An Exciting Week

[ShopShoe]

Kim,

Glad you got through that. I don't have your present problem, but I do have the "Now that I'm Older" issues where I have to stop myself from getting too far into something that might be stupid. It's a pain to have to get help for things I could probably do myself and I used to do all the time.

Hope you many more good and safe shop days.

ShopShoe

[Flyboy Jim]

Good news Kim! It's pretty amazing what they can do medically nowadays to keep us going.

I had to have a heart ablation procedure done last Jan. for AFIB that was discovered back in Sept. of 2019 while I was in the hospital after my motor scooter accident.

I hear folks talk about how it would be great to be living back in the "good old days". Heck........if we were still living back in the "good old days" most of us would be dead by now! 

Jim

[Lew Hartswick]

Kim, I went through the same thing about 23 years ago so the stent fix has lasted this long. :-)  Lots of other things/parts are beginning to show wear though. :-)
   ...lew...

[Don1966]

Glad to hear your on the mend buddy and yes listen to your body is good advice. I had the angiogram done in 2007 and found no blockage. Just my blood pressure was running high. In which case could of caused a stroke or death. I see my doctor every year for blood work and check up. Glad your still with us buddy. This pass week was my annual and doc says  keep doing what I am doing so I am a happy camper…

Regards Don

[Roger B]

I'm happy all went well for you     

[Kim]

Thank you, everyone,
I do appreciate hearing that some of you have had this procedure and are still kicking!  That's very encouraging!
Kim

[RReid]

Hi Kim. Thank you for sharing your experience with us, but mostly I'm glad you dodged a future bullet and are doing well.
(Sheesh, the things that go on while I'm traveling and off the 'net most of the time!)

Take care buddy!

[Kim]

Just when I thought all was in the past, trouble rears its ugly head again...

Two weeks ago I started feeling the same pain in my chest when I exercised - very similar to last November.  Needless to say, I took my own advice and went into the ER.

Again, they were confused with what was going on - I'd not had a stitch of pain since they installed the stent in November.  But after a few days of tests and such, they did an angiogram and found that a blockage had started to form at the very edge of the stent they'd put in.  Maybe it was my body trying to heal around the stent? I had religiously taken the blood thinners and Statins that I'd been prescribed.  So, who knows.  But the end of the stent was very close to where two major heart arteries branched off from each other, so wasn't a good candidate for a stent.  While it could have been done with a stent, the expected life of that intervention would have been fairly short (single-digit years) before they'd likely have to do something again.

So this time around all the experts advised bypass surgery.  Now I don't know about you, but I always thought open heart surgery is what old people had.  Not people like me!    Anyway, what they said made sense.  And the theory is that a bypass is a more robust solution than a stent anyway, lasting 20-30 years before requiring additional intervention.  So of we went down the bypass route.  And last week, I had single bypass surgery (I have learned they call it CABG - Coronary Artery Bypass Graft or Cabbage for short).  I'm not especially fond of cabbage, but in this case, I made an exception. (And I can tell you, I'm still not overly fond of it!)

I'm on the other side of the surgery now and seem to be recovering well, but I can tell you it's not something you'll want to choose to do electively. 

I'm on another 4-6 weeks of not getting to do much on my own (can't lift anything over 5-10lbs) and I can't go out in my shop to play.  Not much out there I can do that won't require me hefting 5lbs or more!

So I'll be a keyboard jockey for the next 2 months.  I've got some fun Arduino projects that I want to do - maybe I'll tackle those during this time.  And of course, I've got to do my taxes. I'll see if I can get that done too.

Not intended as a whine (well, maybe a little) but mostly just to let you all know my welding project and of course, my Pennsy Switcher will be delayed by a few months too.  But in the long run, I'm sure it's all for the best, right?  This one ought to last me 20-30 years. 


Thanks for all of your support,
Kim

[90LX_Notch]

Good on you for listening to your body Kim.  It sounds like the surgery was the absolute best fix.  Best of luck with your recovery.

-Bob

[Charles Lamont]

Good to hear you are on the mend.

Bought myself and some other family members Arduno starter kits for something to do in the first lockdown.
I have found the measure twice, cut once, principle goes wth Arduinos. It is so hard to get the magic smoke back into the little buggers.

Slice cabbage thinly, 1/8", wash in plenty of cold water, separating the layers. Put a good knob of butter in the bottom of a pan, cram in the not too well drained cabbage, add salt (if allowed) and few twists of pepper. Cover and sweat till fairly tender, stirring a couple of times. I have had grown men say they had not realised it was possible to actually like it.

 

[Dave Otto]

Wow Kim that is some major news, I'm hoping for a full uneventful recovery for you.
Two months of no shop time will be tough, maybe you can find a project you can work on it the house. Some sort of model kit maybe.

Take care,
Dave

[cnr6400]

Glad things went well at the CABG patch Kim! Take care of yourself. Best wishes for fast healing. 

[propforward]

Well, ****, but glad you are taking it well and healing up. All the very best and a speedy recovery to you! Your shop will be there when you are ready, and you'll have masses of projects all figured out and be raring to go.

[Jo]

Thanks for letting us know it is all behind you Kim and you are on the mend

So another 8 weeks of frustration waiting for the healing to progress  . You have my sympathies I remember after my "elephant extraction" I sneaked out to my workshop after a couple of weeks to find I could not move Mr Silky's tailstock  You will get better but don't rush it 

Jo

[Admiral_dk]

Thank god it went uneventful 
Doing a bit of Brain-Workout should do you good, but do also remember to exercise (to the level recommended by your friendly Doc), as it also will speed up recovery 

Get well soon and we will see you back on Track (so to speak) 

Per