Really >2 years since I updated this "blog"?
I've had some ups and downs, none of them related to my 9-yr-old Hancock II pig valve AFAICS. It isn't perfect (effective area was always a bit wimpy) , but it's still fine, and I think the last few readings had better numbers than before, which my cardiologist says doesn't happen.
Last winter (at 73) my indoor beach volleyball recovered to "normal" after one year of fewer outings for various reasons. This winter started out great with two wonderful marathon sessions with young wonderful teammates.
I play late-night pickup indoor beach at North Beach, a big complex with 8 courts, often more than full on Saturday nights and silly crowded on Friday nights. I usually show up alone, and I get bored playing 6s or 5s (and I can't keep playing 2s for more than around 3 games), so I hope to find a group of 3 players who play around my speed.
On my first outing, it was slim pickins, but there was one 4s court where 3 beautiful male players were being unsuccessfully challenged by all the best 4s teams. I was hesitant to try to join the 3 because they were way better than I ever was, and it was my first outing after many months of sailing, and I always disappoint when I'm rusty. But there was no other way for me to play. So I asked and they agreed. I disappointed but they were very gracious - and good enough to turn my garbage into gold! - and we continued their undefeated record until we ran out of challengers.
Then we split into pairs and played 2s! I was paired with the biggest best player, and we won at least one game.
Great night, and I hardly ever thought my heart would explode!
A week later I joined another, lesser, group of 3 young guys. They called me "the MVP"! We won some and lost some, and had to wait in line when we lost. At 74 (for another month), I don't come off the bench playing well. It's technically called "gelling", what old joints do when they stop moving for a while. But I still got a great workout, maybe 2.5 hours of 4-on-4 including a couple of waits in line.
Then the plan was to spend a week skiing Whistler in "week 50" before Christmas. But instead, I got clobbered by a dizzying bout of BPPV vertigo which refused to respond to the standard mechanical cured. I couldn't imagine packing my suitcase, much less flying and skiing! So we canceled the trip and stayed home.
The vertigo has settled down to a level that is survivable, but it's still with me 3 months later, despite many Epley maneuvers, 2 sessions with a Vestibular PT, and one visit with an ENT specialist. The good news is that I can bicycle OK and ski Whistler OK. But I haven't dared show up at beach volleyball. :-( Most times when I try looking straight up, the world spins and I have to grab a wall or a piece of furniture, and nobody can play volleyball without lots of looking up, so I've been skipping it. Missing it terribly. And losing muscle tone and gaining weight.
And although my BPPV didn't mess up my skiing in early February, my unfit legs made my ski days shorter than usual - more like 13,000' of vertical than my usual target 20,000'. Our 3rd and last Whistler week is coming up in a little while, and I'll be pleasantly surprised if I can ski more before my legs turn to noodles. BUT, I always say, "If you have to have problems, make them enviable problems!" and I am eternally grateful for how enviable my problems are.
But I'm also unpleasantly surprised that a stupid little problem with my inner ear has turned me into an "aging gracefully" geezer so much more than two torn Achilles tendons and my AVR OHS!
