Ah Crap!

Raider Bill · October 21, 2009, 04:41:51 PM

Dang Jinxed me,

I've been feeling a bit run down lately, have been having some chest pains and shortness of breath. I attributed it to age, lack of excersise, not eating right, poor life style, and being away from my woods, whatever. Heck I even quit smoking :

.
Last week my secertary and GF got together, read me the riot act and made a Dr's appointment.
So Monday I went to see the Doc. Echo, ekg, blood work blah blah blah, Yesterday it was a stress test.
Today he calls and say's I'm getting angioplasty next week.

So, Ah Crap........

beenthere · October 21, 2009, 04:49:28 PM

Raider
Sorry to hear about next week, but good that you found it out and can get fixed up. Wish you the best and speedy recovery.

Least, ya didn't have ta ride in the truck ta get there. That is expensive, I hear.

Warbird · October 21, 2009, 07:48:14 PM

Well DanG! And here I am pissin' and moanin' about yet another flu. Hey, at least ya caught it ealry, before something worse went down. I'll be praying for ya. Let us know how it goes.

Bibbyman · October 21, 2009, 07:51:07 PM

Get'r done.

I grew up with a guy in our neighborhood that was a couple of years younger than I. (About your age.) He went to work one morning and was setting around with the guy shooting the breeze before work started. He stood up and fell on his face – dead from a massive heart attack. There was a trained first responder right there but couldn't revived him. Ambulance and EMT were there in minutes. He was a bit over weight and a heavy smoker. He knew he had high blood pressure but would not go for testing or treatment.

Good luck.

Gary_C · October 21, 2009, 08:21:18 PM

Good for you to catch it before it caused a problem. The rest of us in this club were not so smart as you.

Is this just a one day stay?

Mooseherder · October 21, 2009, 08:43:20 PM

Good thing you went in Bill. ;)
I guess we all gotta face it someday. :

Keep us posted.

Norm · October 22, 2009, 07:31:27 AM

Glad your friends insisted on the visit to the doc.

Raider Bill · October 22, 2009, 09:00:25 AM

I'm telling you my Girlfriend and Secertary conspire to get and keep me out of the office. :D This is just the latest ploy. ;D

I think it's just a one day procedure anymore. It's all the rage here at retirement central [florida]. 8)

Since last Jan I've been pretty much strapped to this dang desk from 8am til 8pm 6 days a week eating crap and getting no excercise.

Surgeon's supposed to call either today or tomorrow so I'll know more then.

Radar67 · October 22, 2009, 10:10:11 AM

It's time to unfasten that seat belt and let someone else take some of the load.

Glad you caught it early.

Raider Bill · October 22, 2009, 11:35:24 AM

I need to unstrap and get to my woods in Tenn. It's so much more relaxing than sitting here dealing with insurance claims for 12 hours a day 6 days a week.

Sorry to hear of your loss.

Patty · October 22, 2009, 04:54:09 PM

You need to keep yourself healthy so you have the woods vacation to look forward to! Geesh!

All work and no play leads to a depressing outlook on life, and if you keep working these kind of hours, you will never get to play. So go get the angio, and then start taking care of yourself! Take the time to exercise at least 3 times a week, you will clear your head and find you will get more done in an 8 hour day, than you previously did in a 12 hour day.

We want to keep you around for a few more years!

Norm · October 22, 2009, 05:23:13 PM

I have to agree with Patty and not just because it's good for my health and safety..... :D

We've been short a person at work for a little over a week which keeps me working the early and late shift. It just wears me down after a few days of that and then I start screwing up things. Thankfully today we we're fully staffed so I got to come home early and unwind playing the guitar. I can't tell you how much that just relaxes me to just lose myself in it.

I believe stress is the number one killer in guys our age whether it be from heart problems, blood pressure or as a precursor to cancers. I know how hard it is to not be there working but darn it what's the use in working if you're not going to live long enough to enjoy the fruits of it.

WDH · October 22, 2009, 09:12:47 PM

Raider,

After the procedure, more trips to the Tennessee woods are in order.

Raider Bill · October 23, 2009, 09:08:17 AM

Since I bought the land and built my house in Tenn many things have changed. Business wise we historically filled a niche that not many others did. Since the economy went south bigger companies went looking for ways to stay afloat and discovered what we do so now there's more competition from deep pockets. Additionally several of my clients have shut their doors one real big one owing me a huge amount of $$$. I watched them get a couple billion in bailout money I got zero from them and never will.

A guy that has worked with/for me over 22 years retired a couple months ago leaving a big hole. The guy I thought was going to step into his place has devolped a drinking problem and hasn't even been covering his own responsibilites. One of my 2 office girls fell in love over the internet and moved back north. So as you know the owner [me] has to take up the slack.

Ah the joys of self employment :-\ Doesn't really matter what business you are in.

I personally would like to leave the hospital, head directly to Tenn and hideout in the woods but theres those pesky bills that keep popping up :'(

tonto · October 23, 2009, 09:17:31 AM

Raider Bill you are lucky to have those two gals pushing you. It's great that they caught it so early, many folks have not been so lucky. My dad passed away when he was 44, from a heart attack, well I've got him beat at 46. Been in the best health of my life after loosing 150 lbs and taking much better care of myself. Just think of it as spending much quality time up in Tenn. Many will be jealous of that while dealing with the daily grind. Good luck and best wishes for a speedy recovery. Tonto.

DanG · October 23, 2009, 01:37:24 PM

Gosh Bill, you didn't really need this right now. I hope they will find your problem to be as easily correctible as mine appears to have been.(Knock wood)

You sure need to find a way to reduce your stress level, but that's gonna be tough with the situation you have. I'm pulling for ya!

Raider Bill · October 29, 2009, 02:21:22 PM

Well I made it through the angioplasty 8) Thanks to everyone for the well wishes!

Worse part was laying completely flat and still for 4 hours on a board that had what felt like 1/2inch of foam. My back was killing me by the time they let me move.

I'm a bit sore today but back at work.

The guy that went in right after me got rushed to the OR for a 4X bypass. I went home same day.

Modern medicine pretty much amazes me.

Thanks again everyone

Raider Bill

Norm · October 29, 2009, 03:03:20 PM

Glad to hear you're doing well Bill.

DanG · October 29, 2009, 03:26:25 PM

Glad to hear they didn't have to bust ya open Bill! :D 8) 8)

Any word on what they found? All clear?

Raider Bill · October 29, 2009, 03:34:34 PM

Dang
All clear "witch" opens up a whole nother can of worms as to why I'm having this issue. I've got good insurance so I'm sure they will leave no stone unturned nor dollar untouched to find out.

I would have liked them to find something, fix it so the whole thing would be over with. The good thing is I only lost 1 day of work and being short handed I really can't afford to lose many.

Tom · October 29, 2009, 04:05:45 PM

Bill,
Make sure that one of your doctors is a Pulmonary Specialist. I had a run-down feeling for a l-o-n-g time and went to my Pulmonary Doctor (He is also my sleep specialist) for a followup to my bi/pap and the practicing nurse sent me for a scan and then put me in the hospital with a diagnosis of Pulmonary Embolism.

I even treated it lightly while in the hospital, even though I couldn't walk 50 feet and get back, until they put me on Warfarin and started giving me shots of something or other in my stomach to break up the clots. It's been a year now and I'm slowly recovering. But, that's a lot better than using my VA burial plot up the road. I'm saving that for later, much later, I hope.

I've been told, by the Dr., that I had a very close brush with death. I don't want to do that again.

WDH · October 29, 2009, 07:52:16 PM

Good to hear that you are still kicking hard!

scsmith42 · October 30, 2009, 05:34:35 AM

Bill, I'm glad to hear that things turned out ok. Keep your chin up fella!

Scott

Carries-Mom · October 30, 2009, 12:51:12 PM

I've been off of the computer for a while dealing with stress. I'm glad you made it thru with no problems and glad to hear you're ok. Hope they keep an eye on things to keep you around here for a while. :D Keep us posted on how you're doing.

DanG · November 04, 2009, 02:12:05 AM

Pardon me while I hijack your thread for a mo' Bill. I had my follow-up visit to the Cardiologist's office today(yesterday :

) I felt that I had been treated abruptly to the point of rudeness, while they gave me good medical care at the hospital. This visit was quite different. This time, they were very nice to me and accepted my $600 down payment on my bill, but I was a bit non-plussed by the lack of any examination. The most severe test they put me through was a blood pressure check. Nobody even pressed a refrigerated stethoscope to my chest. :

Personally, I thought that a little strange. However, I did get what appears to have been a good interview with the Nurse Practioner and learned quite a bit about my alleged condition. They say I am good to go! 8) 8) 8) I have been questioning my condition for a while now. I have heard many people saying, "Take it easy" and others telling me to exercise more. I didn't know what to do because I didn't really know if I had damage that needed healing time or what. Well they showed me the marks the Surgeon made on the heart map, which showed the 100% blockage he found in my Circumflex Artery, as well as two very minor areas of concern that should be fine with the dietary, lifestyle, and pharmaceutical changes. The good news, as I understand it is that even if the stint they inserted fails, it will not cause me to drop dead on the spot. The answer to the rest/exercise question is to exercise, according to them. That is the answer I was looking for, and the one I will go for. I've known all along that I have been in a weakened state, but was unsure of the cause. Frankly, except for the first few days after the episode, I have felt much as I did for the months preceding it...like crap. I just couldn't say if it was from the heart problem or just from the months of inactivity. They say the latter, so I'm going to just get back to work and see if I can restore some strength and stamina that way. If it kills me, I'm gonna sue their asses!

Burlkraft · November 04, 2009, 01:14:26 PM

Have they introduced ya to your diet doc yet?

They are wonderful people. Plants not animals will be the suggestion for your nourishment

I'm 2 1/2 years out from my attack now and I'm feeling pretty good, 'cept for the part where I gained 12 lbs this summer.

Welcome back to the world of plants for food :

:

Take care of yer self Bill and mebby they will be easy on ya ;D ;D ;D

Dang...They told me that if I had ANY problems at all to get in to see 'em.

I tried that a couple a times and they look at like yer an alien and say "we don't know why you came here!"

I soon quit doin that and just live with my little problems...Like being too dizzy to stand sometimes and occasional chest pain

;D ;D