Day 54: Bogalusa MS to Mobile AL - THE REST OF THE STORY

Well readers....if you've been reading very closely you might have noticed there were some holes in our normally well chronicled travels.  Here is the "rest of the story" since we were in Bogalusa MS (Day 48).

The day we rode from Amite City to Bogalusa Rick was experiencing pain in his chest.  It had started that morning after breakfast and he couldn't breathe very deep that entire day as we rode about 50 miles.  Later that day the pain in his chest spread up into his shoulders and neck and some into his lower back. Given that he has a family history of early heart disease, it was a great cause for concern.  The "rest day" we took off in Bogalusa we actually spent taking him to the LSU Medical Center emergency room where they did an EKG and blood tests to check for possible heart attack.  All the tests looked really good so we decided not to spend a night in the hospital and just go back to the motel for a good night's rest.

The next day we rode from Bogalusa to Aunt Betty Jean's house in Saucier (which we blogged about) and there were no problems other than Rick still was experiencing chest discomfort which we had decided was an upper respiratory infection.  Probably sleeping outside in the tent that night in the dampness didn't help matters.  The next day we headed out, hoping to make VanCleave.  About 1/2 hour into the ride, without really any strenuous exertion, Rick's heart rate shot up to 165 and there is stayed until we stopped for lunch. After lunch it dropped back down to normal, but then, once we started riding again it went back up again.  (We wear heart rate monitors when we ride.)  We thought perhaps his monitor was malfunctioning, so about 20 miles into the ride, we decided to put my monitor on him and see what it said.  It said the same thing.  I listened to his heart and it was beating very rapidly and somewhat irregularly.  At this point, we just STOPPED.  This was out in the middle of nowhere Mississippi.  We weren't even sure how close we were to any kind of town.  We remembered passing a fire department a mile or so back, so we rode back to it.  Nobody was there (it was a volunteer department) but there were some folks doing some work at the Baptist church next door.  We went over there and explained what was going on and asked if they knew of anyone who might be able to give us a ride to an emergency room somewhere.  One of the guys, Mark Seymore, a  firefighter himself, offered to take us to Biloxi or Ocean Springs or wherever we needed to go.  It turned out he drove us all the way to Mamie's house (Vicki's sister) in Theodore (a suburb of Mobile, AL).  Within 15 minutes of  stopping riding, Rick's heart rate went back down, so we decided we might be better to forego the emergency room and see about getting into see a cardiologist on Monday.  (Mamie works for a cardiology group.)

So Monday afternoon, Rick got into to see the head cardiologist at the Cardiology Associates next to Spring Hill Hospital.  After a calcium CT scan, and a cardiac stress test, they found...NOTHING WRONG.  No blockage whatsoever and of course, Rick's heart rate behaved just fine this day.  The doctor said the experience of the irregular rapid heartbeat might have been triggered by an electrolyte imbalance.

So we went back home to Mamie's house, quite relieved with the news, and spent Tuesday getting ready to hit the road again.  We had to figure out how to get back to where we had sagged in from (highway 15 and Bethel Road in Mississippi).  We ended up buying a bike rack at Walmart and Joan, Vicki's niece, drove us back to that point this morning, and then we rode the 56 miles from there back to Mamie's house.  It was a great ride today; it felt really good to be back on the bike and we both felt energetic and rested.  Also we had left the our 100+ pound trailer at the house, so we just flew on that 56 miles ride.

Total miles today:  56.08
Time:  3:18
Avg:  17 mph (at this rate we could've finished this ride two weeks ago!!)

Tomorrow we will head out for Gulf Shores, Alabama, then Pace on Friday, then DeFuniak Springs, FLORIDA on Saturday.

We want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to Mamie and Joan -- for their hospitality, concern, use of the car, and the great fun time we've had with them during the past four days.  They truly have been the greatest.

Hear the music!!!

Rick & Joan messing around

Mamie & great-granddaughter Ansley Marie

Mississippi Swamp

STATELINE -- 2nd to LAST STATE!!!!!