September 11, 2025
Numerous Neurologists
The Stroke Rapid Assessment people suddenly woke up yesterday, and had an appointment set up for me early this morning. And now the medical system made up for what had been about five years of neglect, as I have tried for about that long to see a local neurologist. My problem over that time has been "peripheral neuropathy", a loss of feeling in my feet and legs. This has never been deemed serious or interesting enough for a specialist to follow the case, though I did briefly get to see a part time practitioner in Vancouver. But now, adding loss of balance, double vision, and whatever, to the list of symptoms landed me an interview with not one but two superstar local neurologists, and their referral to a third, for another opinion.
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Not only did the medical system now choose to look at my case, but it was amazing, something we have not seen, almost ever. Neurologist #1 sat down with us and went through the whole thing, in detail. For 2 1/2 hours he listened to the details, while performing a number of low tech tests.
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My favourite among the basic tests is the one from Miracle on 42nd Street, in which the Macy's in-house psychologist, Mr. Sawyer, is about to examine Santa Claus to see if he is crazy.:
But this is not to minimize the neurologist's approach. He was carefully looking for clues about what may have caused the condition that knocked us off the road and all the way back across the ocean. Very impressive, and gratifying for me as the author of this blog, is the fact that he read the blog where it covered the critical days. The blog contained the freshest account of what happened, especially since we did not get a report from the ambulance, or clinic in Bernburg, which would have been in German, anyway.
The neurologist was also interested to read my account that something sort of like this had happened before, in Merida, in 2021. In that case, I also "fell off" my bike, and it seemed to follow some sort of brief viral illness. Again, the blog contained live reporting from the scene, so it was not a question of relying on memory.
After the long interview, Neurologist I briefed and brought in Neurologist II. Neurologist II also had a good grasp of the case, and ultimately gave the opinion that most likely this was not stroke related. Rather he favoured the idea that a flare up of my previous neuropathic symptoms had been triggered by some sort of viral action. The stroke theory was weakened by the fact that symptoms were balanced all around, and did not favour one side.
Based on this, and while still scheduling an MRI and consultation with Neurologist III, Neurologist II downplayed the prescription of statins and aspirin, and seemed to say "Get back on your bike, and see ya".
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We left the hospital feeling like our lives (especially cycling lives, which is the same thing) had been handed back to us. But had we panicked and left Germany too soon? Not really, because I was so very sick and there was no way then to know that it would get better and not worse.
Even so, we are too traumatised, and broke from cancellations and airflight re-bookings, to do something bold like flying right back to Leipzig. No, that damage is done, and three trips - Leipzig to Spain, Costa Rica, and around Spain in the Spring lie in ruins. We might slip down to Mexico in Winter, but basically we have to wait a year, and hope that all other health indicators allow us to return to Germany next Fall.
It's a bizarre story, and of course the book is never closed. But today we are feeling quite optimistic.
The first thing we did in our restored lives, of course, was to return to MEC for some retail therapy. Of course, we have already bought "most everything" that MEC has to sell. Today there was a pleasant surprise, with a sign on the door. MEC had been a much beloved co-op, that was betrayed by a board that in 2020 sold it out to an American capital corporation: Kingswood Capital.
To our surprise, Kingswood did not liquify the operation, but carried it on, much as before. And now, MEC has returned to majority Canadian control, and with an intention of manufacturing more of its goods within the country. It's not really "Canadian" to express that much Canadian nationalism, but these are strange and desperate times!
Our excuse for passing by MEC was to look at still more rain pants. Rain pants are like down parkas - they signal an intention to be outdoors in tough conditions. And look, these are now made in Canada!
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4 months ago
Tomorrow anyway, the weather is set to be fine. And we'll be on those bikes!
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4 months ago
4 months ago
the year and we were able to tour in the August.The great doctor ME said as soon as I read it. Sounds like you with Guiilame Barre
4 months ago
Re MEC - I had read about the ownership change a bit ago and was pleased to see the 'return home' of a supplier where I, too, bought so much gear.
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