The Road Back - Near Tragedy at Cleveland Clinic
I have lost the past two weeks in a sedated haze with tubes down my throat and doctors poking around inside my lungs and heart.
Holy cow! I've achieved a new level of empathy for what people have to go through to try to regain their health, and in the process of lying flat on my back for 11 days, I now know what it's like to lose almost all of your muscular strength.
Yesterday, it took two guys to help me walk 3 feet to a chair. Today, I was able to walk by myself--shaky and unsteady as long as I had something to use as a "walker." Nancy walked with me up and down the hall and we both agreed we had never expected to see Kenny in this physical condition.
I can't imagine how this impacts you when you're 85 years old. It's enough to take you out. In fact, more than one doctor has told me in the past 2 weeks that my high level of physical conditioning has helped me endure the problems that I've been aggressively trying to solve during the past year.
Teams of cardiologists and pulmono...
The Road Back - Keeping My Eyes on the Prize
I'm spending tonight in the hospital. I was here a week before Christmas, and I've spent the months since trying to overcome the near-disastrous impact of a bad case of pneumonia.
I've been coughing up blood since February, and after a break of over two months, it started up again two weeks ago and I've deteriorated since. This morning I thought I would bleed to death. It looked like someone had been blown away by a shotgun in my sink.
No one has been able to tell me why this is happening. During these months, I've continued teaching, doing the online school, making video lessons and DVDs, and working as hard as I can to get to the bottom of this condition. I've never really been sick in my life and in 2009, I haven't been able to get well.
In 2008, my heart decided to start beating funny and I wanted it fixed so I could get back to full kung-fu activity. I had three laser ablation procedures, where spots were burned in my heart, before they finally disconnected the rogue electrica...
The Road Back - One Step Closer to Recovery?
So they rammed a scope down the old gullet this morning. It wasn't bad. I stayed at the hospital all night -- didn't sleep much. A pitiful old woman was in the next room crying out all night, unable to breathe. There may be some dementia involved. I felt sorry for her. There are people in this pulmonary unit in pretty bad shape. So I watched TV, worked on my laptop, read a little bit, watched more TV -- an old monster movie on AMC -- and slept an hour at a time for about 4 hours or so.
I had to warn the nurses and remind the doctor about my powerful gag reflex. I've been through two scopes in the past year and a half that went horribly. Even though they tried to numb my throat, I gagged and choked all the way through the procedure. So they thanked me for warning them this morning. Once they hit me with the happy juice, I wasn't too aware during the scope. I remember coughing a lot, and they told me to try to stop, but I was fading in and out, seeing monitors that--without my glasse...
The Mind Goes Numb and then You Fight Back
In 1991, I entered the Toughman Contest when I was living in Sioux City. Back then, it was all boxing, and at age 38, I was nearing the end of eligibility, so it was now or never. I entered the contest.
I was matched up against a guy who was 15 years younger, 3 or 4 inches taller, and 35 pounds heavier. In the third round, he hit me on the side of the head just right. My brain began vibrating like a tuning fork and I was numb. I covered up with my gloves and he pummeled me for a few shots. I was thinking, "This is what it's like to get knocked out in the ring. Here it comes." The first photo at left shows the punch that rang my bell (my body is hidden by the corner post but his glove is colliding with the side of my head.
Suddenly, he got tired and backed away. My head cleared instantly. I uncovered, walked a few feet across the ring and snapped his head back with a punch (the photo below shows his head snapping back). I ended up winning by unanimous decision. Physically, I had n...
The Road Back - Dodging a Bullet
I went to practice with some students last night. My breathing has gotten worse, and after doing a few movements I had to stop and catch my breath. I began to get alarmed. I got home and coughed until 1 a.m. with a feeling that there was something in my lungs I couldn't get out.
Today I badgered the pulmonologist's office for results of the PET scan and the biopsy-type scrapings that he made during the scoping procedure when he said he found a very small bloody tumor.
This evening the doctor called and said the PET scan showed no evidence of a tumor or a malignancy, and the pathology report showed no evidence of either.
Something is causing bleeding in my left lung, and when he did the scope he thought it was a small tumor. He says he was mistaken.
Thank you sir, may I have another? Sheesh!!!
To try and stop the bleeding and begin healing, I was told to stop talking (I cough a lot more when I talk), rest my body for a week, and take robitussin with codeine to calm the lungs. I'll ...
The Road Back - So Far So Good
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 ...
The Road Back -- Getting Back in Shape
Ten days ago I underwent heart surgery. The following day, I came down with pneumonia. The day after that , I was admitted to the hospital for 3 days.
Enough of that. It's time to get back in shape for 2009.
Fortunately, the heart surgery seems to have worked. The old ticker has been rock steady most of the time this past week. A little wackiness is expected after having 80 spots burned in it, due to the healing and inflammation that results. But most of the time it's been ticking like a metronome.
I'm still breathing a little rough from the pneumonia -- especially coughing spells -- but you can't sit on the couch forever. My first tournament of the season is in 2 months. I turn 56 years old in late January. It won't be easy to get back in fighting shape but you have to start somewhere.
My baseline was on Christmas Day, when we opened our new Nintendo Wii and I challenged Nancy to a boxing match. After 15 punches I collapsed on the couch, unable to breathe. My conditioning ca...
Author - Instructor
Ken Gullette
I have practiced martial arts since 1973 and began studying the internal arts in 1987. My goal is to cut years off your development time by coaching you in the real skills for high-quality Tai Chi, Xingyi, Bagua. To see more about my bio, click the "About Ken" link on the menu at the top of this page.
Stay connected with news and updates!
Recent Posts
Categories
All Categorieschen taiji fighting applications
chen xiaowang straight sword form
critical thinking in martial arts
full contact vs point sparring
how to succeed in martial arts
how to use chi kung in daily life
how to use qigong in daily life
internal fighting arts podcast
ken gullette on kung fu conversations podcast
mindset of successful martial artist
principles of body mechanics in martial arts
what is body method in tai chi