Adding Insult to Injury with Pneumonia

A Little Less Yin and More Yang Please

general Dec 23, 2008

I really am keeping a good sense of humor about all this. I have the people at the hospital laughing all the time. I'm looking forward to a return to more normal health after another minor bump on the road to recovery.

On Friday, I had the heart surgery -- laser ablation. I went home and thought everything was fine. But on Saturday as I was lying in my recliner watching TV, breathing became more and more difficult. I called the cardiologist who did the procedure, talked with the on call doctor and he told me to see what happened overnight. What happened was a night of difficult breathing and coughing.

Nancy took me to the ER on Sunday morning. The diagnosis -- pneumonia. I was admitted and I've been there ever since. Tomorrow, on Christmas Eve and Nancy's birthday, I'll be released. I'm responding well to treatment. It'll be a few days before I can attempt a practice session, but by the end of the year I should be back in action.

The doctors believe that during Friday's 6-hour operation, I must have aspirated something into my lungs, causing the pneumonia.

The good news is--my heart has been doing very well. They have me hooked to a monitor and a nurse said today the data on the heartbeat was beautiful.

I had pneumonia 12 years ago and was flat on my back for 9 days. I lost 14 pounds. This time I'm not as sick. I don't have a fever and my appetite is fairly normal. But breathing is difficult and any deep breath results in a flurry of violent coughing.

I'm catching up on a little light reading--the picture shows me with a Tai Chi magazine from nearly 10 years ago, when Master Chen Zhenglei talked about silk-reeling. I've spent a lot of time doing chi kung, relaxing, balancing, calming. And you can still study the forms even when lying in bed. I have a lot of video on my iPod.

I want to step up my workouts and do more video instruction for the online school. It isn't easy for me to be basically flat on my back for 5 days, like I have been through today.

For a few months, I was quiet about the heart issue. I decided recently to write about it on this blog because I believe that as we get older, stuff happens that we can't really control. What we CAN control is what we do about it and how we move forward. Do we give up what we love to do? Do we stop physical activity? Or do we do what we can to get over it, fix the problem, and try to get even better at our martial arts?

That's what I'm trying to do. Too many guys my age stop doing sports more physically active than golf (don't get me wrong I love golf) because I think they get it in their minds that they're too old for some things. I sort of reject that thought.

My father started talking about dying when he was 50, after his first heart attack. My mom, on the other hand, was still going to college when she was 60, trying to push forward. I always thought that was pretty cool, and I'm glad I got that part of her personality.

I want my students and friends to watch what I do in the coming year. I think you'll be surprised.

Onward and upward, and home tomorrow.

--by Ken Gullette

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A Little Less Yin and More Yang Please

Try Two Weeks Free and Get Step-by-Step Training in Taiji, Xingyi and Bagua from Basic to Advanced Skills with No Mystical Mumbo-Jumbo

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