I am very glad to hear that Mike, KC7V, is doing much better after
his medical emergency with pulmonary embolus, associated with
his flight from Brazil.
Obviously there is an important lesson here about being sedentary
on long airline flights. But there is also a secondary lesson that should
be mentioned. Our hobby of radio contesting is not all that much
different from extended airline flights. And it probably has some risk
for the same type of medical problem.
I am always impressed with someone who can stay "in the chair" for
extended periods of time in a 48 hour contest. But it should be clear
from Mike's recent experience that some form of regular exercise
should be done while operating. And this is only compounded by
the demands of SO2R, where you minimize your periods of lessened
activity, where you might be able to stretch a bit for a few moments.
I have always liked using a foot switch for T/R -- but that forces you
to keep at least one foot in the same position all of the time. So I
may reconsider how I operate. I have watched W0UA operate at
times while standing up, but then he is not as tall as I am so it is
not that much of problem for him to reach the controls and keyboard
when he is standing! ;-)
Even ideas of an operating table with a hydraulic lift come to mind.
Anything that would force some sort of regular change of position
to help minimize the possibility of blood clots. We are all getting
older and we need to be a bit more careful!
73--John W0UN
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