Britbike forum Forums General discussion The Rod and Tappet Took a real butt-kicking ....

Lannis……having someone who loves you taking care of you is a big plus.

Taking a shower and having the bandages changed….an extra hand was a blessing ( on the bandage part)

One thing I remember clearly was the walking…..I’m assuming you’ll work up to the point where you make it out to the paved road and back.

My wife had to keep reminding me to stand up straight……I think walking a bit hunched over made me feel like I was protecting the incision???

Do you remember them pulling out the drainage tube? My physicians assistant pulled ( pun intended) a fast one on me……came in the room…..looked me over and was talking casually…..then said it all looked good. Turned and walked out. Couple minutes later he comes back and said “ I got one more thing to do”……he lifted the sheet….grabbed that hose and jerked it out of me. I’m pretty sure they heard me all the way out in Shady Valley…..over 100 miles away. Took a bit to calm down after that. Smart thing was they never made him come back to see me.
Wonder who you had to piss off to get that job?

You know how if you go to the doctor, and something hurts, and they ask you "What is your pain on a level from 1 to 10, where 1 is a little discomfort and 10 is the worst pain you've ever felt"? I never know quite what to tell them, because I've never really felt any severe pain.

I know what a 10 is now. The PA said "I'm going to remove your big drainage tube. Take a deep breath, and let it out and say "MMMMMMMMM" as loud as you can." As soon as he pulled that tube, it went from "MMMMMM" to "AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH". Worst pain I've ever felt. Over in about 3 seconds, but it seemed like 3 minutes.

That ALONE will keep me on a heart healthy diet the rest of my life. I'm not going to clog up my new plumbing and have to do THAT again!

Lannis

Reading your BB acccount it seems you've taken a bit of stick Lannis!

Now is the time to sit back and let your body mend itself but, it will need some help so do whatever the medics & physios have told you
No riding till Spring?
With winter coming up that's not so bad as Spring and Summer as has happened to me. I did have the occasional sneaky ride out, paid the price, had the doc's finger wagging at me.

That you came out of it OK is good news.
Carry on carrying on

Hey Lannis,
I want to wish you a speedy recover and thank you for all your past informative posts. Even with your current situation you are helping us all be aware that our bodies are not indestructible.
Thanks again for a well intended wake up for us all.
Richard

Get well soon Lannis.
All the best wishes were written already, what can I add?
Trying, together with my wife fight it from a different direction. ,Just got home from 2 hours of weight lifting and an hour of swimming. Learning crawl in my age really gets you. We cut our meals in half, drink 1.5 l of water every day, first time in the last 20 years I'm below 200 pounds, she is much better at 120.

Bryan -

I appreciate all the good wishes and encouragement, appreciate it from everyone, but in the big scheme of things, I'm just having a recreational moan with my buddies on Britbike because this is the first time in 68 years I've ever spent overnight in a hospital AND I DON'T LIKE IT! But I can have high hopes that this thing of mine is One and Done, even though there's a ton of work to do in the next months to make that happen, until something new comes along.

But for just old, cold, dour courage in the face of adversity, I can't hold a candle to the stuff you've been through, some of which you know is never going to go away. Or to Our Kev., who has to face constant recurrences of cancer, and never knows what he is going to hear from the next test result but keeps calm and carries on. Or Ob1quixote, who fought to the end even after he knew that the outcome of the battle was a foregone conclusion.

Or Anna, who is forever living in a dark, scary world that (outside of a miracle) is never going to open up to the light again; she does more work getting down to breakfast of a morning than I've ever done in a whole day in my life.

I'm sure there are other experiences that folks have chosen not to share here. I've taken all these life lessons to heart over the years and am convinced that they will help me someday when I need it. Just wanted to share mine in case it can help someone too.

Lannis

We're going to be right behind you!!

Lannis

Lannis -

You are a fortunate man, and I’m glad you came through it ok. Amazing how something like that can kill one person and another can walk around with the same condition and feel “fine”. My ex-wife had anemia some years back and when they took her hemocrit count, they were amazed she was still conscious and upright.

Listen to the doctors. Follow their instructions. I learned that the hard way a number of years back and paid the price for it. Fortunately for me, it was more a quality of life issue, not life or death.

You’re an important part of this community we have here. I, for one, am glad you’re still here! Look forward to seeing you again at a future Rallye.

All the best,

Steve

Lannis, Glad you made it through fine. Bird food will keep you thin, and don’t be too quick to get off those meds. Not all meds are bad. Pain is not something you should have to endure. Get better soon.

Glad you got the help you needed. We all have a lot of camping to do together with our beloved bike friends so ... you do what the doctors tells ya and keep up the clean livin' See you in a field somewhere soon

Wade and Gerry

Godspeed Lannis, hoping for a speedy recovery for you!

To any of the younger guys out there like me (early 30s), I urge you all to go get an annual physical. If you’re in good health, it’s a half hour of chatting with a little blood work. My father skipped many years, the one he decided to go, they caught an early thyroid tumor before it metastasized. You really never know!

Hey Lannis
Hope you're feeling better, and continue to improve.

Hi Lannis--- we have never met in person but I feel that I know you to some extent from your postings over the years.
Wishing you a full and speedy recovery.

Hi Lannis, this was not the news I wanted to hear, hope you will have a full recovery.

Hi Lannis good that all is right
Kind of Triumph sludge trap cleaning.
Is not clearly for me the "why"
What kind of food do you eat? the other day they did me a cardiac stress test (to can go to a gym)
Can be a good test to check clogging?
What is the test to ask to check that?

Thanks

Amazing, the projects they can save and restore, these days.

Get well soon, Gringo.

Get well soon. Take it easy and things will improve. We are all getting older and body parts start heading south. Seventy-five looms for me on the December horizon.

reverb -

For ME (and it may not be the same for you), here was the sequence that led to this.

1. My Dad had a heart attack at age 35 while in the Navy, and a second heart attack at age 39 which killed him in his tracks. My younger brother had a massive heart attack at age 44, which he survived with hero surgery. So at age 68, my family genetics are against me.

2. I have had annual physicals every year for 30 years, checking blood cholesterol, blood glucose, etc. I have not paid particular attention to what I eat, since my cholesterol was never very high, but I never really controlled my weight, which went up and down over the years, which is not a good thing.

3. I never felt any chest pain or unusual shortness of breath. I could walk miles up hill and down dale without a problem. But I had a funny feeling this year that I was pushing the envelope, so my doctor ordered a "Calcium Score", which is a CAT-scan test which detects calcium around your heart. There shouldn't be much there; a score of 400 is good, 800 is concerning, 1800 says "take action". Mine was 5,100.

4. So on to the next test, a Nuclear Stress Test, where they inject you with radioactive dye to track blood flow, and then give you a medicine which makes your heart work harder (sometimes they put you on a treadmill to the same thing). It came out as "Sort of OK", but it's non definitive and based on the bad Calcium Score the doc ordered a Catheterization. This is where they open an artery on your arm, and run a camera probe right into your heart to see how the arteries look.

5. Bad news. Of 5 big important arteries, three were 90% blocked and two were 70% blocked, which means if I went one step too high on the staircase, I'd have a heart attack right there.

Only way to fix that is open-heart surgery, which I had 10 days ago and am recovering at home now .... So right this moment, I'm your boy for answering questions about that whole thing. I'm a classic case of "If I'd known I was going to live this long, I'd taken better care of myself...."

Lannis

Sorry to hear this story Lannis, I'm sure you are over the worst of it and at home so will make a speedy recovery. I was recently in hospital overnight for the first time ever, and didn't like it at all, so I'm doing as much as possible health-wise to prevent any future visits.

I was diagnosed with high cholesterol about 5 years ago and have been taking statins ever since, so my cholesterol levels are well controlled. I've modified my diet to include much more fresh fruit, less red meat, more fish & nuts etc. so with any luck my arteries are ok.

Hereditary seems to be a big factor in determining what diseases will get you, heart problems don't seem to run in my family. but neuro-muscular disease does, my brother has unfortunately inherited a rare form muscular dystrophy which caused his eyelids to drop and swallowing problems. I seem to have escaped that one but instead have slowly progressing osteoarthritis, so will need a new knee at some point, oh joy !

[quote=gunner]

Hereditary seems to be a big factor in determining what diseases will get you, heart problems don't seem to run in my family. but neuro-muscular disease does, my brother has unfortunately inherited a rare form muscular dystrophy /quote]

My doctors think that heredity is the BIGGEST factor in such things......

Lannis

Well brother, the really good news is that you thought about it it and actually WENT to the doctor. All things start with that first step. Sounds to me like you dodged a pretty big bullet there, so here's to learning lessons and positive life changes!

Funny that Ive survived so much by now, and survived so many friends (and relatives) who died along the way. Funny, too, that it used to be lifestyle choices that killed off so many of my people but lately it's more like cancer, old age, and the occasional car crash! Ch Ch Ch changes, eh?

It'd be an ignominious end were I to die in my bed because I stupidly ignored my own health. And there's the rub, isnt it? I always marvel at how this kind of stuff sneaks up on people. Always thought if something was wrong inside my body, I'd surely know it... but I'm uncertain that's really true. I guess "old age" is coming in hot tho, I recently turned 66- had to give myself another talking to and own up to myself that I ain't no spring chicken! It doesnt seem to matter what kind of physical condition one is in either, I've known super healthy people to die suddenly from stuff thay had no idea was going on in them.

My time at the doctor is coming, I'm going to see a new general practitioner in January, lets hope I dont keel over before then. Meanwhile, no time like the present to admit this stuff to ourselves and "take measures". SO congrats to yourself sir, on doing just that.

Best luck with the healing process, Lannis. Cue: life change, stand by, and... go!

Unfortunately, being healthy in old age appears to involve a balanced diet and exercise

Well, I've had 60 years of only very occasionally being concerned with a balanced diet and exercise, so it's payback time for the rest of my time here....

Not such a high price to pay.

Lannis

Glad you'rs ok. We live in an age of medical MIRACLES!

+1 what everybody else said. Prayers on the way.