My year in health

[The Storyteller]

Well, year and a half. :)

It's been an in interesting time. In the spring of 2016, I started having angina. I went to see my cardiologist and they ran tests to find I had blockage. I had a massive coronary in 2003, and had avoided surgery until now. They put me under the knife, and what had been planned as a triple bypass turned into a quintuple bypass in May of 16.

Then I had a heart attack while on vacation in CA in July. (And here I thought the point of the bypass was NOT to have one) Two stents later and I'm ready to go.

Then a month later I contracted a major case of shingles. I was pretty much incapacitated for a month and a half. [NOTE TO EVERYONE: GET YOUR SHINGLES SHOT!]

Everything went great until March 14 of this year. I took a break from work to go home and let my dog out. On the way home, a lady in an SUV ran a red light and t-boned my Toyota Carola on the passenger side. I was completely out and she tried to pin it on me but they found they had surveillance video seeings it was a block north of the police station. They choppered me to OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City.

I had three brain bleeds, three broken ribs, and a fractured vertebrae. I was so messed up I didn't even notice the fractures until almost 3 weeks later when I laid on the wrong side in bed. I ended up mostly okay in the end, except for the permanent brain damage.

And that, kids, is the story of my year in health and why I have decided to retire. I would ask "What can happen next?!" But I'm afraid I might get an answer. :D

[SteveinMN]

Geez, you've had a year (or so), Storyteller! If I were you, I wouldn't be walking under any ladders or by any black cats. I'm glad you're (largely) back!

[Alan]

Wow Buster! Let's hope better days are coming.

I had a blockage requiring a stent several years ago and last year a woman crossed the center line and hit me head on, luckily with no injuries to either of us outside of our totaled cars. I count my blessings every day, I'll start counting yours too.

[Yppej]

You're a real survivor.

[catherine]

Wow. So happy to hear you are scaling back and enjoying life after all that!!

This may or may not be relevant, but as many know, I'm in healthcare market research, and I have done several shingles projects. And one of the questions my client wanted me to ask for one of the projects was "how old is 'elderly'?" and they would say "65 and older."

I'd shudder (being 65) and then I'd ask "Why 65?" And the doctor would inevitably say something like "Because that's when everything starts going bad." Sheesh!

As for shingles, I agree that a vaccine is a good way to go. Shingles is not fun. Merck has a vaccine, which is reasonably effective, but there will be another one out in a few months that has been proven to be more effective. The reason they wanted me to find out what "elderly" means is because as you get older, your immune system declines, and the varicella virus, which has been lying dormant all those years, suddenly has a little wiggle room to attack your nerves.

Please relax and enjoy life!! You deserve it!

[razz]

You will find life rich just savouring all the good going on right now so take time to enjoy it.

[iris lilies]

That is quite somethng, heavens. Good for you to get out of punching the time clock to do what youwant to do.

[pinkytoe]

Seems like often in our lives, all the bad stuff happens together like that. Hopefully, you have endured enough and can rest easy now.

[Float On]

Wow. What a lot to go thru! Definitely enjoy slowing down.

[Rogar]

Man, that's a rough year! I hope it will be clear sailing now. Sometimes we take good health for granted until something happens to us or someone around us. It's a good reminder for me to be thankful.

[dado potato]

to The Storyteller,

I am grateful that you are still among us. Be well, friend. All will be well.

[CathyA]

Oh Storyteller..........I'm so very sorry for all that has happened to you. I wondered where you were! As a former Open Heart Recovery R.N., I have to ask......did they give you an explanation about why the bypasses you had didn't prevent the next heart attack? Was the surgery done at a large hospital? Were your brain bleeds in 3 different places? What kind of brain damage do you have? What happened to all your chickens? (aren't you the guy that had a ton of them?) Weren't you also doing some hydroponics?

Sounds like you're a fighter, Storyteller. I will ask the universe to give you a break, so you can have a calm life now. You've paid your dues!!
We hope to hear from you more here!

[Lainey]

You've had more than your share, Storyteller, so here's to having the rest of your life be calm, healthy and boring....;)

[Teacher Terry]

So glad you survived all that and were able to retire. Enjoy!

[Williamsmith]

I’d be interested in knowing if you can describe where your strength to go on came from? And what are the daily challenges you face going forward?

[Gardenarian]

What a year Storyteller! I'd say things can only get better, but I don't want to tempt fate :)

How are you spending your days now?

[Gardenarian]

Also, I will get my shingles shot. Thank you!

[The Storyteller]

As a former Open Heart Recovery R.N., I have to ask......did they give you an explanation about why the bypasses you had didn't prevent the next heart attack? Was the surgery done at a large hospital?

Hi, CathyA. There was disagreement between my cardiologist and the heart surgeon as to why it happened. I think it boiled down to the connection between the grafts and the original veins either didn't take well or became occluded as I recovered. Both said that just happens sometimes. There was a third vein that needed a stent but the cardiologist said it is too small and narrow to stent. The risk of the procedure outweigh the benefits, so all is not exactly perfect. But I'm dealing.

It was in a smallish hospital near where I live.


Were your brain bleeds in 3 different places? What kind of brain damage do you have?

Yes, three different places. Two in the front of the brain on the left and right sides, and one on the side, near the ear. The local hospital couldn't get them to stop, thus the need for the helicopter ride. Which cost me about $1,000 a minute. And I can't even remember it, except for waking up at one point and remembering that familiar sound from my USMC days. Fortunately, it didn't require surgery to eventually stop them.

I only notice the damage every now and then. I used to have a pretty quick mind, but find myself getting confused sometimes during complex, multiple layered reference questions and have to hand it off to a colleague. And some people seem to talk too fast and I have to ask them to slow down a bit sometimes. Sometimes when I'm out walking, it seems like everything just shuts down and I have to stop. It isn't that I don't know where I am, it's just everything is just blank and I'm looking around without really thinking. It's weird. Only lasts a few seconds, though.

Everyone tells me they can't notice any changes. Except they say I'm nicer. So maybe it knocked the meanness out of me. :D


What happened to all your chickens? (aren't you the guy that had a ton of them?) Weren't you also doing some hydroponics?

Sold all the chickens and the farm and moved back to one of our houses in town. With my health situation at the time, I just didn't want to deal with it. I'll probably get a few cluckers after I retire. And garden. And then hydroponics, maybe. I'm much better now, so we'll see.

[CathyA]

Funny, Storyteller.......I have those kinds of brain moments all the time, that you have! And I've never had a bleed.... Were the bleeds from the trauma in the accident?
Having worked in smaller hospitals and larger ones, I have to say if you need medical treatment again, try to get to the larger one.
Sorry about your chickens and other things you seemed to be really into. But life happens........and at least you're still here and can still enjoy other things. It's hard to give up previous dreams, but it happens and we just have to make new ones with our present reality. Taking care of animals is a lot of work! After the last of my chickens died, I didn't get anymore. It was just too much work to continue with my bad knees. But I sure loved having them.
May I ask how old you are? Did your parents have cardiac problems? I'm really glad to see you back!

[JaneV2.0]

Seems like often in our lives, all the bad stuff happens together like that. Hopefully, you have endured enough and can rest easy now.

I've noticed that among my friends and family.

Retirement will likely help you heal further. Your brain will continue to heal long after doctors' predictions say it will. i'm happy you survived!

[The Storyteller]

I've noticed that among my friends and family.

Retirement will likely help you heal further. Your brain will continue to heal long after doctors' predictions say it will. i'm happy you survived!

Thank you. Neurologist said many of the functions of the damaged areas will be farmed out to other parts of the brain. He said after a year, whatever adjustment my brain makes will be done, but I've been looking at the new research on how our brains continue to evolve over our entire lives, that they never stop changing, for better or worse. So, my hopes are high.

[The Storyteller]

What a year Storyteller! I'd say things can only get better, but I don't want to tempt fate :)

How are you spending your days now?

Still working right now, but just a few more months of it and I'm done! The plan then is to do more of the stuff I enjoy: read, meditate (I'd like to get up to 2 hours a day), walk/exercise (ditto), etc. And to do some stuff I just don't have enough time for right now, or at least imagine I don't.

Eventually volunteer somewhere. There's 2 museums, a library (the one I work at now), a substance abuse rehab place, and an arts auditorium, all within walkint distance of my house. Also maybe do some volunteer puppetry and storytelling various places for kiddos, writes some new shows, etc. Love all that stuff! :)

[The Storyteller]

I’d be interested in knowing if you can describe where your strength to go on came from?

I've been thinking about this since I saw it yesterday. I've toyed around with responding about how much meditation has helped me, or acceptance over the past couple of years of the impermanence of all things (including me), but to be honest... I don't know. It's a mystery.

But we really don't have any choice, do we? We just go on.


And what are the daily challenges you face going forward?

Just continuing to try to get healthier and happier. And kinder.

For a while I was having a hard time focusing, but that's gotten a lot better over the months.

[JaneV2.0]

Confronting and/or overcoming adversity normally goes a long way in making us kinder and more sympathetic to others who are struggling.

[Teacher Terry]

I am glad that you are continuing to recover. My Dad had a big stroke at 59 that he barely survived. He went from being a happy, go lucky , life of the party kind of guy to grumpy, unpleasant, mean, etc. The Neurologist said it was because of the part of his brain that was damaged. It was not his fault and he could not control it. It was a long 14 years until he died.