I AIN’T DEAD YET!

…the answer to the question no one was asking.

I was driving to Florida a couple weeks ago, and just north of ATL felt this really intense pressure between my shoulder blades; and funny (in hindsight) the way I kept describing it was like two fists clenching in that area.

Figured it was just stress, did a little open-eyed mindfulness meditation, and the wave of pain passed in about 15 mins. This happened a few more times while I was down there and I finally googled the symptoms, like “OF COURSE webMD is gonna tell me I’m having a heart attack.”

Exactly a week later I’m in the emergency room and they’re telling me “Sir, you’re being attacked by your *own heart!* Took an ambulance ride to AdventHealth Hospital in Rome GA where they did open-heart triple-bypass surgery. I’d love to post pics but they’re gnarly.

Anyway, missed y’all! What did I miss? How’s everyone been? Life is good here. Being alive is pretty fkn awesome. And I’m 14 days off the smokes (finally.) November will be 3 years off the booze, and hopefully by then, my ticker will be operating at over 35%

Looking forward to cracking off a couple drag runs in this beast next year (the thread is what brought me back here:)

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/2000-challenge/night-owl-racing-2024-2000-challenge/257811/page1/

Welcome back! Glad to hear that you caught this in time. Best wishes for your continued recovery. 

Glad to hear you're not dead yet!

Glad you're still with us.

It's great to see you again! 

The best kind of story about a heart attack. Glad this community and your loved ones didn't lose you. 

Tough way to stop smoking! Glad to see you're carrying on!

Damn, dude! Super glad you aren't dead, that would suck and the world would be a poorer place without you. Heal fast!

Welcome to the club. 

Good for you. No sarcasm!

I went in for a regular checkup with a nurse practitioner who "didn't like" what she heard with her stethoscope. Did an EKG and told me I needed to visit the ER immediately. Diagnosed with AFIB. Had this not happened, I'd probably had stroked out pretty soon. Just had an ablation and hopefully it sticks.

It's a very weird thing to realize your own body is trying to kill you.

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Zipperclub FTW! Man getting those drainage tubes pulled is an experience I hope to never go through again

Since someone beat me to the Holy Grail reference.

In reply to ddavidv :

I let Norm Macdonald explain it to my kids. "The heart only understands violence" lol

https://youtu.be/IfWm4COyV0o?si=tGfCicsZ3o43aRax

poopshovel again said:

In reply to Streetwiseguy :

Zipperclub FTW! Man getting those drainage tubes pulled is an experience I hope to never go through again

Good to see you made it through!!!

Now you need to change your name to "Poopshovel everlasting", cause you've got this E36 M3!!!

My dad had his first heart attack at age 54.  I went to the emergency room when I got the call he was there.

Doctor comes in and starts asking questions.   Doc says Mr jharry2, do you smoke?   Dad says "No, I quit on the over way here".

30 years and 3 more heart attacks+ multiple stents later he still smokes. 

Quit and don't go back.

Whoa.....  glad you are back!!!!   

I figured you were just leaving the explosive remnants of an undercooked steet taco(s) in the bathroom of Hennessy Honda.

Woot.

\m/ 

I was *seriously* just wondering about you like two days ago. Didn't know how to get a hold of you to check in with the whole on the wagon thing and see how that was going. 

E36 M3 deal about the heart attack- I know how surprise heart problems go. At least you got a really cool scar out of the deal. 

Glad to hear you're not! Stay vertical, take care of yourself. 

Best of luck and medical science to you for a full recovery!

ddavidv said:

Diagnosed with AFIB. Had this not happened, I'd probably had stroked out pretty soon. Just had an ablation and hopefully it sticks.

depending when and where your procedure was done, your Doc may have used my device to protect your esophagus (assuming RF ablation).  

poopshovel again said:

I’d love to post pics but they’re gnarly.

because i'm in the poopshovel inner circle, i've seen some of the pix.  gnarly is right.

i love you, brother, and i'm glad you're still on the right side of the dirt.

Glad you caught it in time!

Good to hear you are recovering  , I hope all goes well .....