We spent almost two hours with my new heart surgeon today.
Good news and bad news! Wait!!! There is no good
news! Unless you figure the statistical odds of something going wrong is
less than 1 in 500. That’s not much.
There were three people in the waiting room this morning on
what was described as a ‘slow day.’ They see patients 5 days a
week. That probably means they have seen an average of about 25 patients
a week since January 1st (about 14 weeks). That would make it
about 375 patients.
Breaking the odds down from 1 in 500 to 1 in 375 means
(assuming I know what the hell I’m calculating) the odds are 2.6 in 375 of
something going wrong with my upcoming surgeries(s).
Yes, ‘Surgeries.’ All serious, and all
life-threatening unless fixed.
Here’s what my blockages look
like.
The first surgery is Tuesday of next week to repair my
Carotid Artery. I go to the hospital tomorrow for the ‘pre-op’
stuff. Probably just some blood work and legal forms. It was
determined that my Carotid Artery has upwards of a 75% blockage. It needs
to be fixed first.
The week after the carotid artery surgery I’m to be
scheduled for open heart surgery to repair five blockages ranging from 80% to
90%. That should keep me alive and ticking for awhile.
Then, they will determine when I should return for aortic
valve replacement. But it should be done within two years.
He was complimentary of my being in good shape, my heart
being strong, and he was blown away surprised that I was still able to lift 100
pound stones during landscaping projects. He even said he liked my shoes
and wanted to know how I kept them looking so well. (Mineral Oil).
I asked him if changing my lifestyle would help slow the
blockage build-up, and he looked at me oddly before saying “no.” Judy
thinks the odd look was because he is fixing me back to 100%. And it took
78 years to get to this point in my health. It’s not likely that I can
attain this level of blockage again before I die of old age.
So in celebration we went to a favorite high-calorie
restaurant, Abita Café in Abita Springs, and
had some high-calorie lunch. And I may have a Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla
and Fireball Bourbon Float for dessert later today. Hey! If I’m
gonna live, I’m gonna live good… Know what I mean Vern?
Now you know the latest.
I may have that Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream and
Fireball Float now. Seems like as good a time as any.
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