"Hey you... yeah you, Lard Ass!"

[Cobia]

Triple Clean in Order

Hey you,
Get your butt out of that bed and perform the required third cleaning of your carbs...... or better yet, have your cardiologist perform it on your deep passages there.
Hey, I don't look forward to that scare.....
I just turned 57 and smoked until the day of my b-day, now the drinking is another story.
Get well fast, you don't look very thrilled in there, but then again based on your scribbles you never are anyway.......!!!!
We miss your sourpuss input so snap out of it, lardass.

[ccogswel]

Well Prom you asked not too but I have to say I hope you get better.

As for anyone here trying to replace Proms witt and charm??? Come on please. It would take all of us just to complete maybe 10% of him. I myself thought I was out there until I found channel 11 and read what all prom has said. I (we) have nothing on Prom. But for me anyway there is still hope.

And as for the hospital issue. I bet right before Prom was put under he said "to boldly go where no man has gone before" LOL

Get well soon Prom.

[Rasputin]

Prom's Right

Ya know something Prom. Yer absolutely right in this post. I know I am one of the ones who need to hear just such words. I am 51 now and aint as spry as I used to be and every once in a while a guy needs a gentle reminder. Sorry about your predicament being "THE" gentle reminder for me though. Hurry up and get yer azz back in shape as we all kinda miss ya.

[prometheus578]

Final thoughts

Not that I feel the need to continue the "Pity Party".. but I left out some important details that I wanted to include in this Public Service Message.
Ya see... heart attacks rarely strike without warning.
But, what commonly happens is... people go into denial about the symptoms... blaming it on something else.
I'll post some quick links to heart attack symptoms when I finish this... but look at how I ignored, or justified, general soreness, being tired, lack of energy, being unable to catch my breath, a tight chest and ... don't forget the heartburn/indigestion!

Here's some quick snippets of PM's that I sent out the day before my heart attack... The last one just a few hours before it struck!


"someone snuck up behind me and beat me up!"

"Oh geez, am I sore!
Like someone pushed me down the stairs or something.
Man...
Just woke and took some more motrin.
I mean.. who'd figger?
But then.. after months of not moving from my chair, I suppose anything would make me sore."


(And then I detailed my activities of the day...how I cleaned up after the dogs... and then pushed some bikes into the shed)

"Ack... my back!"
Not just my back.. it seems that bending over to work a shovel also works those cables in the back of your legs, too.
"Ack... my cables!"

Ok.. pushed the XS850 into the shed.
walked back huffin' and puffin'...
Pushed the XS1100 into the shed...

I took a nap around 8:00PM.
woke...
"Ack.. my body!"
Back to sleep around 9:00pm and now alive and painfully not well at 4:00am.
But.. I did get a few things done.
I won't be able to move for two days... but...

"Initially, both shoulder joints were just slightly sore, but now, my good shoulder is a little sore, my bad shoulder doesn't hurt at all.
Sure, I must shoulder the blame for this.
Well, actually, bad shoulder feels a little warm.
Not painful.. but that feeling you get when you use something.

"Ack!..
again..
Ack....
Anyway.. was sitting back relaxed.. then sat up forward to type and ...
"Ack.. my back!" (actually, it was my whole chest!)
Oh geez, am I sore.
Hehhehehe
Man, getting old.
HEY!!!!!
HEY!!!!
I could delve into my supply of muscle relaxants and narco pain pills.....
Yeah, but... would get nothing done all day.
But then again.. judging by how I feel, I'll get nothing done today, anyway."

"Here it is... 11:00 at night....
Oh, and of course.. I've been giving the girls (My dogs) treats all day... and they're both in here gassing me out.
There's just no way to describe it... makes your chest hurt to breathe. A dry acid-y chemical smell... like burnt hair. Just searing the linings of my lungs. And it lingers!
I lied.. I still had some kimchee left.. so I finished the bottle. Now.. I can't recall ever having heartburn before, so I don't really know what it's like... but I can suppose it's like how I feel right now (aside from the help that the dogs are giving to the cause.
Woe is me."

Five hours later... all hell broke loose!


So... classic symptoms of angina... classic symptoms of an impending heart attack... all easily explained away. Me ignoring the fact that I knew that something wasn't right.

Heart attack at 4:00am... and quickly rushed into surgery at 5:00am... which is why I didn't sustain too much dead heart muscle.


For those of you who aren't mechanically inclined... a heart attack is when the blood flow to the heart muscle is blocked. They then tap into the femoral artery in your leg and snake a speedometer cable through it up to your heart. Once at the blockage(as shown in the first pic)

they inflate a little balloon thingie that expands and opens the artery again. In my case, they also put in an expanding steel mesh tube which stays there, holding it open. (stent). You can see the immediate resulting blood flow in the next pic.

(And yes.. you get to watch the whole thing on the big X-ray TV)

Brings instant pain relief!

Doc: "How'd that feel?"
Me: What do you want, a medal? Finish up.. I wanna go home."
(See.. I'm snippy with everyone!)

(Like when the fire dept. barged into my house...
"Hey, don't you people knock?"
Followed by the paramedics five minutes later...
"Hey... wipe your feet... I just had the carpet cleaned!"
(My son just stood there looking at me.. shakin' his head...)

That poor guy in the ambulance with me...
"Can you tell me your name, Sir?"
"Yeah, I know my name... And I see that your name is Limp-Dick."
"Sir, the patch on my shirt says "Olympic Ambulance". "O"-"Lim"-"Pic"... not Limp-Dick."
"Well.. I don't have my reading glasses on."

Anyway... like I said...
What I hope everyone gleans out of all this is to recognize the warning signs of a heart attack and to seek help... before the attack actually happens.


Angina: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/...dSymptoms.html

Heart Attack: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/...ck_WhatIs.html


And yes... I do have perfectly formed nipples, thank you... but those round things in the pics are electrocardiogram sensor thingies.

[madmax-im]

Prom you are very fortunate despite your ill health.My younger brother had a heart attack at age 42...over 11 yrs ago.He was/is in fairly good physical condition but smokes alot of cigarettes. For a while afterwards he did manage to quit smoking but eventually he went back to it. In my family I have seen first hand what poor health habits combined with smoking and alcoholism can do to kill you.My father dies at age 62 from a bad heart(years of angina) and my oldest brother dies at age 59 from cancer. Thing is if you sit aroud and dont make the effort or you ignore what your body is telling you,sooner or later its gonna catch up to you...guess you already know that. Hindsight is always 20/20...so to say. Not to sound like the pitying type but I hope you're on the road to recovery and that this motivates you to get out and take better care of yourself...God knows I hate hospitals thats the last place I'd want to be...Glad to see you are still amongst us mortals...

[bikerphil]

Hey Prom, thanks for sharing that with us. Makes one start thinkin' a bit.

[prometheus578]

Then I've accomplished my goal, Phil.

[Gyrogearloose]

Well! How did I get here? Fate I suppose..just happened on this forum while checkin' out what's new. Anyway, I don't (can't) dress up my "drivel" much, but I'll try. Damn, it's the s-its being down...I hope you're not alone too! O'well, better wish you a "get well" before I lose my focus. Ya done good, gettin' where you're at (someone got the paramagics there), you did have all the signs and symptoms. You must have some wisdom yet to dispell, or Joe Black would've taken you. OK, OK, I'll spit it out: Get well, get outa' there, and get your life back!! That last part might be the hardest Prom, Good luck.

[DGXSER]

Hmmm....Why is it this reminds me of the Grinch story. Especially the xrays.

Prom has more (working) heart now? Does that mean a kinder gentler Prom??

My mom went through similar. She was in hotel in Vegas and could not sleep for the pain in her jaws and chest. Blamed her sinuses. A couple months later same thing, my Uncle took her ot the hospital. Next day quadrupel bypass.

[tomatao]

Reading this I laughed.. I cried.. I cried from laughing. It's hard to imagine this site without Prom's pithy comments.

Anyway, to add to the me-to-ism my Dad went through the same thing Christmas day. Like Prom he had the warning signs, heartburn, pain, short breath and just chalked it up to being old (56) and worn out.

My father in law had a stent put in over 10 years ago and still feels great. Just think of the stent as your spring carb cleaning. Now blood will flow better to your brain making you even better able to abuse all.....

[ibpdew]

Been gone for awhile and just checked in tonight to see what's been going on. Glad your going to be fine Pro. I had the same issues a few years back and the stints fixed me up. I carried the "nitro" pills for a year or two for a security blanket after the stints till I finally decided they were no longer needed. Mine was just considered angina as I had no heart muscle damage (as I understand it no heart damage and it is angina not a heart attach) but it scared the crap out of me for awhile. I laugh now when I tell the story that if I kept half the promises I made when I was laying in the emergency room I would be a saint! Once again glad your doing fine and as always enjoy your humor??

[Erik the Red]

I'm not on the site too much anymore, as I have no 'net at home, and work frowns on extracurricular internetting, BUT, I felt compelled here. I started writing some drivel and dispensing advice. Then I realized how badly I was missing the point, so here's starting over. You know what the score is, and what choices you have ahead. I just want to make sure you know how important a part of countless peoples' lives you are. I consider it an honor to know you, even if it's just through posting on some (admittedly kick ass) website. Keep on kicking (and biting and scratching if need be). I wish you all the best, and the speediest of recoveries.

-Erik

[Winterhawk]

Hawk=53 and probably over weight and a lard ass also. Thanks for the scare. I needed that. I used to be in shape when I turned Pro in MX 1978. Now I'm in the worst shape of my life not exercising. I do have a bowflex and need to use it. Take care Prome and hope you get feeling better.

[prometheus578]

Yeah, my brother has a bow flex, too.
You aught to see the shape he's in!
And I don't mean that in a nice way. either.
sort of like that big weight machine out on my back patio.
I've gotten more exercise from that thing... moving it from garage to patio and back again over the years than I ever got from pullin' the levers or lifting the bars.
Luckily I got it for free.
Buyin' exercise equipment is a big rip off, in terms of actual usage.
But... I uhm... think that as soon as I get the Ok... I'll probably knock the rust offa it and see if it still works.

[oseaghdha]

If you put it in your bedroom, you can hang clothes on it.