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+1 Shawn! Hate to bring this up but maybe slow down on the briskets? We all love that chit but it ain't all good for us older farts.

I was on an "eat whatever the hell I want" diet for... well, pretty much my entire life. Asked the cardiologist if I had diet restrictions after the procedure... nope. But yeah, I have to eat less fatty stuff.

Thinking that back in 2020 when I went to a cardiologist is when this all started. They didn't find anything because after an echo and a stress test they said it was good and I let it go. This time I kept pressing them, telling them "keep looking, I know my body and something is wrong."

Echo and stress showed nothing, but the EKG and blood enzymes were not right. Did a PET scan, which is a CT with contrast, but they inject a drug to stress the heart... no bueno, so they did the heart cath which painted a somber picture.

Still walking Tank every morning, but haven't been to the gym in a while. 179 lbs this morning so don't really need to lose much. Will get back to lifting and doing cardio as soon as the Doc says I can. Just gotta eat better and take my fkn meds now.

Shawn, what physical symptoms were you feeling, and how long were you having them, when you said, "hmmm, something no bueno"?

Just to get some info on what the precursors/warning signs are to heart problems...

For God's sake don't miss the VA appointed appointment... they'll bill you anyways, and when you make the payment, they will still send the billing through a collection agency... which I am Glad Illinois just past a bill going into law in 24. these medical facilities (including VA) cannot directly send medical billings to collections until ample amount of time for payments... these Illinois collection agency's will not send you a copy of the delinquent billing they received from facilities on an account presumably Owed... Many elderly people will just mail off a payment. the Mrs. a Tax Gal and a tight ass like myself have found billings sent to our insurance company where said amount was covered and these facilities billed us for the remainder of the total bill filed.. this is Corporate Theft.. and many do not notice!!!

^ Yes it does depend on the Rating from the VA I forgot to add that in... anyone below a 40% is billed for Prescriptions and some medical procedures.

Here’s a little food for thought.

Wheel and I had a conversation about 2 weeks before he passed. IIRC he mentioned that he had seen his cardiologist about a week or two prior and had a stress test. His doctor told him he passed with flying colors then shortly thereafter he passed away. If I’m not mistaken his death was due to a heart attack.

I too had recently had a stress test because I’d been having some intermittent left arm pain. My doctor had also told me I passed the stress test. So I made another appointment and while there I asked him what EXACTLY the stress test measured. His response was MAJOR blockage. So I asked him what was considered a major blockage and he told me something like 95%. I then asked him if I was say 90% blocked the stress test results would be normal. He said yes. With that I asked him if there was some other test that could be run because I felt like something was wrong because left arm pain is a possible symptom of a serious heart condition. He offered to do the CT with contrast as a heart cath was invasive and could have serious complications.

So we scheduled the CT. That’s when I found out one of my coronary arteries had a 25-35% blockage. That’s also when I all but stopped smoking cigars. Even though I didn’t inhale my doctor told me that by having nicotine in my mouth by putting on a cigar nicotine would still enter my blood via the veins in my mouth. Since nicotine causes blood vessels to constrict I was putting myself at greater risk of a heart attack by continuing to smoke cigars. In fact, I was smoking about 3-4 cigars a day at the time.

So I guess I’m encouraging everyone especially those over 40 to see a cardiologist and think about getting a CT with contrast. It may very well extend your life significantly.

Yup from the electric gate that fell on his legs.

Bill drank plenty of water per day and he was 5’10”.

Got a thumbs up at the cardiologist follow up appointment yesterday. Three more months of blood thinners. Rebuilding the stamina and immune system after the barrage of antibiotics they pumped through me. In the end, they gave me Vancomycin. That is the Mac daddy they use for MRSA infections.

Gut still isn’t right, but happy being 90% better than three weeks ago.

Yessir. Eating yogurt each morning along with a once a day probiotic bill. Hoping my immune system up up to the task of me returning to the shpo on Monday,

An auto shop and a lot of the vehicles I drive aren't exactly pristine, disease free environments.

Keeping you in our thoughts and prayers MAC.

Good luck MACS!

Wishing for a fast and complete recovery Shawn.

You'll be good. The prayers will continue.

I'm 98.2% sure you be back to the d-baggery, a-hattery, t-foolin' and shenin' soon after the procedure to one Ex[stent] or another.

Rimshot!

Great! Thank you for the update.

Thanks for the update, 8.

Macs,
At least one stent is much better than two!
Hope your doing well.

Never had a kidney stone but I hear they suck.

As for me beating up my body....

Wear a helmet when you ride a bike (concussions, cracked skull, brain bleeding pretty much sucks).
Wear wrist guards when you snowboard (broken wrists suck).
When playing beer ball (softball with a keg of beer behind home plate), don't slide into 2nd base and snap an ankle (arthritis in the ankle sucks).
If you are a wrestler and you can see your hand near your ear on the opposite side of your head, not good (separated shoulders suck).

All the above are real life situations that I've done and even after they "heal" (young or old) reminds me the stupid things I did when I was both young and old.

Not wearing a helmet riding a bike was preventable.
Not wearing wrist guard while snowboarding was preventable.
Beer ball and bad broken ankle was kinda preventable. Can't blame the beer. It was a bad slide on my end (I can still hear the "snap." On a positive note, I was safe at 2nd).
Snapped shoulder, not preventable. Opponent (2x state champ) was penalized 2 points. I didn't want the match to end. Told the ref and the coach I was OK. Wanted to beat the state champ in my weight division. Sadly I lost by one point though. At the end of the match while doing handshakes: "Nice match, sorry about the shoulder" and he meant it. He was a solid sportsman.

^ I'm so glad I haven't had any knee or hip issues. That stuff can be incapacitating.

Swimming and biking are good alternatives. They are less abusive on the body.

I have had a kidney stone once. It tried to kill me for 1.5 hours and then dislodged. Drink a lot of water problem solved.

I still can’t drive 55.

Work hard play hard.

As you get older, past injuries haunt you. I remember vividly when I went to ER to get the ankle fixed, they casted it up and booked a visit to an orthopedic guy for me to see in a couple of days. Orotho doc said that they can't put screws in it by the way was fractured and it would heal eventually but I would most likely get arthritis in it in my later years.

I blew it off. Drove my motorcycle around town, back and forth to classes (lucky it wasn't my shifting foot) with a cast up to the knee and crutches bungie corded to the side. Even took my roomate's Honda Spree around Madison. (I wonder if I could buy one of those off of Ebay, they were kind of fun to tool around on).

Within 20 years of the ankle injury, the Dr's prediction came true. I can predict if there is a rain storm coming based on the ache of my ankle. Some might say that it's an old wives tale but I'm living evidence that arthritis can definitely predict the weather to a certain degree.

But I digress. I'm glad to hear that MACS's procedure was successful and hopefully he's on the way to get back to his healthy self. A messed up ankle in my early 20's pales in comparison.

Just shaved my junk... to show support and stuff...