Lift, Train, Fitness

Trusylver said:
I understand some parts of the US are prone to big fires also (California ?)
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Yes that is true, and California has some of the worst, from the point of view of property destruction and lives lost. Probably the largest fire was in 1910, about 3 million acres burned in 2 days in Idaho, Montana, Washington State and into British Columbia, Canada (Great Fire of 1910 - Wikipedia). Years ago I knew a man who lived through that fire as a teenager in Idaho, he had some harrowing stories.

The biggest fire I fought was about 110,000 acres in Northern California, but in an area with few homes or structures at risk, that was in 1977, a particularly bad fire year. I got "bombed" a few times by tankers and helicopters like your husband works on. They can be effective, if they hit the fire. Me, I worked on the ground building firelines and the like with shovel, axe (Pulaski actually), and chainsaw. My firefighting career ended in 1979.

Over time fires have become more and more of a problem here, in part because successfully fighting fires allows more fuel to accumulate, so we trade many frequent and small fires for fewer but larger and more dangerous ones. The other problem is that people are developing land in more fire prone areas, resulting in more damage and injury. And of course in some areas climate change is contributing to the problem.

You, your husband, and family be safe.
 
alligatorob said:
The biggest fire I fought was about 110,000 acres in Northern California, but in an area with few homes or structures at risk, that was in 1977, a particularly bad fire year. I got "bombed" a few times by tankers and helicopters like your husband works on. They can be effective, if they hit the fire. Me, I worked on the ground building firelines and the like with shovel, axe (Pulaski actually), and chainsaw. My firefighting career ended in 1979.
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Almost all rural firefighters here are volunteers, and go where they are needed, whether that is on the fire front or refilling aircraft. Most employers here are good with allowing employees to leave to fight fires. Hubby gets 5 paid days he can take to fight fires, any more than that and it would be unpaid leave. His normal job is the science operations officer at a local high school in charge of the lab, all experiments the teachers want to run in class have to be approved by him.

bensanon said:
Seems like tough work.

I heard this story and wanted to share, Tru. NPR Choice page I think you might be aware of many alternatives too but maybe you haven't heard about the study. Glad they mentioned, "it takes work" and "support", etc. I think a lot of people in the US, don't have the resources (including time) to devote to alternative therapies.
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There are different ways to approach pain, and certainly meditation has helped a lot of people, unfortunately there are plenty who still need the pain meds. I was on a relatively low dose while waiting for my hip to be injected. Sitting still and not moving a problem area can also make things worse, Arthritis responds well to keeping things moving.
 
Just to put in perspective how bad this all is

When the amazon rainforest went up in flames it burnt 125,000 hectares. Australia so far has lost 970,000 hectares, and its only going to get worse.

That is 2396922 acres so far.
 
It's horrific, and I am furious at the politics which is contributing to the dangers, including but emphatically not limited to funding and dealings with volunteer fire services.
 
Trusylver said:
Almost all rural firefighters here are volunteers
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For wildland fires that was once the case here, in fact there was a time the Forest Service could order civilians to help fight fires with little or no notice. But bureaucracy and insurance concerns have taken over, now almost all our wildland firefighters are trained and paid crews. We do still have volunteer firemen and fire departments in small towns, they mostly work on structure fires, which I believe can be more dangerous, and take more skill.

Hope you get some rain or something to end or at least slow your fire season, starting this early is bad news. 970,000 hectares is huge. You are making headline news here, even competing with the impeachment hearings.
 
alligatorob said:
they mostly work on structure fires, which I believe can be more dangerous, and take more skill.
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Rural is volunteer but brigades in town are all professionals, rural don't tackle structure fires. Hubby trains every 2nd weekend. National parks also have their own firefighters, but they have a poor reputation among rural fire as they often make a mess of things and need to call in rural to fix.

There have been more evacuations, many of the fires near me are in inaccessible areas making the water bombers critical. The US has sent a DC10 fire bomber over to help in NSW.
 
Had doc appointment today, throat and chest infection not getting better, throat is bacterial and have to take antibiotics for it, had a tube put down my nose to take a sample to see what is happening with the chest infection. Xray on my knee was as expected, mild arthritis and bone spurs. Cartilage in good condition, for somebody my age the knee is in good knick for the punishment it has endured.

Hubby on duty for fires again tomorrow, lots of alerts and warning on radio while driving into town, smoke is bad again and wind keeps changing direction.
 
Trusylver said:
Had doc appointment today, throat and chest infection not getting better, throat is bacterial and have to take antibiotics for it, had a tube put down my nose to take a sample to see what is happening with the chest infection.
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Yuck. I hope you feel better soon.
 
"It’s a myth that low-resistance, high-rep workouts that promote endurance are the best form of strength-training for runners" - researchers say.

Running itself is the best endurance training for muscles, they write in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. But to improve speed as well as oxygen and energy use, studies show that “explosive” heavy-resistance exercises should be an important part of a runner’s routine.

Infographic. Running myth: strength training should be high repetition low load to improve running performance
 
Doc just sent a photo of my test results in a message, seems I have tested positive for parainfluenza 1 2 3 rna and I could be contagious for weeks.

With HPIV-3, the exact period of time you’re contagious hasn’t been determined. However, it has been shown that viral shedding, and therefore the risk of passing on HPIV-3, typically occurs within the first 3 to 10 days of symptoms. In rare cases, viral shedding has been seen up to three to four weeks.

Lucky Me lol

can cause serious lower respiratory tract illness, such as pneumonia, bronchitis, and bronchiolitis in some people. Older adults and people with compromised immune systems have a higher risk for severe infections.

I have never had pneumonia but bronchitis has been a common illness for me when I was younger as was croup (this virus) when I was a kid. All this combined with the severe bacterial infection in my throat. Doc has me on antibiotics that target resistant bacterial infections.


Found a study on Parainfluenza and the conclusion was -

Parainfluenza virus infection in the adults was associated with significantly higher mortality and longer hospitalization when compared with influenza virus infection. Patients with underlying cardiovascular diseases were particularly at risk. An effective vaccine and antiviral is very much needed.


To top it all off, I am an Asthmatic


currently feeling like shit.
 
That sounds pretty serious - in what it could develop into, as well as how it's currently dragging you down. Sending you all possible good wishes - and hoping you can have a quiet and restorative weekend.
 
@aiminglow it is one of those viruses the Doc has to report as an outbreak.

Still feeling crap this morning. my voice has improved a little but I can hardly breathe.
 
bensanon said:
How did they identify it, Tru? Did they run an ELISA? A more specific test?
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Not sure of the name of the test without going to look at paperwork on phone but a sample was taken by feeding a tube down my nose and suctioning a sample out.

They tested for Influenza (a few different strains), Parainfluenza (4 different strains) and other viruses.
 
Interesting. I don't think they would do that here especially in your age group/population unless they thought there was a more specific risk worth investigating. Are you in a rural area? Here it's expensive and there is the problem of the sensitivity/specificity of the test they use. False-positives/negatives can lead to alarm when the risk is not actually present. Maybe you were randomly selected for the test as part of a surveillance program? Anyway, kind of interesting even though you feel terrible. My sympathies.
 
@bensanon

The test is also used to detect RSV (Whooping Cough) measles and mumps. There has been an outbreak here recently.

Doc was highly concerned with my breathing and the obvious bacterial infection, and he doesn't take chances.

I am prone to bad chest infections that take a long time to clear up, my immune system may also have problems. As a kid I had glandular fever and in my 20s developed CFS which seems to be related to the immune system response to a viral infection.

Cost is not an issue here as it is covered by our medicare system, so $0 cost up front to get medical treatment, all paid for by our taxes.

Yes, rural, for a lot of things I am considered remote, I have no mobile phone reception here (unless walking around a paddock waving the phone in the air) and have satellite for TV, we get no regular reception for TV or radio.

My GP is very good at diagnostics, and picking up on problems other doctors miss, when my husband had Claudication in his calf that presented very similar to a calf cramp, another doctor saw him while our GP was on holiday and said it was just a cramp and to go home, our GP took one look at it when he got back, and immediately sent him for very specific tests, within a couple of weeks he was in surgery, which was done by one of the best vascular surgeons in the country.

My GP is an Indian from South Africa, he also holds a Masters in Law, His wife is from the UK and after comparing family histories we worked out our kids are cousins via the UK part of their ancestry. Hubby is also part Indian but that part of the family is more difficult to trace.
 
So glad you have such an excellent GP!
 
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