shroomy Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 Too well written not to pass on....... Take my example and continue for 26 years taking those big hits and assuring yourself that you are just peachy, in good mental health and stressfree. After awhile you brainwash yourself and don't notice the extra pound here, the lost hour of sleep there, the occasional queasy feeling, and that last tantrum you just managed to keep from rising to the surface. Then one day when you are 38, that queasy feeling is a bit more pronounced and your breathing seems a bit more difficult than usual. Usually you are not one to go see a doc, but you know what? Today you may just make an exception. So, you go to the emergency room (since you don't have a regular doc and don't want to hassle finding one). Yeah, you're feeling pretty shitty by now just as the nurse starts taking your blood pressure. Except she starts over again and cranks the pressure on the cuff just a little higher. Well, still not enough, and you notice that she just put 225 pounds of pressure on your arm. The next thing you know she's called for a wheelchair and your ass is heading for the emergency room. You are put on a heart monitor, you get a whole bunch of forms shoved in your face to sign, and within the next five minutes, you get three injections and about a dozen pills to swallow. Brother, you have just had your first major heart attack, and from the looks of your vectors you have already had one or two minor ones. "We're admitting you to the cardiac intensive care ward." You now have a 24 hour saline drip laced with blood thinners and a few other choice pharmaceuticals running into your arm and you learn they are going to do a procedure that determines the extent of blockage in the blood vessels around your heart. You are wheeled into a room with a lot of big ass machinery and a stainless steel table with a two inch lip that you climb onto bare-ass naked. Talk about cold! They numb the inside of your leg about three inches from your crotch and they make a 3 inch incision in the artery there. You feel your blood pool in the crack of your ass. Then the doc runs a long thin catheter up the artery, straight to the inside of your heart, and you can feel every SINGLE FUCKING INCH of its progress. Now for the fun part, boys and girls (yes, girls, you guys aren't exempt either). They squirt a radioactive solution up the catheter into your heart that quickly disperses through the vessels surrounding it and you get to see the whole thing in the monitor. BTW, they say that solution is only a couple degrees warmer than body temperature, but let me tell you: your heart ain't used to anything but 98.6 and 100 degrees burns like an unnatural motherfucker. Anyway, back to the monitor, you see what is probably the largest artery to your heart but for some reason the solution just plain stops, dead end, and the doc mumbles "Holy fuck" under his breath. Anyway this goes on for another 30 minutes as the catheter is pushed and pulled to get good readings on everything, you feel it every time it jabs the inside of your ventricle, and you are completely stressed to the max. Finally he pulls the catheter out and binds up the incision. Then you get to lay absolutely motionless for the next 6 hours flat on your back while the incision heals somewhat. Most men can't piss while laying flat on their back, so you get the old foley catheter up the urethra. 3/8" in diameter stuck down a tube that is normally about 1/16". Having fun yet. Well, anyway, you are scheduled for a quadruple bypass two days later. No problem, you feel like shit and you aren't going anywhere anyway. They tell you to count backwards from 100 but afterwards you are not sure if you ever got to 96. The next thing you know, somebody is trying to work something huge from out of your throat. It's the respirator from the heart/lung machine that did your breathing and blood flow while they operated. You see, after they cracked open your chest they shot potassium chloride (a poison) into your heart until it stopped beating. Then they used 36" of vein they took out of your leg to bypass the four major arteries to your heart that are all blocked to some significant degree. Recovery is a bitch. You are lucky if you can walk 50 feet and then you are exhausted and need a three hour nap. Over the next few months, you will pass out for no reason and if you are really lucky, you will get to experience a stroke. In my case, I got hit by two strokes three months later, ten days apart. Anyway, three years have passed and after ballooning from 160 pounds to 250, I am back down to 200. I walk three miles each day, and I finally got my time down to 55 minutes. I sleep 8 1/2 to 9 hours a day, and I have to piss every hour on the hour (may be a psychotic reaction to the foley, I dunno). So, there you have it. Keep on tokin', keep on lying to yourself, and someday soon, you too can experience the marvels of modern medicine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeygk Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 Thanks for the pick me up. I think I'll run two extra miles today..........damn that's depressing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeacasta2 Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 Very depressing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phrankadelic Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 just what i need to read on a monday. thanks charlie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmatas2277 Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 very depressing...damn, i feel a fast food binge coming... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daisytcam Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 talk about not leaving out the details! a good post regardless - never take your health for granted regardless of how young you are! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naomi1 Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 I guess I will be going to the gym to work off the big mac I had for lunch! j/k But seriously, everyone should take care of their health. Never take it for grant it. You only live once! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stogiey2k2 Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 yeup taking from personal family experiences these type of things you never know when they are gonna hit, it just happens, and that was a pretty close description of how quickly the whole process happens, and lets not even talk about while all this is going on if you have any breathing problems then you will get face with a whole additional set of machines and paperwork, so yeah watch out for your health and go to the doctor once in a while not every 3 years my advice peace out peeps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nightstar01 Posted May 13 Report Share Posted May 13 My dad had heart surgery about 1 1/2 year ago....and recovery was not easy.....he took about 10 months to be his regular self again, not to mention all the emotional stuff he endured.....this is why I made a life change and I try to be my healthiest now.....ummmmmmmmm..........maybe i'll jog an extra 2 laps today!!! Thanks Charlie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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