, but I want to be fixed. Schedule ablation #2. And what a great New Years 2011 it was. Heart Surgery and laying in a bed (hope I don't pass out again - I didn't).

Once the heart was fixed I could go back to training for throwing a stick and get ready for the World Championships in Korea. More on training to Qualify for the 2011 Worlds, next time.