Posted by Ed Wehan on May 01, 2001 at 18:22:52:
In Reply to: Scheduled for 4-24-01, gulp posted by Rob Hamill on May 01, 2001 at 18:20:52:
Rob, your condition sounds like mine. I never did feel that bad prior to the maze, at least compared to what everyone else seemed to be describing. I still ran 5 or more miles a day and I ran a 17 mile race two months prior to my surgery. I still backpacked and hiked. But, I did all of this with the restriction of a very inefficient heart. I had to run slowly. I couldn't backpack above 10,000 feet carrying a pack. I feared being in some canyon, falling, hitting my head and thereby causing a hemmorage because of coumidin. The drugs didn't work. Cardiomyopathy was a risk.
I decided that the quality of my life was the important thing for the very small risk involved. I wanted to do everything I could for the remaining years of my life (I'm 57) and most of these were physical in nature.
You have a tough decision and none of us can tell you what's right for you. My maze was on January 10th. I was out of the ICU in 12 hours, out of the hospital in four days, back home from Cleveland and on the West Coast after six days and running slowly after four weeks. I ran six today and will play tennis this afternoon. After three months, I will really be able to run much harder and I'm going on a running trip to Patagonia in December.
Best of luck to you.