| Pages:
1
2
3
4 |
tortuga
Nomad
Posts: 277
Registered: 8-11-2007
Location: Bellevue, Idaho or Los Barriles B.C.S.
Member Is Offline
Mood: Muy Despacio
|
|
May you get better !
We will say a prayer for your restored health Amigo Ken.
Saludos, Tortuga 
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8964
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
Thank you, everyone. I've been too afraid to take the Jeep out of its' garage. So, there it sits..awaiting another Baja adventure.
I am staying at my parents house across town. They're driving me to my house for the day and bringing me back to their house to sleep at night.
On Wednesday, I will be going in for an Echocardiogram to determine exactly what is not functioning properly. I have 23 sick days accumulated, so
expect to see lots more posting from me - your new "Armchair Baja Traveler."
I was hospitalized yesterday - just spending 30 min. at work, and I got the rest of the day off, with a private coach to ER where I spent the day with
my parents.
As far as Baja goes, my mother actually pushed me across the San Ysidro border in a stroller back in the late 60s. We all spent 21+ days lounging on
the beach in Rosarito WITHOUT TOURIST VISAS, because back in the 70s, nobody cared. hahaha
Thanks again for everyones kind wishes.
[Edited on 8-30-2008 by Ken Cooke]
|
|
|
David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 65298
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
Member Is Offline
Mood: Have Baja Fever
|
|
Boy Ken, if isn't one thing... it's another!!
Seriously, have a speedy recovery from whatever it is!!!
Then let's party like there's no tomorrow!!!
Okay, well maybe we will just do some calm four wheeling!? 
Here's a photo of what should cause some stress, for most... But not you Mr. Rock Solid Baja!
|
|
|
elgatoloco
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4346
Registered: 11-19-2002
Location: Yes
Member Is Offline
|
|
Get well soon!!
MAGA
marooons Are Governing America
|
|
|
Bob H
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5867
Registered: 8-19-2003
Location: San Diego
Member Is Offline
|
|
Ken, I never met you, but from all your posts and photos, etc. I feel like I already have. All the best to you from Audrey and I for a complete and
speedy recovery from whatever it is.
Bob H
|
|
|
Diver
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4729
Registered: 11-15-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
Hoping it's just something you ate !!
Best wishes Ken !
|
|
|
BAJACAT
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2902
Registered: 11-21-2005
Location: NATIONAL CITY, CA
Member Is Offline
|
|
Ken, I know you will be just fine the RUIZ, family prayers are with you.see you in the trail soon....
BAJA IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO BE, FUN,DANGEROUS,INCREDIBLE, REMOTE, EXOTIC..JUST GO AND HAVE FUN.....
|
|
|
BajaGringo
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3922
Registered: 8-24-2006
Location: La Chorera
Member Is Offline
Mood: Let's have a BBQ!
|
|
Wishing you all the best Ken. Hope this is nothing more serious than just needing to pay a little bit more attention to yourself and your health.
Hope to see you posting more photos soon - really enjoy your stories...
|
|
|
dtbushpilot
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3296
Registered: 1-11-2007
Location: Buena Vista BCS
Member Is Offline
Mood: Tranquilo
|
|
Hope you get better soon Ken, you are in our prayers....dt....jt...
|
|
|
Eugenio
Nomad
Posts: 206
Registered: 4-23-2008
Location: Navojoa, Son.
Member Is Offline
|
|
Best of luck - and take care of yourself Ken - I really enjoy your posts (not that that has anything to do with me wanting you to recover).
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8964
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
I'm back home, relaxing, and I just bought the only Baja-specific movie featuring Tom Cruise on DVD - "LOSIN' IT" 1983.
Summary: Teen sex comedy set in 1965 which follows four Los Angeles school friends, Woody, Dave, Spider, Wendell and the series of misadventures they
get into when they travel south of the border to Tijuana, Mexico for a night of cruisin', causing trouble, and to settle a pact to lose their
virginity before the night is over, while a young woman, named Kathy, accompanies them for different reasons: to arrange a quick divorce from her
husband.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again from the bottom of my corazon. I hope to beat whatever this cardio ailment happens to be so that I can get back down to Baja and South
America again.
|
|
|
BajaNomad
Super Administrator
Posts: 5010
Registered: 8-1-2002
Location: San Diego, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: INTP-A
|
|
Ken,
Well wishes from Michelle, the boys and myself.
Hope to see you again sometime soon.
--
Doug Means
When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.
– Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel
We know we must go back if we live, and we don`t know why.
– John Steinbeck, Log from the Sea of Cortez
https://www.regionalinternet.com
Affordable Domain Name Registration/Management & cPanel Web Hosting - since 1999 |
|
|
MexicoTed
Senior Nomad
Posts: 708
Registered: 8-2-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
Get healthy Ken
|
|
|
Bajafun777
Super Nomad
Posts: 1103
Registered: 9-13-2006
Location: Rosarito & California
Member Is Offline
Mood: Enjoying Life with Wife In Mexico, Easy on The Easy
|
|
Ken, hope you get well soon and sometimes we just get too stressed out and do not know it until our body demands we slow it down. I just had my knee
operated on a week ago and I had to go through a number of tests you did as a similar thing happened to me about a year ago. Due to that the doctor
insisted all of the tests your getting I had to do over again due to him saying he was taking no chances with me on the operating table for my knee
with this floating out there. Well, everything checked out excellent and operation went well and recoperating now. So, slow down no red meat eat the
chicken, fish, pastas, leave the beer alone for awhile and soon my friend everything ticking well for you. Easy on the Easy and remember we still
need to link up at some nomad gathering in the near future. I have already sent a prayer for you and we all know through Jesus all prayers are
answer. Take care amigo-----------Later----bajafun777
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8964
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Bajafun777
So, slow down no red meat eat the chicken, fish, pastas, leave the beer alone for awhile and soon my friend everything ticking well for you. Easy on
the Easy and remember we still need to link up at some nomad gathering in the near future. I have already sent a prayer for you and we all know
through Jesus all prayers are answer. Take care amigo-----------Later----bajafun777 |
Muchisimas Gracias BajaFun777,
What I initially were heart attacks were most likely SEIZURES brought on by what tests might reveal as CEREBRIAL MALARIA. I'll know more later when I
speak to my doctor. I'll let everyone here know as well, since this more severe form of Malaria is nothing to play around with. Otherwise, I feel
great - except for continually feeling dizzy, tired, and weak.
|
|
|
Diver
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 4729
Registered: 11-15-2004
Member Is Offline
|
|
So Ken,
You never finished the thread about your last Columbia trip.
Which woman won the prize ?? 
Or have you moved on to another country already ?? 
You have too much fun to stay down long !!
Best wishes.
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8964
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by Diver
So Ken,
You never finished the thread about your last Columbia trip.
Which woman won the prize ??
Or have you moved on to another country already ??
You have too much fun to stay down long !!
Best wishes. |
Her name is Leidys, and she's from Barranquilla. I would like to return in December, but not sure with this new tropical affliction hitting me hard.
This is tough, because I had such a great time there...
Ken and Leidys
|
|
|
Ken Cooke
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8964
Registered: 2-9-2004
Location: Riverside, CA
Member Is Offline
Mood: Pole Line Road postponed due to injury
|
|
Funny. I'm taking medication to lower my cholesterol, so all of the rum I brought back from Colombia, and all of the Coffee Liquor from Peru is on
standby until things improve...
|
|
|
fishbuck
Banned
Posts: 5318
Registered: 8-31-2006
Member Is Offline
|
|
Wow, Ken! I don't know much about maleria but hope it is treatable.
Get well soon so you can show me how to 4x4.
"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." J. A. Shedd.
A clever person solves a problem. A wise person avoids it. – Albert Einstein
"Life's a Beach... and then you Fly!" Fishbuck
|
|
|
CaboRon
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 3401
Registered: 3-24-2007
Location: The Valley of the Moon
Member Is Offline
Mood: Peacefull
|
|
| Quote: | Originally posted by fishbuck
Wow, Ken! I don't know much about maleria but hope it is treatable.
Get well soon so you can show me how to 4x4. |
Try Google for your answers ....
CEREBRAL MALARIA
Section of brain showing blood vessels blocked with developing P. falciparum parasites (see arrows) (RPH).
What is cerebral malaria?
Cerebral malaria (CM) collectively involves the clinical manifestations of Plasmodium falciparum malaria that induce changes in mental status and
coma. It is an acute, widespread disease of the brain which is accompanied by fever. The mortality ratio is between 25-50%. If a person is not
treated, CM is fatal in 24-72 hours. The histopathological hallmark of this encephalopathy is the sequestration of cerebral capillaries and venules
with parasitized red blood cells (PRBCs) and non-PRBCs (NPRBCs). Ring-like lesions in the brain are major characteristics. Disease risk factors
include being a child under 10 years of age and living in malaria-endemic area.
There is a clear need for a strict definition of cerebral malaria in order to properly diagnose and assess the condition. A pragmatic definition based
on the Glasgow Coma Score exists. Its key elements are: (1) unrousable coma--no localizing response to pain persisting for more than six hours if the
patient has experienced a generalized convulsion; (2) asexual forms of P. falciparum found in blood; and (3) exclusion of other causes of
encephalopathy, i.e. viral or bacterial. (Newton and Warrell)
The Blantyre Coma Scale, a related diagnostic tool, has been devised for young children.
What are the symptoms?
Clinical manifestations of cerebral malaria are numerous, but there are three primary symptoms generally common to both adults and children: (1)
impaired consciousness with non-specific fever; (2) generalized convulsions and neurological sequelae; and (3) coma that persists for 24-72 hours,
initially rousable and then unrousable.
What is the cause?
Sequestration of parasites and obstruction of brain vessels (RPH)
The cause of cerebral malaria is not well understood. Currently, there are two major hypotheses explaining its etiology. They are the mechanical and
the humoral hypotheses.
The mechanical hypothesis asserts that a specific interaction between a P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein (PfEMP-1) and ligands on
endothelial cells, such as ICAM-1 or E-selectin, reduces microvascular blood flow and induces hypoxia. This selective cytoadherence of PRBCs and
non-PRBCs, also known as rosetting, can apparently better account for CM’s histopathological hallmark and its characteristic coma condition. However,
this hypothesis is inadequate in explaining the relative absence of neurological deficit even after days of unconsciousness.
The humoral hypothesis suggests that a malarial toxin may be released that stimulates macrophages to release TNF-a and other cytokines such as IL-1.
The cytokines themselves are not harmful, but they may induce additional and uncontrolled production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide would diffuse
through the blood-brain barrier and impose similar changes on synaptic function as do general anesthetics and high concentrations of ethanol, leading
to a state of reduced consciousness. The biochemical nature of this interaction would explain the reversibility of coma.
What are possible treatment options?
As cerebral malaria is the fatal within days of malaria infection if left untreated, immediate treatment is crucial. Because natural immunity to
malaria is not fully understood (Immunity) and thus cannot yet be artificially imitated by drugs, control and prevention strategies are significant.
Two of these are antimalarial chemotherapy and adjunctive measures. Public health interventions are also critical (Public Health).
P. falciparum parasites in brain capillary (J.S. Tatz)
Chemotherapy for cerebral malaria now primarily involves the use of quinine, for a patient with severe CM must be assumed to have chloroquine
resistance. It is one of the four main alkaloids found in the bark of the Cinchona tree and is the only drug which over a long period of time has
remained largely effective for treating the disease. Quinine has similar activity to chloroquine in that it is likely to interfere with the parasite’s
enzymatic digestion.
Artemisinins have been shown in some clinical trials to clear parasitemia and fever faster than quinine or chloroquine, but they had no effect on
mortality rates. Artemisinin has been used by the Chinese as a traditional treatment for fever and malaria. It is a sesquiterpene lactone derived from
Artemisia annua. The two most widely used are artesunate and artemether. Because it is both cheap and effective, it is beginning to be included in
treatment schedules. However, it is not yet licensed for use in Australia, North America or Europe. Its main value is in the treatment of multi-drug
resistant falciparum malaria. As the possibility of quinine resistance looms, artemisinin and its derivatives may soon become the drugs of choice for
CM treatment (Newton and Warrell).
Adjunctive measures for CM treatment exist, but they are debatable in both use and efficacy:
Anti-pyretics
Such as paracetamol to reduce fever. However, it is not clear if a reduction in core temperature benefits cerebral consequences.
Anti-convulsants
Such as phenobarbital sodium for seizures. It is crucial to control or prevent seizures, as they can cause neuronal damage and are associated with a
fatal outcome.
Reduce intracranial pressure
Using agents such as osmotic diuretics.
Hypoglycemia correction
Using hypertonic glucose. However, theoretically, correcting hypoclycemia in the presence of tissue hypoxia can worsen tissue acidosis.
Exchange transfusion
Generally only been justified when peripheral parasitemia exceeds 10% of circulating erythrocytes. The role of these blood transfusions remains
highly controversial, as they are both expensive and potentially dangerous in many malaria-endemic areas.
Anti-Inflammatories
Such as corticosteroids. However, there have been few controlled studies demonstrating benefit.
Desferrioxamine
An iron-chelating adjuvant agent with antimalarial properties. Reduces formation of reactive oxygen species by reducing amount of free iron.
Microcirculatory Flow
Such as pentoxifylline. Reduces red cell deformability and blood viscosity, decreases systemic vascular resistance, and impairs platelet aggregation,
thus improving microcirculatory flow.
In short, experimental data exists that demonstrates the efficacy of some ancillary therapies, but their roles are still controversial (Newton and
Krishna).
Pretty serious stuff.
CaboRon
 |
|
|
| Pages:
1
2
3
4 |
![[*]](images/xmbforum/default_icon.gif){kind=icon}
