Anyone who's followed me long enough or who are friends and family, know that the past 3-4 years medically speaking, have been pretty rough. I'm someone who grew up getting sick often since the day I was born. My mom tells stories of how many times I was in the hospital before the age of six with pneumonia or bronchitis. That life carried through into my college and graduate school days.
I made it through my 30's with no issues. My 40's hit and age starts reminding you that you aren't 21 years old anymore. It gets harder to get up and it's always accompanied with grunts and groans, you don't recover quickly from a night of cocktails, and you find yourself having to go to cardiologists, urologists, nephrologists, endocrinologist and a host of other -ologists depending on the ailment. No longer could I just go to one doctor, but had a slew of them on speed dial.
During my 40's, my cholesterol and triglycerides started creeping up to dangerous levels. Kidney functions were never perfect and always just a bit off. Liver functions weren't quite normal. Blood pressure started creeping up and up over time. Getting old wasn't going like I had hoped. I'm not even listing out all the health issues. Some I keep private, others just add to an ever growing list that's just depressing.
It wasn't until my late 40's, did everything go to hell. It started off with finding out that I had joint issues and that my hips were deteriorating. I had let them go so far that one had collapsed. Had one hip replaced, then the other the next year. It was on it's way out, so we took care of it before it got worse. Two years of my life was spent in recovery. Lower back and neck problems also set in around this time and before you know it, I was scheduled to have my neck fused. Removed the disk and replaced it with bone from my hip. Three surgeries, three years.
I was a year out from hip and neck surgery and things had felt great, or so I had thought. I noticed that I was having this odd pain sensation in my inner ear, jawline and down my neck. Especially when I over exerted myself. I had been having these sensations for a few years. First time I noticed that it was worse than normal was when I came home one day and found that one of the dogs had gotten sick all over the carpet. Cleaning the rug for 15 minutes, caused me enough pain and exhaustion to put me in bed for a couple hours.
It wasn't until a trip to Disneyland in June of 2016 that things got even worse. I couldn't walk very far around the park without holding my neck and being in pain. I brushed it off as nothing and kept on going. Nothing was going to ruin our trip to Disneyland. We found ourselves sitting a lot and resting, all because of me. Just making it back to the hotel was difficult and immediately put me in bed for a few hours. That's when Steven sternly said, "You've got to have that checked out once we get back". I agreed.
So I did. My Doctor back in Dallas, whom I adore and miss dearly, was the one who immediately did an EKG that showed at some point I had mild heart attacks and there was minor damage to my heart. Four days later, I was in a hospital for quadruple bypass surgery.
The images below (one is a little graphic as a warning and have never shared) are something that I will always keep to remind me why I have to take care of myself. Not just for me, but for my husband, my family and my friends. Sometimes we become selfish when it comes to our health. Your health just isn't about you. It affects everyone you love and those that love you back.
Few hours after waking up
Had more IV's in me than thought imaginable. How they kept them all straight...
The absolute worst part was 4 the chest tubes. Once those were out, the difference was amazing.
Two days after surgery and a half smile
I look at these photo's often. It's probably not be the best thing to do and obsessing about it does no good, but the thoughts of ever going back to that state and going through it again, scares the ever living crap out of me. It's enough to scare me into trying to eating healthy, exercising more and helps me to give the occasional mini-lecture to loved ones and friends about taking care of yourself.
And just for kicks and giggles, two weeks after being back at work, I rushed myself to hospital in the middle of a work day only to find out my appendix needed to be removed immediately.
Five surgeries, three years.
So, why am I blabbing on and on about all this when most have heard these stories, or was there by my side every step of the way and know all this? It's sure as hell not for attention sympathy. I hate sympathy. I'm a big boy and have dealt with every problem that's come my way. I'll continue handling what life throws at you as long as I can.
I'm writing this because since my open bypass surgery a year ago, every time I turn around, a handful of friends and acquaintances of mine are going or went through the exact same thing. All around my age. I've had a couple friends die unexpectedly from heart attacks. All around my age. I've had a couple friends die from cancer.
All around my age. The latest one a few days ago, got off a roller coaster and died immediately. No prior heart conditions that they knew of.
I'm a worry wart to begin with, so having so many around me get sick, or die or go through life changing surgeries, makes a person think. Not a day goes by where I don't think about my condition. I think about it when I'm eating. I think about it when I have a slight pain or twinge anywhere on my body. I think about it mostly when a close friend has to go into surgery or passes away.
I'm working on my obsession and my fear. Change with me takes time. I'll get there. But all of this makes a man think about his mortality and how quickly it can be taken away.
I'm writing all of this in hopes to make people take care of themselves. Go in for regular check ups. Have your heart checked out. Guys, have your prostate checked. Have an upper/lower GI's done. If nothings wrong at the moment, go in for a routine physical every year. This goes for the ladies too. Y'all aren't immune to any of this. Its also a reminder to me to never forget.
If everyone got regular check ups, maybe some of these problems would be caught early, or even prevented.
I'm just tired of losing people close to me.
