Health
 

I'm still kind of out of it, and will be for next couple of days until body adjusts to the sudden AZ springtime (it's like God says: Hmmm... it's the second Sunday in February, time for spring! Then a switch flips, and there's a 40-degree differential from one day to the next).

Toward the end of next week and the beginning of the week after, though, I'll be offline for awhile; hopefully, a brief while. The results of my latest nuclear cardiac stress test are back, and my cardiologist doesn't like them. So he wants to put in a pacemaker - some new type, which has only been approved for Stage 3 cardiac patients (3 out of 4), that has leads both inside and outside the heart. It's supposed to be an overnight procedure, but the last cardiac surgery I had, which was supposed to be a 5-day recovery... three weeks later, I was still in ICU/CCU... so who knows?

Moving to Atlanta... getting a pacemaker installed... trying to get a Seg for Jeremy... gee... and, here, I thought I was supposed to be an invalid! :D

Gee, Eric, you left out having one-on-ones with half of the folks on Chat, reading three-fourths of everything being published, and still having a positive attitude!

Best of luck on your procedures, and keep in touch as you feel up to it.

Good luck and a speedy recovery.

I'm taking no chances, considering the rest of your health, I am taking the John Hancock approach and making sure you see the message! LOL

I really do wish you the best in this latest chapter. Rest up, relax. Get done what you can when you can is all you can do, and all you do is much more than what others say they will, and don't...

Thanks, Karl, and you, too, Five-Flags, whose real name I don't know.

There's some things I didn't post earlier.

What I thought was angina, isn't. I think I've mentioned my other birth defect before (in fact I know I did.. I just remembered "Ed Sullivan"), and the principal area in which my spine is deformed, and shortened, is that area directly behind my chest, with my vertabrae being about 1/5 "normal" size. It turns out what we thought was angina is my heart has actually run out of room to enlarge. The pain is the heart actually rubbing against "other stuff" in there as it beats. Actually, I'm kind of glad about that... won't bother with the nitro anymore. Nitro headaches suck.

My cardiologist walked me out to the waiting room and stood there when I got on Gilligan. Then I found out what is, potentially, the worst news I got today... I need to find out what frequencies of EMF the lithiums put out, as certain frequencies will interfere with the pacemaker (read: Cause the pacemaker to stop, cold). I called Seg of Scottsdale. Brian's going to find out.

I'll be honest, and I've talked with Bill about this, if it comes down to a choice between Gilligan and the pacemaker, and the pacemaker, as I've already been told, is not going to extend my life expectancy...

I'll live with the pain. Bill agrees with me, just because he gets to see, every day, the change Gilligan has brought about in me. So, the dealer's researching... and if it's a conflicting frequency, I won't be getting the pacemaker, after all.

I don't let any of this get to me. There are people in far, far worse shape than I'm in. Plus, I've had, literally, my entire life to think about this. I've had 43 years of "extra," so - ultimately - it's all no big deal. Not when compared to people like Pam's father, or end-stage renal failure patients, or end-stage AIDS... or cancer... or just about any long-term debilitating illness. At least my condition isn't going to rob me of every last shred of dignity, as some terminal conditions do.

Sorry to hear of your latest troubles Eric, I can understand a bit of your concern. I certainly understand the nitro headaches! I've found that if you really need the nitro, the headache doesn't seem as bad. Hang in there, there are lots of people keeping you in mind through these trying times. I know the words don't mean much, hopefully the thoughts come through.

Jim

I hope you get to a most speedy recovery! I know you will be missed here, in your brief absence, but please take it easy! I hope this new pacemaker works, who knows you may be paving the way to something that could save thousands of lives in the future! Hopefully the hospital has good movies! Have a great night!


Jeremy Ryan