On Sat, 19 Jun 2004 07:06:16 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:
For those of you who emailed or wished me well, many many many thanks.
Im very touched by the concern of everyone. Its good to know Im
either well liked, or for those who dont, they didnt want a thread
opponent to disappear G
Welcome back, Cot^H^H^HGunner.
A bit of an explaination of what very unexpectedly happened to "good
ol hard as a rock Gunner". (ouch..sigh)
Saturday last, I had gone to Bakersfield to pick up an Old Crystal
Lake grinder for a gent, who is coming in from Salt Lake City to pick
up in the next week or two. Getting it home in mid afternoon, (around
105F, 30% humitity) I unloaded it using the Armstrong Method and the
The East Coasters won't know what that low hummerditty feels like,
but Souwester Desert Rats will know that it feels like East Coast
90%. Having moved to a drier region, I noticed a muggy feeling on
Thursday and the gauge read a mere 22%.
And you know that the Armstrong Method isn't supposed to be used
when the temps are in the 90F+ range. You need a pair of watercooled
longjohns fer that, boy.
By this time, I was bent over in the front seat, scared ****less, and
praying hard that this was not a heart attack . I was a bit confused
as I only had about 1/2 of the symptoms of a MI, but it was really
hard to ignore that white hot chunk of 3" diameter CRS that the 500lb
elf was trying to drive into my chest and out my back (and he was
doing a really really good job of it). About half way there..the pain
started to abate a fair amount...but I was still twitching bad..
Ouch! Didja get that elf's name?
chest and inject dye into your heart , all the while watching the
process under a xray sort of machine, all on real time video (and
saved to CD).
Fluoroscope?
My blockages were, in effect worse than my wifes blockages. Big
difference..Id managed to avoid a heart attack with the nitro and
asprins and there was no heart damage. (whew.....prayer? Knowing what
to do because Im a survivalist? Damned good luck? Shrug)
Lucky you had fresh nitro pills handy, too.
An interesting side note..to close the hole in the femorial artery
they made..they clamp it closed and you down to the table with this
big assed C clamp for an hour or so, then clamp your leg down for the
next 10 hours so the artery doesnt blow out and you bleed to death in
a couple minutes in your bed. Its actually better than it
sounds..morphine..lots of morphine....
And familiar tools! (But the grease they use on those things
is prolly $70/g.)
The next day, Thursday, they moved me to another hospital, one
specializing in this sort of problem and did a ballon cathederization
and installed a stent in the big artery. This will keep the artery
from going bad again. The specialists say the other areas will sort
themselves out if I stay on their pill and eats program and I was
damned lucky that I was in excellent health otherwise and had avoided
the heart attack.
Yes, goodonya, mate.
Oh..and I will be quitting smoking (or trying really hard) as I need
lead a bit more healthy a life style. Shrug..this is gonna be a total
bitch and will likely be harder than undergoing the other stuff..I
have quit 14 times before...sigh...
No, you have never quit smoking before. Quitting is a decision which
you have never made seriously. I hope you can do so now. After all,
who _willingly_ chooses to smell like a dirty ashtray all day, every
day? (LJ, who stopped stinking 16 years ago last Feb.)
The upshot of this whole thing is..I will be ok in a few weeks at
most,, and probably in better shape than in the last couple years or
Most excellent, Gunner. Take care!
I was wondering why I couldnt boink for hours anymore..thought I was
just getting oldG
All together now, guys: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
Angina or the early stages of a heart attack are hard to distinquish
from "heart burn" for the average person.
Most guys (like myself) tend to be in denial that it could be
something serious. The coroner often times finds a belly full of
PeptoBismo/Tums or other antacids when doin the autopsy of the people
that dont make it to the hospital and are found dead at home. Dead of
being stubborn. I damned well could have been one of them.
Congrats on your clear head and loss of denial. Oh, and the
wife nagging you to go to the hospital couldn't have hurt much,
either, could it?
Id strongly suggest reading this link for the various warning signs...
http://www.heartinfo.org/ms/guides/9/main.html
Hey, it's even in Spanish, for non-English-speaking Americans.
Were that in R.O. Kalifornia, it'd be in 29 languages. I got
****ed off every time a ballot pamphlet came to me there. sigh
As to how Im gonna pay for all this..I dont have a clue..but Ive a
number of options, from various country and state programs to long
term payment plans, to working with the VA. Im starting to explore
the options.
What'd they nail you for, about $45k?
Again..many thanks to all of you who expressed concern. Im very
touched and heartened by your best wishes. Even those emailed by
Snibbles .....G
Susie Snibbles? Does your wife know? gd&r
Respects and deepest regards to the members of the Usenet communtiy
who have emailed and posted. Im deeply touched and it gives me a
very warm feeling.
Nah, that's just the memory of a morphine buzz.
That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's
cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays
there.
- George Orwell
Back on topic: I've been able to get several coats of Perma Blue
on Grandpa's old Winchester. Heating DEFINITELY speeds things up,
and I'm surprised at how quickly it warms under the distant tip
of a propane torch. I believe I'll have to deal with the deep
muzzle end rust at another time. How deep does it have to go to
make the rifle (.22) unsafe? I think it's about 1/16" for about
4" along one side, where it evidently sat on a damp closet carpet.
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