2011 Melbourne Comedy Festival – She Says, He Says
Firstly, let me declare an interest - Xavier is my nephew and the writer of this show. A group of us headed to Rosati in Flinders Lane to view the 3rd preview show. I found the show genuinely funny. Kim and Xavier were on stage for about an hour and in that time discussed male-female relationships in a forthright and natural way. The two have a great rapport which is evident in the way they connect on stage. The Gold Room at the Rosati only holds about 70 people so the atmosphere is very intimate which I thought added something to the show.
Preparations commence!
I’ve started my preparations for the bike tour of Vietnam in February………I’ve purchased a gel bike seat 
Seriously though, I’ve started walking about 3 Kms every second day to help build up my fitness – and to lose a little weight.
I’ve raised $850 in donations so far which is very good but more is needed. It’s a great cause, so pleas contribute.
Vietnam to Cambodia Cycling Challenge for Epworth Medical Foundation
In February 2011, I’m going to join an extraordinary group of people to cycle almost 500km’s in the trip of a lifetime from Saigon to Phnom Penh. I’ll cycle through Vietnam’s verdant Mekong Delta and the cross the border to ride through the heart of rural Cambodia and see it’s vibrant village life close up and be able to enjoy the thrill of travelling by bike.
This exciting cycle tour of Vietnam and Cambodia will raise a substantial amount of money for Epworth’s hospital’s Heart Smart programme. As you may be aware, I suffered a mild heart attack in April this year so have benefited from the Epworth’s Heart Smart programme. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to give something back and have some fun in the meantime!
As someone who has taken part in the Heart Smart programme as a patient on 2 occasions, I want to do what I can to help raise funds for this worthy cause. Cycling around Vietnam and Cambodia is also a great personal bonus for me! If I can fundraise $5200, approximately $3,500 will go towards paying for my trip and a donation of $2,200 to Heart Smart which is tax deductible. To donate, simply click on the “Sponsor Me” button on the right side of the page or go to http://www.everydayhero.com.au/peter_toby.
I’ll post updates about the fundraising and my trip here.
6/2 Fyans Street, YARRAVILLE – For Sale by Sweeney Estate Agents – Yarraville YARRAVILLE
Mum’s house up for sale – spread the word!!!
6/2 Fyans Street, YARRAVILLE – For Sale by Sweeney Estate Agents – Yarraville YARRAVILLE.
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Health update
After visiting 3 doctors in 3 days (Monday – GP, Tuesday – Cardiologist, Wednesday – Respiratory specialist), I’ve managed two days without going near a doctor!
My recovery from my heart attack seems to be progressing nicely. Lots of new medications to get used to! I’m also trying to stay awake long enough to do some walking. I’m progressing nicely and hope to work up to 30 minutes a day sometime next week. For me, the goal is to walk to Gloria Jean’s in Williamstown, have a coffee and then walk home again.
I was referred to the Respiratory specialist due to my nagging cough. She diagnosed me with having a bit of Bronchitis and so prescribed some antibiotics to accompany the rest of the medication I’m taking.
The good news is that with my time off, it’ll allow me to not only recover from my heart attack but should be sufficient time to let me get over the bronchitis as well.
I’m looking forward to experiencing some good health soon. So far 2010 has sucked for me health-wise!
Canberra attack
I’ve just returned from a business trip to Canberra. This isn’t new, but the manner and circumstances sure were! For starters, I was driven home by Suellen, my arms look like they’ve been used as pincushions – covered in needle marks and bruises, and I’ve had 2 more chunks of metal inserted into my body! I’m sure you’ll agree that is is not a usual trip to Canberra by any stretch of the imagination!
It all started last Monday evening (April 12). I returned to my hotel, unpacked and decided to order room service so I could catch The Winners, and On the Couch on Foxtel. A little after 6pm, I felt excruciating pain in my chest and was sweating profusely. I rang for the Hotel Doctor but was told that I’d have to visit a local GP Surgery. Having worked out what was happening – I was having a heart attack – I then requested an ambulance be called immediately. Thankfully, the Ambulance arrived in under 10 minutes. After the ambos checked me out, off I went to the Emergency Department at Canberra Hospital.
After spending Monday night in the Emergency Department, I was admitted to the Cardiac Care Unit on Tuesday Afternoon. 24 hours later, I had 1 stent inserted into my Coronary Arteries, and had an existing stent “re-stented” as it had become blocked. I was discharged from hospital on Thursday morning and then Suellen and I commenced our “road trip” home to Melbourne.
I’m happy to say that I feel pretty good. The only area that is a little tender is my groin where the catheter was inserted into my pulmonary artery. Apart from that, I get tired pretty easily and have to stop for plenty of “nanna naps”.
I visited my GP today and he was pleased with my progress and thought that I looked well. My blood pressure was spot on and all appears to be going as it should. I have an appointment with my Cardiologist tomorrow (Tuesday, April 20) and hope that I get a clean bill of health from him as well.
Blogging, Twitter, and so forth
I think Ive sorted out how Im going to manage posting in multiple places.
At present, I post on Twitter which copies my post onto Facebook. If I place a #in tag in the tweet it also publishes that tweet to LinkedIn. Soon Ill only send certain Tweets to Facebook like I do with LinkedIn.
Thats alright for posts that are a maximum of 140 character however, when the post requires more than that, Ill post it here.
Together with my Twitter posts in the right column, this site becomes my total information site!
Richmond Executive 2007 Launch
I was again fortunate enough to be invited to The Richmond Executive
launch at the Australian Club last night. The launch had the most
attendees yet in its 3 year history. Approximately 120 people attended -
which included prospective members and partners. The Richmond Executive
which is the newest of the RFC Coterie groups, is looking to top 70
Members in 2007. Already, RE members are becoming involved in helping to
Administer the Club by sitting on various sub-committees and and helping
to fund innovative tools for use by the Football Department.
You can read my full report at
http://www.yellowandblack.com.au/forum/richmond-executive-launch-2007-t6367.html?t=6367
More Health Stuff….
It probably appears as though my blog is only for my health updates. Unfortunately, this will be the case every 6 Months for (hopefully) a long while to come!
My latest medical visit was to my cardiologist for my 6 monthly checkup. Everything went well but because I reported some minor chest pain to him, he decided it would be a good idea for me to do an Echo Stress Test.
If you don’t know what’s involved in and Echo Stress Test, they took an ultrasound of my heart while I lay on my side. The head of the ultrasound had to be pressed hard up against the side of my ribcage – and let me tell you it hurt! While this was happening, I had electrodes stuck to me so that they could record an ECG of my heart’s rhythm during the test.
After the ultrasound, it was onto the treadmill for some work. The treadmill is run by a program called, ‘Bruce’ which speeds up the rate and incline every 3 minutes until you’ve had enough. I lasted 13 minutes (my best previously was around 11 minutes) at which time I was jogging at 8.5 Km/h at a 17% incline. Although only doing this part of the test for a minute, I had spent the previous 12 minutes building up to a 3 minute stint walking at 6.6 Km/h at a 14% incline. It’s pretty hard work let me tell you!
Immediately following the treadmill workout, I had to lay on my side again so that they could take ultrasound images of my heart after being stressed. Try to picture yourself after reaching your optimum heart rate, lying on your side with ECG electrodes stuck to you, breathing heavily and the doctor says to you, ‘Hold your breath’. Easily said than done, but I had to do this on 3 occasions – pretty hard to do!
The end result of all that was that everything was great. My heart reacted the same at rest as it did under stress, my blood pressure reacted as it should, and the ECG showed all the proper patterns. All in all, a great relief to know that everything is as it should be. All I have to do is make sure that I look after myself as I have been and my good health should continue.
Birthday Weekend
It was my birthday on November 26th so we decided to have dinner at Silks in the Crown Towers complex. We also decided to spend the night in Crown Towers and together with my Mother-In-Law and 3 friends, Suellen and I booked 2 double rooms for the stay.
On Saturday morning, Crown Towers rang and told us they’d upgraded us to a 2 bedroom suite which usually goes for $2,500 a night for the same price as the 2 rooms. Sounded like a good deal so we accepted.
When we got to the suite, we couldn’t believe our luck – what a great place! 2 huge bedrooms each with kingsize beds and their own ensuites, lounge room, dining room, and about 5 TV’s (including 1 in each bathroom).
Dinner at Silks was amazing! Their food is the best Asian food I think I’ve ever had and their Peking Duck is to die for!
All in all a great day, a fantastic meal, and wonderful accomodation.
