I had a case of the flu last January. Achy muscles, no appetite, the
usual.

Had another little dose of it coupla weeks ago. Nuisance. Then, for
no apparent reason, I couldn't get my breath. Uh oh, let's go right
now! We did.

Turns out I'd had two "symptomless" heart attacks. After the second,
the docs said my hours remaining without intervention were countable
with a single digit.

Now, a couple of weeks and one quintuple bypass later, they're quite
optimistic. They said being generally healthy and strong helped a
lot. I'll be limited to 10% "load rating" for a month, then 20% thru
Labor Day, then whatever I can rehab myself to after that -- and, I'd
have more energy than I'd had for a decade with all that good oxygen
getting to where it needs to go.

Glad they found it in time. I had a little overnight stay and a nuclear
stress test a few years ago due to a false alarm- probably related to
the
60
or 70 ounces of high-test coffee I used to drink. Better safe than
sorry
once you're past 50.

It's a wonder that a lot of you guys are still alive. I guess I'll chalk
that up to improvements in medical treatment because the lifestyle a
large
number of you guys engaged in was bound to catch up with you. Heavy
coffee
drinking, smoking cigarettes, eating like ****, not exercising, avoiding
doctors, man, what the hell were you guys thinking? No wonder the women
all
live longer. They're clearly smarter. It sounds like some of you wanted
a
short life. Either that or you are incredibly ignorant about how to be
healthy. Now that you all have had heart procedures maybe some of you
will
actually change your habits. But knowing men as I do I think a better
bet
is
to expect early funerals for a lot of you guys.

Hawke

Well, gee thanks, Hawke. Drinking too much coffee is the only part of your
list that applied to me. In any case, many apparently healthy men suffer
heart attacks, even men who have followed "heart healthy" diet guidelines
and don't smoke, etc..

That may be true but I was talking about people who due to unhealthy
lifestyles doomed themselves to rather short lives. By now we all know what
an unhealthy diet is and what living healthy is about. At least we should.
On the other hand, has anyone seen the show You are What You Eat? If you
haven't you should. The people on the show are clueless about what is a bad
diet and how to live a healthy life. Consequently, they look like **** and
are eating themselves into an early grave. I suspect that while some of you
guys have the "bad gene" or some other unfortunate problem that causes
health problems most of your health problems are lifestyle realated. Don't
you hate hearing that after years any years of letting yourself go? Believe
me though, I know what I'm talking about. A few years ago I weighed almost
300 lbs. Since then I've been getting back into shape and now workout six
days a week and I'm still not at my ideal weight yet. But at least I'm on
the way. I suggest the rest of you guys start a health regimen before it's
too late.

Hawke