Over the years friends and family have said that I'm "crazy" or that I've got a "screw lose". As reported on Yahoo this past Sunday, I now have proof that my brain is damaged.
My first migraine occurred in the 2002 and I've had a total of 4 since then. In the Yahoo article it's mentioned that migraines are often preceded by "aura" which are a series of visual disturbances that can include flashes of light or black spots. I found this fascinating because I've had black spot visual disturbances since I was 9 years old without having a migraine, though my last migraine did start with a black spot aura.
Anyway... Here are some points of interest if you don't feel like reading the whole article.
• People with migraines also may be suffering from some brain damage as brain cells swell and become starved of oxygen..."
• Two studies, including one published last week in the Archives in Internal Medicine, show that people who have migraines are more likely to have heart attacks.
• A 2004 study in the British Medical Journal found that migraine sufferers are twice as likely to suffer a stroke as people who do not have the headaches.
It's not bad enough that I feel old, slow, and fat after my bike ride to HubBub yesterday. Now I've got heart attacks and strokes to look forward to. This is just the best news ever. Yea for me!!!
On a positive note I got a call from Mike Zanconato this morning to cover any last minute questions. Mike is going to be building for me one of the finest, race specific cyclocross bikes you can own. And of course it's going to be total Euro-trash. More about Zank and the frame build later.
Also check out my bro EPO. He's kicking ass at RATL this year! I can't express how happy I am for him. John has worked extremely hard to become the bike racer that he is today. And it's not like he has all the free time in the world to ride. John is a devoted husband and father to three cool kids, holds down a full time job (I still can't grasp what John does at the Cleveland Clinic other than you've got to be very intelligent to do his job), and is in the process of getting his Doctorate Degree at Case Western Reserve University. He does all this and fits the bike riding/racing in when he can. Now that's Belgian spirit.
