A Candian perspective, eh.
Name: Nick Strzalkowski
Age: 36
Hometown: Ontario, Ooooooh Caaaanadaaa
Area of study: Neurophysiology in disease and environmental extremes
Position: Assistant Professor, Mt. Royal University
I am Dr. Nick Strzalkowski (he/him), 36-year-old Assistant Professor from Mount Royal University in Calgary Canada. I’m a neurophysiologist with broad and expanding research interests. I study how we use sensory feedback (somatosensory, vestibular, vision) to move, stand and balance, and how sensorimotor control changes with disease (movement disorders) and environmental factors (high altitude!). I am also interested in undergraduate student science literacy, and have ongoing research projects investigating undergraduate science attitudes, knowledge, and engagement. This is my first high altitude research expedition, but I hope not my last.
Beyond research I try to get outdoors as much as possible snowboarding, xcountry skiing and biking in Calgary, and sailing at my family cottage back in Ontario. I love the mountains of Alberta but miss the lakes of Ontario. I have a canoe out in Calgary despite the paucity of lakes. I also dabble in writing poorly rhyming poetry.
Daily Recap
May 18th! This marks 14 days since I and the MRU crew left Calgary. Tomorrow – we fly to Lukla to spend another two weeks trekking. Our research destination is Pheriche (~4300 m) where we’ll spend five days collecting data on 30 participants for 5+ different research studies. We will then head to Everest Basecamp for a photo op, and then peak out on the Kala Patthar summit at ~5600m (that’s about 61 American football fields for our U.S. readers 😊) before returning to Lukla, and then Kathmandu June 3rd (weather permitting).
Today is a special day. It is our last full day in Kathmandu and last day for low altitude research (before testing 30+ Sherpa and Nepalese non-Sherpa in Kathmandu June 5-16th but that’s another story). As I write this, the last low altitude data collection is being complete by the carbon monoxide rebreath team. Yes, you read that correctly carbon monoxide (CO), the gas we fear accumulating in our basements. Fun fact, it is a myth that CO is heavier that air, and your CO alarms do not need to be installed near the floor. It is true however that CO is dangerous to breath in large quantities. CO has a high affinity for hemoglobin, the oxygen carrying protein in our red blood cells. This means that large amounts of CO can decrease the ability of hemoglobin to bind and delivery life sustaining oxygen throughout the body. This high affinity also makes the CO rebreath technique work, where very low (very safe) levels of CO are inhaled along with 100% oxygen. Ultimately, I’m told by Dr. Janne Bouten our CO rebreath expert, that based on the uptake of CO during rebreathing the mass (grams) of hemoglobin a person has can be calculated. This is the gold standard to understand how much hemoglobin someone has. How hemoglobin content changes as we low landers and our Sherpa participants and trekking partners acclimatize to the high altitude environment of Pheriche is one of our primary research questions.
Other highlights today included an overview of what to expect on the trek by Drs Tom and Trevor with a focus on high altitude mountain sickness. Our ascent profile is particularly safe with five days in Pheriche before we push higher, but the expectation that we will almost certainly experience some to all AMS symptoms and that this is normal was made crystal clear. AMS symptoms include: headache, fatigue, dizziness, anorexia, and upset stomach/nausea. It's all part of the adventure! Needless to say most of our duffel bags look like little pharmacies.
We are only allowed 15kg (that 42 cans of Budweiser for the American readers 😊) of personal bagged (carry-on + checked) on the flight to Lukla. Currently everyone is running around looking for baggage scales and deciding how many pairs of underwear we really need for a 15-day trek.
Let’s gooooooo!
I left Calgary May 4th with five more smiling faces
With our personal bags and nine pelican cases
A layover in Vancouver was our first rendezvous
Three more Canadians joined our flight to Kathmandu
The travel was epic, over twenty-six hours long
But I’d do it again (and more) to meet Pontus, Taylor and Tom
Janne and Anne rounded out the research team
It’s now time to measure balance, blood, sleep, and the spleen
I write this twelve days later, with so much data collected
I’m so proud of our team, now that I’ve paused and reflected
From health screening to dailys, now stand on this force-plate
Next back down the stairs, and you’d best not be late
Anne made a tight schedule there is no place you can hide
Please stay still so that Janne, can administer carbon monoxide
Deep breaths please don’t worry, we need you to relax
Next door is the main study, they’ll take your spleen to its max
It’s been amazing to witness, the science coming to maturation
Like the body acclimatizing: spleen, lungs, and blood saturation
Human physiology is incredible, how we adapt to high altitude
Unfortunately, my stomach, has not yet fully adapted to the food
But there’s more than just science, so much more to explore
Each night we go walking I’ve never been bored
Food and drink all delicious, I’ve enjoyed the restaurants and bars
Everyday a new adventure dodging scooters, rickshaws, and cars
Our hotel is an oasis, the rooms are really not bad
Mine, however, happens to double as our very busy blood lab
The courtyard is stellar, I give five stars to this place
Trevor may disagree for he punched a monkey in the face
My highlight so far was celebrating Anne’s birthday
We went to Purple Haze and heard two amazing bands play
It was packed, so much energy, we could not get a booth
Shoulder to shoulder to bottle to tooth (sorry)
On the 15th Dr. Wes and the U.S. students joined in
Our crew nearly complete, our trek nearly set to begin
Three more researchers just joined us, it’s hard to believe
Just in time for tomorrow when we finally leave
To the parents I will report that your kids are all right
Our ascent profile is safe, just don’t google “Lukla flight”
Our low altitude research is done, we’ve hustled all night and day
Now to repeat it all, over five days in Pheriche (4300 m!)
On the trek we will witness, textbook knowledge confirmation
As we experience polyuria and hyperventilation
I hope our balance is stable, and folks don’t start to swerve
As our blood pH rises and shifts our hemoglobin saturation curve
As we ascend our blood thickens, and so will our bond
Within this expedition crew, that I’m already so fond 😊
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