SteelMcGee

So here I am a week since I made the white knuckle trip to my friendly neighborhood Emergency Room. Prior to last Wednesday I had felt some aching feelings in my left shoulder and left arm.  I chocked it up to sleeping wrong.  I tend to sleep in one position most of the night... so it made sense to me.  Back to last Wednesday.  I felt the ache in my arm and shoulder, but it was more intense.  Add to that, the same ache spread into my chest.  At this point I figured something was up & had a friend drive me to the ER.

The ER treated me very well and I met the Cardiologist on duty.  He set me up for a nuclear (George Dubya... Nookee-lur) stress test and cardiac echo. The stress test turned up some questions about my heart. The doc transferred me to a hospital in the big city down the road.  He wanted me to have a cardiac cath. During the cath, the Dr. found three of my arteries severely clogged.  (Bad lifestyle & bad genes)  

He placed two stents in each of two of the bad vessels.  The third one will be stented in a couple of weeks.  They shot me full of dilaudid  (highly recommended) and kept me overnight.

Looking at this on this side of the timeline... I'm feelin the best ever!  My blood pressure is the lowest it has ever been... What could have been a very bad... turned out to be a very good.  (Of course I haven't seen the Dr. bills yet... thank god for the crappy insurance that I have).

So I feel like I have dodged a bullet. I have a huge amount of energy now...and as soon as I am allowed to work-out, you can bet I will.

Be nice to each other... Or I'll smack ya!

More later,
SM

Been out of the online journal habit for some time now.  Might be tough to get back in the saddle. I'm trying to be a worthy adversary in the daily hand-to hand that is life. Still forces in the universe conspire to knock us down a peg or two every day.  Daily I try to spit in the eye of someone's Sacred Cow.  It's my one man attempt to Rage Against ___________.  You fill in the blank.

I consider myself to be an Evangelical Agnostic... can't claim the term as my own (Todd Snider gets the kudos for that one).  Allow me to digress just a moment to give some props...  If you get the chance, or I should say Make the time and look up Todd Snider on the internet.  He is probably the best singer-song writer out here today.  If you have access to the Bob and Tom radio show you might have heard some of Todd's music.  More specific you may have heard his song "Beer Run" (not to be confused with "Beer Run" by a couple of country ya-hoos)... Beer Run is a favorite of the unwashed rabble that listen to Bob & Tom... Listen to Beer Run and take it for what it is... Then listen to some Cuts from Todd's CDs Like East Nashville Skyline & The Devil You Know...  He has a wry sense of humor and a keen mind for commentary on todays issues. He is masterful in songs like "You Got Away With It...", "Conservative, Christian, Right Wing Republican", "The Devil You Know", "Alright Guy" (From his 1st).... I could go on and on... do yourself a favor and check him out.

Now back to the topic at hand, I'm either an Evangelical Agnostic or at the Very least a Recovering Christian... I guess I still Believe in a Higher Power.  It's God's people that really put me over the edge.  Seems like God's People (Christian, Muslim, Jewish...or Otherwise) do what they can to shovel their version... their understanding... their values down our throats (when 9 times out of 10 they are so far from the actual teachings found in the big three faiths).  An Evangelical will pray for my soul in church, then cut me off in traffic (and give me the finger while doing it).  I guess that's precisely what Jesus would do if He was driving a gas guzzling SUV & talking on His Cell...) Keep in mind He'd probably have a W-sticker on the ol' Cadillac Escapade (Escalade).  I guess I wish Christian fundies were more like their Muslim counterparts... a few suicide Bombing Christians and we'd pare down the numbers a bit and maybe the US could hold an election that would mean something.  (I hope Karl Rove rots in hell.)  Remember kids, Vote Republican or God will bust a cap in an angel or two.  It seems there used to be a time when Fundamental was a good thing.  Football Teams that rely on the Fundamentals are usually the best prepared and make fewer mistakes...  Fundamentalist Christians...  really?

Oh well, I guess I have vented enough for one day.  I will leave you with some words of wisdom: "If it makes you vomit, it probably wasn't that good for you in the first place."

Just getting the hang of DA, here.  Diggin the experience so far.  I have finally uploaded a few Photos and stuff... still haven't settled on my avatar yet... that will take some more work.  At any rate, I intend to write more as I familiarize myself with my surroundings.



More Later,
SM