I slept nine solid, uninterrupted hours that first night back home. As the first day of my new life began I was a mass of bruises from IV’s, injections, blood draws, and incisions but at least I wasn’t a stitched-up cadaver in some morgue. The bullet had been dodged, indeed. Avoiding another bullet was up to me. There was a new medicine regime to get used to and dietary rules to self-impose. Other arteries are partially blocked. Keeping them from getting worse is a top priority.
The hardest thing to get used to was not being allowed to do things for myself. My son Ed came over to put the air conditioner in my office window and help clean the pool filter. Both required physical exertions I wasn’t cleared for. My neighbor Dan was kind enough to cut my grass. For the first time in a long while I actually took it easy. I work almost every Saturday. This was highly unusual--my second, and most likely last, Saturday off for the year.
Sunday brought a trip to Mass and greetings from people who were glad to see me back while those who didn’t know were shocked at what had happened. My name was mentioned in the prayers for the sick. I was just glad to be there standing and sitting instead of lying in a box listening to muffled prayers and the occasional spatter of holy water.
That afternoon was a big family gathering celebrating the fact that I was here to share in the party. We celebrate everything and this was a big one. It was treat to be waited on and not have to grill.
Back to work on Monday. The doctor wasn’t happy about it but he knows what it’s like to be self-employed. I promised not do to anything strenuous and to make every attempt to keep the stress level down. Avoiding heavy lifting is easy but, in this economy, stress comes with the territory.
As the beat went on I was able to cut the grass and go back to see my friends at EMA and at Hamfesters Radio Club. Once again, it was good to be standing and talking to everyone.
Two weeks after leaving the hospital, the last of the bruises was gone.
Finally, four weeks to the day and almost to the hour after the blockage was gone, I made a follow-up visit to the doctor. All is well and I have the go-ahead to resume normal activities. Yes! Time to get the cobwebs off the bikes. I’m back, baby!
So what did I learn from this experience? In addition to finding out that there is a circumflex artery and its blockage can be deadly I learned that:
An unusual pain in the jaw is nothing to play with. I will drop everything and head to the emergency room if I ever feel it again.
The order not to lift anything heavy does not necessarily have anything to do with going to the bathroom.
My wife likes Brazilians.
People really do care. The comments on Facebook, the phone calls, the cards, and the face-to-face greetings really do help make the healing go faster. Thanks to everyone from the bottom of my heart. Actually, it’s from the middle where the circumflex is but you get the idea.
So that’s it. Thanks for taking the time to slog through all this. It’s been a real catharsis putting all these thoughts out here for you to see. The beat goes on, however, and it’s time to get back to my normal self, pointing out the idiocy and complaining about the stupidity that runs rampant in our world.
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