I'm doing a 5k on August 8!

When it comes to races, my wife Amy likes to say she's "not fast, but not last."  I may put that to the test next weekend at the 2015 LifeBanc Gift of Life Walk & Run.  I have decided that I am going to attempt to participate in this event instead of just watching as I did in a similar event in Columbus that Amy ran a few weeks back.  Make no mistake, we will be walking this one (insert my usual disclaimer that I will indeed run if there is a snake or a bear in the vicinity).

Since I was brought out of atrial fibrillation a couple of weeks ago, I was eager to get back into a better exercise routine than I was in during the four months or so that I was waiting for my heart rhythm to be brought back to normal.  Unfortunately, although there was a noticeable increase in my stamina and ability to comfortably exercise, it was a far cry from where I was in January and February.

I have been able to increase my speed and duration quite a bit on the exercise recumbent bike.  On the lowest resistance, I was able to do five miles in a little over a half hour.  My last crack at the bike saw me hit 11 miles in just over an hour.

Amy and I have been walking along part of the bike trail that runs through Dayton.  Unfortunately, I did not notice a great deal of difference in the distance I could go without taking breaks along the way.  Although I did feel a bit better.  Today, I went to the exercise room at our apartment complex to see where I was at on the treadmill.  Unfortunately, I found it startling how much slower I was able to handle  and how often I had to take a break as opposed to back in February.  I managed to do about half of a 5k, but my speed was down to about 2.6 mph where I had gotten to an average of about 3.3 mph.

I will continue to "train" in advance of this 5k and hope to lessen the number of breaks I need to take and increase my duration.  I'd like to at least get one actual 5k in prior to the event.  I really don't know what the course will be like, but I am hopeful for a flat course.

Although this event is a fundraiser for LifeBanc in Cleveland (an organization that promotes organ donation in the Cleveland area) if you would like to make a donation to my HelpHOPELive campaign, it would be appreciated as well.

All-Star Fever

The 2015 MLB All-Star Game was held in Cincinnati last week.  Although I would have loved to participate in all of the festivities, the cost of doing so was prohibitive.  I also had a few other things going on that were, frankly more important.  Fortunately, I was able to find some very inexpensive tickets to the All-Star Futures Game/Legends and Celebrity Softball Game and was able to attend with Amy and my brother Tom.  We also met some friends attending the games.  It was a great deal of fun, but I was struggling getting to and from the stadium due to my heart condition - particularly because I was still in Atrial Fibrillation at the time.

On Monday, the day of the Home Run Derby, Amy and I drove to Cleveland in advance of my appointment to be cardioverted.  Thankfully, I was able to watch the Home Run Derby there  and got to experience the excitement of watching my favorite Red, Todd Frazier win the Derby.  The next morning, we went to Cleveland Clinic for my cardioversion and hit another obstacle.  My electrophysiologist had wanted me to be therapeutic on my Coumadin for 8 consecutive weeks because of my history of strokes.  I had made it...all the way up until the day I was to be cardioverted, of course.  A wonderful nurse saw how disappointed I was and talked with the doctor about options that would allow them to still do the cardioversion that day.  It included get a TEE (trans esophageal echocardiogram) to be certain there were no clots in the heart, which he approved.  Then, my nurse coordinated all the doctors and nurses who needed to be together for the procedures (and there were quite a few), which was no easy task.  One group was running late and that caused another doctor to have to bail out because he was due in another surgery room.  She found a replacement and about five hours after I was supposed to have my cardioversion done, I finally did.  We did make it home in time to watch most of the actual All-Star Game.  Unfortunetely our NL team lost again.

The weekend after my cardioversion, we had planned to go to Washington DC for a mini vacation in which we would stay with friends, visit some of the sites and of course, hopefully make it to a Nationals game.  Because I was not therapeutic on Coumadin, we were not able to go.  They gave me Lovenox to inject to keep me safe from stroke until I became therapeutic again.  This caused me to get some heavy bruising at the injectin site and also affected my drive line site a bit, although those are beginning to clear up now that I am therapeutic once again.  

Instead, Amy and I planned a staycation instead.  One of the most fun things we did was take a tour of the different mustache designs from the All-Star Game al around Downtown Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky.  My Fitbit, which I use to track my activity, showed that I walked about 6 miles that day.  Although I'm not in as good of shape as I was back in early Spring, I fared much better than I would have if I were still in Atrial Fibrillation.  Being able to complete that and still have enough energy to go bowling that night made me realize what a difference this made.

As I try to get back to the shape I was in a few months ago, Amy and I are planning to participate in the Gift of Life Walk & Run sponsored by LifeBanc in Cleveland.  Amy did a 5k run in Columbus a couple of weeks ago, while I watched.  I will be participating in this as a walker in the 5k...unless I see a snake or a bear, in which case, I will be running.

I found my old blog posts!

Apparently my blog was being kept on my other gmail address.  Now I use this one primarily and thus will have easier access to it.  I have rescued all my posts, copied and pasted them here along with the original dates.  If you're up for a trip down memory lane, this will be good for a few laughs if nothing else.

Get Busy Living - from 2/10/2015

I had a series of appointments at the Cleveland Clinic yesterday. The doctors continue to be happy with my progress and my numbers look good. I even had two of my medicines eliminated and one vitamin supplement added. They were pleased with my progress in cardiac rehab and more pleased that I am continuing to get regular exercise. They also seem pleased (and maybe a bit surprised) at how active I am. I watched The movie Shawshank Redemption today. I've seen it many times and the line that always jumps out at me is, "You either get busy living or you get busy dying."  I have been given a new lease on life and intend to do a lot of living. With the LVAD I have more of an ability to continue to get busy living.

February Heart Health Month - from 2/6/2015

It's February and that means it's Heart Health month. My wife, Amy has put together a fundraiser for the American Heart Association using Jamberry Nail Wraps. If you are interested in participating, send me a message on Facebook and I'll send you an invite.

The new year is not so new anymore. About a week into January, I completed my cardiac rehab phase II. That left me to decide how to continue. I could go into phase III, but decided to take advantage of the exercise equipment we have at our apartment complex, rather than paying to be supervised while I exercise. The difficulty with this is the having the will power to go and do this when no one is watching. Thus far, I've succeeded in going every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I've put in between an hour and an hour and a half each time. If you follow me on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, you've seen me post my workout summarys.  Seems tedious, bit it helps me stay accountable for doing it. It's a struggle as I change my mind constantly about how much I will do. The mind is a powerful thing. Use it to do more. I can always talk myself into doing a little more. I set goals and once I reach them, sometimes I can convince myself to do more.

I'm continuing my low sodium diet, although I find myself "cheating" more than I should on that. My LVAD makes it so I am not in as bad of shape if I do cheat a little. Definitely not an excuse, but it's a struggle to keep to it.  The weight I lost after my surgery has crept back up. I guess one drawback to my recovery is that my appetite seems to be much improved. I like to think some of the weight added is muscle and no doubt it is, given the atrophy I experienced being in the hospital for a month. However, I can tell it's not all that.

I again want to thank everyone for the prayers you continue to say on my behalf. Please keep them coming. We never know when the call will come. I pray that I am ready in every possible way when it does come.

Pre Christmas visit to Cleveland Clinic - from 12/24/2014

First of all, Merry Christmas to everyone. I knew time was flying, and I was right. How is it possibly here already? 

We have been busy gathering and wrapping presents. We were also able to get our Christmas cards in the mail...in shifts.  Sorry again for the length of our letter, but a lot happened and we had to work in all our baseball references for the "theme." If you usually get one and didn't this year, you either have a new address and we need to update, or we have misplaced your address. Please let us know if you would be added or updated.

In the midst of all our last minute preparations, we had to drive to Cleveland on Moday for a series of appointments on Tuesday before driving back last night. This was a particularly important visit as my appointments included a right heart catheterization. If you've been following along, you may remember that is the test that didn't look too good and got me admitted to the hospital in September, where I stayed for a month. This time, my pressures and other numbers all looked great according to my cardiologist. It was sort of funny as I was being prepped for the procedure, the doctors asked me what I was doing for Christmas. My response was, "that depends on you." Fortunately, because I "passed" my Christmas will be spent with family. 

One other tid bits and good news came from this visit. I have been cleared to shower again. So later today, I will take my first shower since just after Labor Day.  Throughout our walking the Cleveland Clinic, we kept seeing Christmas trees decorated with Cleveland Clinic ornaments. Mean ole Amy wouldn't let me steal one to bring to our Christmas tree. :(  Since my appointments were finished by about 2:00, we decided there was enough time to swing by the Christmas Story house. As you might imagine, it was pretty packed two days before Christmas. 

I am attaching a couple of photos from our visit to the Christmas Story House and surrounding neighborhood. I hope you enjoy. Merry Christmas to all of you and may the year ahead bring many blessings and much joy.

Here come the holidays...whoa! - from 12/12/2014

The 2014 McEntree

Hi again everyone. Once again I have to apologize for such a great length between blog posts. I did manage to get it in just under a month, so there's that, I guess.  Much has happened in the last 29 days. I was cleared to drive. This has been very important for many reasons. For one, I am able to take myself to cardiac rehab every day. I also am able to be much more independent. It helps Amy that she doesn't have to drive me on all of my errands. Mostly, though, it is important for my psyche. I must admit feeling a touch of cabin fever when I was unable to go out during the day.

A very sad day happened since my last post. My tenure at Glenmary Home Missioners as Associate Vocation Director officially came to a close. My short term disability expired and I put in my application for long term disability. Unfortunately, going on LTD means I must be officially terminated.  This is very difficult for many reasons. 

Glenmary provided a wonderful atmosphere to work in and I will miss all the road trips, visits with young men discerning a religious vocation and seeing Glenmary's missions in action.  Most of all, though, I will miss the great people I was privileged to work with, both in the vocation department and in the office.  I definitely will miss the card playing at break time. I pray that Glenmary finds the right person to help nurture many more vocations to Glenmary priesthood and brotherhood. But obviously, my focus is getting as well prepared and strong for transplant as I possibly can.

Cardiac rehab is consuming more and more of my Monday-Wednesday-Friday routine. At first, I thought I'd lose an hour or so a day, but now, I am excercising nearly that long, plus getting set up, cooled down and having blood pressure checks along the way. It pretty much consumes an entire morning or afternoon, depending on when I go.

I have also met several of the other rehabbers. Two of them have already had heart transplants, so it is great to be able to talk to them. The drawback is that I have to get there at 8:00 in order to catch them. That doesn't always happen. Jerry has been a very big help. He had an LVAD prior to his transplant so he knows my situation better than most folks. I am finding I have my good days and bad days at cardiac rehab, but I can also see a progression of having more energy and strength. I am told, being physically strong and mentally strong are very big factors in having the ability to approach and recover from transplant surgery.

So, not the holidays are quickly approaching. We are still getting things in order for that. I thought I would have tones of time to get ready this year. In some ways I have been able to do more to prepare for the season, but I'm still a bit overwhelmed by all there is to do. Hopefully Christmas cards will go out by early next week. It will include our annual Christmas letter, which we try to be creative with so we don't bore people.

Anyway, that's it for this update. Once again, I will try to be more active about posting in the coming weeks.

My friend Jodi and I at Glenmary