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About=20 three years back I had occasional hurts in my head. Pressure came = and=20 went. Doctors had no idea. Internet searches suggested symptoms = were=20 similar to meningitis. A CT scan done. Meninges were OK. Later, my = right=20 shoulder began to complain. It objected to reaching behind my = back, and=20 certain lifting movements hurt. Again, doctors had no idea except = to say I=20 had a rotator cuff injury. Baseball pitchers get this. It might go = away in=20 a year.
One=20 evening a year ago in Salt Lake City. (The day prior for insurance = purposes, a doctor stopped a treadmill saying I had a possible = heart=20 problem). The next evening I did not feel good. Crappy is the = word.=20 Sitting on the back step I thought about instructions I had once = read that=20 indicated if you have a heart attack there is a procedure that = might give=20 a few more minutes by breathing in - then making a big "cough" to = give=20 pressure similar to CPR. Nah, not applicable. Why that feeling of = doom? I=20 later learned those, plus sweating, are typical of a pending heart = attack.
I had a=20 fruit snack. Went to bed. Lying down, I had no energy to go the = seven feet=20 to a toilet and heaved up the food. Sweat. That's when I told Rita = to get=20 the car ready - we are going the two blocks to the ER. Walking in, = I=20 collapsed in a chair with wheels on it. The ER nurse took one look = and=20 dragged me across the room to his cubicle. The ladies at the = admitting=20 desk said, "He has to register first."
Heart=20 attack=20
Nurse=20 said, "That will be done later as I have a heart attack=20 here!"
I thought,=20 "Gee, that's my problem."
I got=20 there in the nick of time because for a while they thought I was a = goner.=20 After stabilization, they rolled me what seemed like a long way to = the=20 cardiac lab. The on-call heart doc found nothing that a couple of = stents=20 could not fix. This the day before the prior treadmill alarm had = me=20 scheduled for a cardiac-cath, which would have caught the problem = without=20 all the excitement. Intensive care for a week.
Home to=20 recuperate. Meds to keep the body flushed. Don't get more than 30 = minutes=20 from a toilet! No exertion. No sex. The blame was put on bad = cholesterol.=20 I'd read the headlines about cholesterol but never read the=20 stories.
Seems over=20 the years, two of my arteries got clogged like brush does in an = irrigation=20 ditch. A couple of arteries by the heart (the size of a pencil), = had been=20 obstructed to an opening the size of the lead in the pencil. The = stent is=20 like a mini door spring and is snaked up through the leg artery at = the=20 crotch and forced into the obstructed pipe. It is then allowed to = spring=20 open, which forces the fat clog out of the way. Blood then flows. = These=20 little guys are just over a half inch long and cost $2600 each. = Add=20 another zero - for installation.
Afterward=20 my so-called rotator cuff and other pains vanished. The docs say,=20 "Interesting."
The bad=20 guy=20
Truth is=20 that were I overnight anywhere in the serving areas of my Beehive=20 Telephone Co., I'd been DOA. Check your cholesterol. And get a = treadmill=20 heart analysis. If that indicates a problem, get a cardiac-cath, a = procedure to "look" at your blood plumbing through obstructions = many of us=20 have - and don't know it.
If the=20 heart is overworked, it gets damaged and seldom will completely = repair.=20 That pump can be examined by an EKG, which shows visually how well = it=20 works. Insurance companies use this non-intrusive look-see, as an=20 indicator of how to bet your life. At 71, they say I'm recovered = and good=20 to go - at least to end of this decade. Join me?
Lack of=20 understanding related to seniors health in rural areas seldom = focus on=20 enabling responsive medicine by DSL or fiber to the home. Yet more = than=20 any other group, senior citizens have the time and motivation to = use=20 broadband, and a major use would be direct access by rural health=20 programs. Society deprives them this capability. So they move to = the city.=20 Studies show that it's far cheaper to keep them from moving as = opposed to=20 the greater burden on society by coming to town. =
That's=20 another reason why I've asked RUS to finance rural fiber to the = home. Can=20 you hear me now?
Copyright = 2002 by A. W.=20 Brothers and Americas Network magazine. All rights = reserved.
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