Dear family, friends, colleagues and loved ones,
Last Thursday night, I sustained what I thought was some neck strain, holding a kicking shield during a kickboxing class. Later that night, I developed severe vertigo and nausea. Three days and three increasingly invasive imaging techniques later, the doctors confirmed a vertebral artery dissection: a tear in the membrane of an artery on the back of my neck. Such tears cause blood to pool and clot, reducing or eliminating blood flow through the artery, and often resulting in strokes. I experienced two such episodes, which are the source of my vertigo. Fortunately, my other neurological functions survived intact.
On Wednesday afternoon the surgeons performed a stenting procedure, repairing the tear and reopening the vessel. I am now recovering slowly but well. Today I went home from the hospital. I will be living in a big comfy armchair for the next few weeks.
To my dojo family: Unfortunately, I cannot currently do anything physical. I am unlikely to be back in the dojo before the end of the year. I will reach out when I feel ready to resume teaching SKK. As for KB, I do not know if/when I will be able to do that again. I will discuss with my physical therapist and let you know, but we should move forward with others taking over my classes indefinitely.
To my scientific colleagues: luckily, my brain still works. I will be active digitally in the coming weeks, although intermittently and with less stamina. I will not be physically back in the office until after a follow-up consultation later this month. Please do not expect anything specific from me in a timely manner, since I need to live at a cautious pace right now. It is thanks to scientific research and modern medicine that I survived this incident. I am very proud of what LOCI, the UW-Madison and our collaborators are working to achieve, and I thank each and every one of you for your efforts to better the human condition.
If you are in the Madison area and free for a weekday lunch some time this month, let me know—this is a nice chance to visit with people, since life has forced me to slow down for a while.