"you`re lucky. Most people who have those symptoms drop dead if they don`t get emergency treatment inside of two hours." Hmm...frightening words to hear from a doctor when you didn`t get to the ER for 8 1/2 hours. It`s funny how things that happen can radically change the way you see things. I guess God just wanted to get my attention...and let me tell you, He did! Facing down a lethal condition and walking away with merely a few months of having to be extra careful of crashing? Sounds like I got off pretty easy.



 I guess I`m just feeling pretty lucky. A THIRD of the people that get pulmonary embolisms die from it, whether they get treated or not. It looks like I`ll be looking back on this as a distant memory in a year`s time. I can`t say I feel indestructible now, but I certainly have a different "feel". It`s not drastic, but things are a little different now. Everything seems to be a little brighter.



 I`m back in the gym and sprinting my arse off on the bike. What else am I gonna do? I may be out for a couple of months and lose some ground his year, but for one, my son is really coming on strong as a racer, winning 6 out of his last 7 races! (yeah, that "fire" finally lit in him! I`m SO proud!). The downtime also gives me the opportunity to work up a plan to go after that NAG plate I swore I`d get before I left 28-35X (still got a couple of years, but I`d rather have a couple of them!).



  My endless gratitude to everyone who has been there for me and supported me, and to my sponsors for standing behind me in a time like now. Value each and every day as if it were your last because you never know...it could be.

Well, some of you know I was in the hospital for nearly a week with a pulmonary embolism. That`s when a blood clot forms and gets lodged in your lungs. I had three clots, two in one lung, one in the other. 600 thousand people a year get these...a third of them never make it home. I developed them due to extreme dehydration and exertion. Yep, riding hard and not drinking enough water. let me tell you, being hooked up to a heart monitor and two IV`s, and having blood drawn and tested every 5 hours sucks real bad, and it was a big wake up call for me.

 So I went out and hit up track practice tonight, riding very carefully (due to the meds I`m on I can get internal bleeding or worse if I crash, and if I get cut I will bleed for a very long time before it clots and stops). I actually felt pretty good! Before I went to the hospital I would be winded by the 2nd turn, first turn if I was really cranking. I got about 8, maybe ten laps in (again, carefully) before I started to get tired today. I`m a little hesitant to really cut loose and ride fast, but I did just order some more protective gear (thanks 661!) to keep the damage potential to a minimum. I`m going to take it slow for a while and see how my confidence goes. I plan on training and riding as much as possible untill i`m off the medicine (could be 6 weeks, probably looking at 3 to 6 months), then resuming a full racing schedule again. My goal is to take a NAG plate next year, so I can`t waste a bunch of time, but I do have an example to set both at home and at the track so I obviously have to take care of myself first and foremost.



 I appreciate everyones` encouragement and support and look forward to having some great success stories real soon!



Thanks everyone,

JB