My thanks to all who sent me their wishes for a speedy recovery. In fact, I am recovering quite well, though I will still be restricted in how much I can lift, push, or pull for another four weeks. I am currently going for a prescribed 13-minute walk twice a day, with an increase of a minute a day. Otherwise, I am taking it pretty easy, getting a lot of napping and reading done. As Tom pointed out, not everyone with a heart problem has symptoms. In my case, it was a slight discomfort in the chest, which could have merely been acid reflux, combined with a brief bout of lightheadedness and my family history -- my father died of a heart attack at 52 -- that sent me to the emergency room. I could have easily ignored it. At the hospital my EKG proved normal, and I began to wonder if I didn't just have an overactive imagination. But then my family history caused the cardiologist on duty to order an angiogram -- and the angiogram revealed the blockage. Doug Lloyd said: "Wow, your almost a stitch-and-glue kayaker now!" I say there is no almost about it. If a wired-together chest and glued-together incision doesn't make me a stitch -n-glue kayaker, I don't know what does! John Winter: No problem. Paddlewise wouldn't be Paddlewise without a debate about stabililty. Finally, for anyone looking for entertaining reading during a similar recovery, I cannot recommend Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels too highly. If you haven't encountered Pratchett before, he is a blend of P.G. Wodehouse and J.K. Rowling with bits of the Marx brothers, Lewis Carroll, and Thorne Smith thrown in -- and more. Chuck Holst -----Original Message----- From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net [mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net] On Behalf Of Joyce Family My best wishes to you Chuck as you recuperate. But this may be an appropriate time to remind people to ask their doctors about CT scans of the heart. A lot of asymptomatic, fit people are discovering incipient atherosclerosis through such heart scans, and with timely intervention they can perhaps nip the problem in the bud. These are new tests, slightly expensive, but they are gradually winning approval as a good, hard diagnostic tool. TFJ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue May 17 2005 - 07:35:04 PDT
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