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Tom Gardner
 
Posts: n/a
Default Gunner: I'm back

Good on you! I was more concerned for Glen, as his philosophy needs
ocasional...tuning. God knows what would happen to him without an
occasional reality check. Let me know how you do on smoking, I'm next, I
can hardly breathe. I hope you told the docs about your Mountain Dew habit,
that's the real root of the problem.

Oh, by the way, "Where's the metalworking content here?" (somebody had to
say it)
-

"Gunner" wrote in message
...
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

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
few gadgets I have for moving Stuff around the back yard. This
involved a lot of gut busting grunting and groaning, and I stopped to
take a break. I noticed I was getting what felt like heart burn, and
it was getting a bit hard to ignore..so took a big shot of Pepto
Bismo. The pain went away. So I went back outside and kept on moving
Stuff. Pain came back. Pepto didnt help. So thinking fast, I dropped
a couple of my wife's nitro pills, and the pain went away. Cool. So
thinks me..time to take it easy. And I did, all Sunday..just did minor
bits and things. No problems all day.

I got ready to go to LA Monday morning, and went to bed. At 5:30
am..my chest woke me up. Pepto didnt work. The first nitro did..for
a short time. Then it came back. Worse. The second and third nitro
slowed it down..for a short time..then it came back..really bad.

Now while Im just a simple harmless fuzzball, I do have a high pain
threshhold....and I was rapidly reaching the high end of it. The wife
demanded we head to the hospital in Bakersfield (45 miles away), so I
dropped 3 asprin, another nitro and off we went like a bat out of hell
with her driving.

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..

Getting to the country hospital in Bakersfield, she dragged me into
the ER..and plopped me down and got some help. First thing they did
was give me an EKG. Hummmm no signs of a Heart Attack (MI) though it
was giving wierd readings. Enough that they called a Code and got me
into treatment.

To cut through the bull**** of the next couple very painful and
miserable days, much of which is mercifuly veiled with a drug filled
fog....

My cloresteral was perfect
My blood pressure was in the high normal range
My blood enzemes were showing something was screwed up.
My heart beat never got any higher than 66 beats per minute (more on
this later)
The periodic returns of the pain was stopped by nitro and morphine.
Lots of nitro, and lots of morphine. Ill blow up a **** test for the
next year...G

Damned shame Ive become allergic to Demeral....morphine only works so
so with me..shug

I had a text book worst case example of Unstable Angina.... While
knowing what it is..there isnt much comfort knowing the name of that
500lb elf with the white hot spear in your chest...

They ran a bunch of tests, chest x-rays (nothing wrong showing, other
than a slight possible enlargement of the heart) and Wed they decided
to give me a angiogram. This is where they strip you naked, shave all
the hair off your balls and groin, and hack into your right femoral
artery, then run a teeny wienie hollow tube all the way up into your
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).

Bingo!

My right coronary aorta
http://www.pediheart.org/practitione...y/arteries.htm was 95%
plugged off, another one (cant remember ALL the names) was 50% plugged
off, and 5 more on the left side of my heart were up to 50% plugged
for a grand total of 7 blockages. Keep in mind..that my colesteral
levels were absolutely perfect and all the tests showed the heart
itself was perfect (though beating slowly) and my BP was in the high
normal/low High range.

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)


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....

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.

(.200 stent, expanded to .375 at 40psi, if my reading the report
upside down was correct. Stent is a new style, treated with a baked
on anti-plaque chemical that is supposed to prevent any new yuckies
from building up in that area. I got the owners manual and warranty
for that puppy! G)
http://www.taxus-stent.com/

Here is what an angioplasty is all about
http://www.cardiologychannel.com/ang...y/stents.shtml

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...

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
longer. Ive noticed a distinct tendency over the last couple years to
not be as active as I was before..due to "running out of steam". I
wrote off a lot of this as simply ageing. I also noticed that Id get
wierd feelings now and then from the right center of my chest..kind
of a tickle, over the last couple years..also writing them off to
aging. Big mistake, which fortunately I was lucky to be able to
recover from. The only other problem that Ive got and it may be
genetic (my mom had this later in life) is that my heart never speeds
up much past 60-70 beats per minute. I could be running around the
block, and drop to my knees as the heart is not speeding up to pump
increased blood and O2. Ive noticed this over the last year..and while
I knew this was a problem..was unable to do anything about it.
Priorities....shrug. There is some conjecture that this may have
caused a plague build up due to no big speeding up of the heart and
blood flow..or the other side says it was the result of plague caused
heart damage. Shrug..Docs say it may correct itself in the next few
weeks, or Ill simply have to learn to live with it. I was wondering
why I couldnt boink for hours anymore..thought I was just getting
oldG

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.

Id strongly suggest reading this link for the various warning signs...

http://www.heartinfo.org/ms/guides/9/main.html

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.

At least..Im alive to deal with the issue..and Im worth far more alive
than dead.

I STRONGLY recommend to anyone over 40, that you get a good heart
health check up now and then. Some of the screenings may be free, or
darned cheap. If this could happen unexpectedly to me..it damned well
could happen to anyone.


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

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.

Gunner

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