Is there a doctor in the room?

In reply to Dr. Hess :

Thanks Dr. Hess, I appreciate the insight.

In reply to turtl631 :

Thanks turtl631, I appreciate your comments.

In reply to tra68 :

I've never done real wheel to wheel racing and I know it's a whole different thing but I'm going to jump on the simracing bandwagon. 

I used to race with the guy's here in the Gran Turismo league. We had weekly races with a points championship. I'll say it can be as real as you allow it to be. What I mean is the competitiveness is there if you want. I would spend all week working on setups, testing and tuning trying to get close to the fast guy's. When race day finally came and it was time to qualify I'd have butterflies in my stomach hoping for a good showing. I'd block everything else out and be so focused during the race that I'd usually end it out of breath and sweating. For a while there I put a lot of energy and time into becoming better at it so I could run up front. And occasionally it would all come together and I would run with the guys in the front of the field (if that damned Spoolpigeon didn't show up). 

I realize it doesn't compare really to actual real life racing, but I feel it can  be a very real competitive outlet. It's definitely a certain skill set that needs time and dedication to try to master.

tra68 said:
 

What I didn't know was just how much impact or force would be required to cause a problem. Per the responses above, it appears that it might not take all that much to be in a bad way.

Patient here, after heart attack/stents install while on Brilinta combined with 81 mg asprin I coughed hard and my eyeball turned red from burst vessel without any pain or anything. Buddy looked at me and said "Whats wrong with your eye?" I looked in mirror, saw a monster from a horror movie, freaked out and went straight to emergency room. They sent me home and told me it would clear in a week or two which it did. Was scary though only being out of hospital from stent surgery a couple weeks. Bruising and bleeding from cuts scrapes was really noticeable on Brilinta. Had to switch to Plavix shortly after the eye incident because no health insurance and Brilinta was crazy expensive, bruising and bleeding didn't seem quite as bad on Plavix. Been over a year now since surgery and off Plavix also so bleeding from cuts etc. isn't nearly as bad as when on anticoagulants and asprin as a thinner. The anticoagulants are a lot different than just asprin as a thinner, for me at least.

Nick Comstock said:

In reply to tra68 :

I've never done real wheel to wheel racing and I know it's a whole different thing but I'm going to jump on the simracing bandwagon. 

I used to race with the guy's here in the Gran Turismo league. We had weekly races with a points championship. I'll say it can be as real as you allow it to be. What I mean is the competitiveness is there if you want. I would spend all week working on setups, testing and tuning trying to get close to the fast guy's. When race day finally came and it was time to qualify I'd have butterflies in my stomach hoping for a good showing. I'd block everything else out and be so focused during the race that I'd usually end it out of breath and sweating. For a while there I put a lot of energy and time into becoming better at it so I could run up front. And occasionally it would all come together and I would run with the guys in the front of the field (if that damned Spoolpigeon didn't show up). 

I realize it doesn't compare really to actual real life racing, but I feel it can  be a very real competitive outlet. It's definitely a certain skill set that needs time and dedication to try to master.

Well written!  I had previously dismissed SIM racing as  not real!  What you said about breathless and seating made me rethink things.  At my age I realize how few people still pass the required physical to get a license and even if I should there simply will come a time where it’s no longer possible.  

While Paul Newman raced into his 80’s and a few in their 70’s are still racing occasionally perhaps it’s time for me to give SIM racing some consideration. 

Ransom said:

In reply to mguar:

Everybody here has read what you posted, every time you repeated it. Please understand your point is as made as it is going to get, and let the conversion continue.

He never responds to people who call him mguar. Lmao

tra68 said:

In reply to slefain :

Thanks slefain, that is a good idea.  My fiance made the same suggestion but I was holding out for the real thing.  Now that VR is available, maybe this would scratch my itch.

I bought an Oculus Go when they came out a few months ago. The Go is more in the class of phone-based headsets. I've tried a silly Mario Kart-esque "karting" game, and it was dang impressive. If I were in your boat, I'd look for a better game and a better system, but yeah, it's very solid step above screens for simulation quality.

No problem, you're very welcome.  

I get the eye roll response from people about this, I would be pissed if I could never do motorsports stuff again too. That said, I see people all the time with significant internal bleeding due to relatively minor trauma while on the heavier-duty blood thinners. Aspirin affects platelets, and the usual 81 mg baby aspirin dose is a pretty mild anticoagulant. When you're talking about stronger anticoagulants like Warfarin, Pradaxa, Xarelto, you're at a significantly higher risk of bleeding. I see elderly people on these drugs with spontaneous brain bleeds and bleeds from ground-level falls not uncommonly. 

I don't have experience with vintage racing other than watching the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix a few times, but I believe you that it is safer than other forms of wheel to wheel racing. Then again, gentleman racing still can be fairly dangerous. I've seen plenty of crashes at track days. Brakes fail at the end of a long straight, etc, and unexpected things happen.  

Given that you're on a stronger anticoagulant for a clotting disorder, it's a bit hard to assess the risk of being off of it, but it's potentially high. There are situations like being on blood thinners to prevent stroke with atrial fibrillation wehere, depending on my other risk factors, I personally would consider holding the blood thinner for a few days before racing as the annual risk of an event is in the low single-digits percentage-wise. We probably don't have those numbers for an inherited clotting disorder however.

Again,  I get that everyone needs to weigh their risks personally. I know that going to a plant-based diet would prolong my life to some extent, but I'm going to continue to eat bacon and barbecue because I assess the pleasure derived from that to be greater than the risk of a dying a bit younger.

And, and, as Dr. Hess so wisely disclaimered, nothing I am posting in this thread is official advice. You definitely need to have a discussion with your physicians about risks and benefits.