The Road Back - So Far So Good

general health and recovery Jan 16, 2009

One month ago today, I spent 6 hours in surgery while a gifted cardiologist, Dr. Michael Giudici, burned 80 spots inside my heart to stop rogue electrical activity that caused the heart to flutter and race. Atrial fibrillation is the leading cause of stroke. It was my third heart surgery in 2008 but I wanted the problem fixed.

Yesterday, I visited Dr. Giudici. My heart has been beating strong and steady, and I got the good news that I could stop taking blood thinners. I had the option of going completely off the two other heart medications, but I opted to cut the dose in half and see if the steady heartbeat continues. My hope is to eliminate all medications within the next week or so.

The worse part of all this was the pneumonia I developed one day after surgery. It has robbed me of most of my endurance, but I've been doing some weight training and I can feel my endurance growing based on the number of reps and sets I'm able to complete without gasping for air. I had a practice with some students Wednesday and felt a lot better than a week ago. I'm keeping my weight down and I've changed my diet. A few days ago, I did Laojia Erlu (Cannonfist) for the first time at about half power and felt good.

I bought some new lighting equipment yesterday and today, I'll be videotaping new lessons for my online internal arts school. In the next week, I'll resume my heavybag workouts to boost my conditioning -- I'll start with one or two 3-minute rounds (alternating between punching as fast and as many times as I can one round and kicking the next round) and try to work up to 10 to 12 rounds by March 1st. Tournament season starts the first week of March.

I'm very happy about the prospect that--after a year of strange heartbeats and a little concern about how it would impact my training and longevity--I may have solved the problem and can resume life at full speed. And it's wonderful to wake up in the morning and feel a heart running smoothly and quiety like a well-tuned engine, instead of the engine with a couple of misfiring pistons that I felt for over a year.

--by Ken Gullette

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Ken Gullette's Internal Fighting Arts

The Road Back - So Far So Good

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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