Re: [Paddlewise] Doug Lloyd scheduled for open-heart surgery tomorrow

From: Doug Lloyd <douglloyd_at_shaw.ca>
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 2007 22:44:39 -0800
Mark,
A bizarre health system here in BC for sure. But I did come through it in 
the end. Maybe not pretty. Like some of my kayak trips, eh. Anyway, was a 
good adventure here at the Lloyd household  - as always. The hospital where 
I was treated looks like it got a huge provincial funding allowance in the 
legislative budget yesterday, interestingly.

My cardiovascular surgeon (great guy, trained in Virginia) told me the night 
before surgery that I wouldn't remember a thing in the CVU nor my spouse 
visiting me right after surgery, but I do remember Yvonne coming in to see 
me just after I awoke. I do remember her telling me there was a wild storm 
outside. And I do remember having a tube down my throat, so my only 
available reply to Yvonne at the storm summation comment was a hardy "Tim 
Allen - Home Improvement" double grunt. I remember her smiling - she knew 
immediately it was her old Doug still there.

Veteran paddlers don't mind pain, so the surgery recovery pain ain't an 
issue. Think of the long hours in the saddle, the sore butts and backs, the 
cramps, the salt water sores, the welting water blisters - you know what I 
mean. Okay, maybe you are a gentler and wiser paddler. My GP said recovery 
time was about 6 to 8 weeks, but he knew I'd have it down to four. The 
challenge has been laid now. However, I do need to let the breastbone heal 
well. After all, I got one frigin heavy kayak to lift again this spring. 
With repairs, it will be heavier than ever before unless I can leverage the 
pain issue with Yvonne and get approval for a new boat. Good paddlers tend 
to always cover the permutations and pro-active scheming potentialities, 
right?

I could whine about my chest-thumping PVC's right now and the Plavix induced 
migraines, but your get well soon wishes probably meant to say "get well
soon but spare us the details." Probably too late for that.

Doug


>
> I can't imagine any post containing the words "Doug Lloyd" would be too 
> off
> topic for this list.
>
> I thought I had been thoroughly scared reading your storm paddling 
> stories,
> but this one was even more frightening.
>
> So glad everything went well.   I am sure Yvonne will be posting to the
> list in search of the best rope and knots to keep you tied down long 
> enough
> to fully recover.
>
> My best wishes to both of you.
>
> Mark J. Arnold
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Received on Wed Feb 21 2007 - 22:45:20 PST

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