Today, I rode into work! It was glorious! You don't realize just how much something you enjoy doing is missed until you can't or are restricted from doing it. I don't have a bass boat, 4 wheeler, golf clubs or sports car. We enjoy riding the bike as our recreation (and going to Vegas...
).
God is good! Praise to Him that on November 14 last year, I had a heart attack. No previous symptoms, just wake me up at 0300 and 100% blockage in the main artery which leads to a stint in the emergency room. During the stint process, my cardiologist (Dr. Sheth... "A" number 1 doctor) was looking around my heart and couldn't find one artery. Stayed in the hospital for a couple days while they searched and found it in between two other arteries (birth defect) where it had been pounded 24/7 for 57 years. Doc said they normally don't find these things (1 in a 1000) except in an autopsy...that can get your attention. I ran for years (3-5 miles a day) and have hiked all kinds of trails (spent a week in the Grand Canyon hiking, hiked the bottom 250 miles of the Appalachian Trail and most of the confederate battlegrounds all over the south) and all SORTS of invigorating activities (some I'm not at all proud of) with this defect. I look back at all of this and know that He is watching over me.
I could'a been gone on many occasions and when I wasn't anywhere close to the example He wanted from His child, He still didn't allow this errant artery to kill me. He allowed the heart attack so one of the best cardio doctors in the SE (who "happened" to be on call that fateful morning) could find it and put me in touch with one of the best heart surgeons in the SE, Dr. Hall (another "A" number 1 doctor).
Double bypass surgery on December 26th to repair the defect (and he decided to bypass the stint due to some additional issues he found past the stint). Again, God is good, He is the great physician. I wasn't due back to work until the end of March but went back a month early. Recovery has been very good, cardo rehab is the best (and I highly recommend it if you are ever in a similar situation) and, after the update visit with Dr. Sheth yesterday, I'm completely released for "normal" activities and back on two wheels.
In the grand scheme of things going on in the world today, me being back on the bike is as significant as a grain of sand in the Gobi desert. There are others here on the forum that have gone much longer away from our sport (and some that can't ride anymore) so I'm aware my joy is relative to my experience, but it's joy nonetheless. I know God is working in all situations and still has plans for Vickie and me here on earth...otherwise I would already be singing with the saints in heaven instead of posting this thread...
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Topic: It's been 6 days shy of 4 months (Read 6381 times)