Getting old really sucks!

The past 3 weeks have been difficult, health wise. Last night I was admitted to Upper Chesapeake Hospital with all the classic symptoms of a heart attack. Blood pressure was sky high, erratic pulse, arm and chest pain,lower jaw pain and shotness of breath.

It's now 6:30 a.m. the nurse just told me that I am NPO until the cardio team shows up, so no food till then. The initial blood work shows a slight possibility of an MI, but still have to wait for confirmation results.

I was supposed to meet DNJ and Nancy for lunch this Wednesday, but may have to postpone. Now that really sucks! I was really looking forward to those oysters Rockefeller.

Gary

Gary, sorry to hear this ... Hopefully it will be nothing serious ...
You will be in our prayers.

Get well soon Gary

I hope feeling better soon Gary.

Prayers are with you Gary get well soon. Cal

Thanks guys, hope to hear something soon.

Gary

well at least they didnt run you in the cath lab. thats a good sign. by now i hope your pain is down. they still may check the old ticker today. get better gary , we need you here.

Keep us posted when you can, Gary. You are a key element in the fabric of this website. My prayers and thoughts are skyward on your behalf.

Gary your health always comes first....
you know I am rooting for you!! Please get well soon.
I know your a fighter we can always get together down the road for sure for those delicious Oysters Rockefeller.
Look outside the sun is shining and it’s telling you to get well soon. I love you man!!

Gary, I shutter every time I see a health post from you. I have a panicked moment until I realize...if it was truly a dire situation...Gary wouldn’t be posting at all.

So, it did my heart well when I read your post and could read the confidence in your tone. It proved to me that you are one strong man, and through that strength, have the ability to reach out and comfort those in need of assistance...health or otherwise.

I know you will be fine today, and will probably make that lunch with Donny. Please take care, and know how much your appreciated.

I love your picture icon showing you singing away in the Florida Keys. The beautiful torquiest water and puffy white clouds framing you doin’ what you enjoy.

Thanks for all your support and kindness. Take Care and enjoy your lunch with DNJ.
Just make sure he pays!
Best,
JM

All the best Gary, hope it's nothing serious.

JM ... I don't know if Gary is singing in that pic, but that's a beer bottle, not a mic in his hand, so yeah, he's doing something he loves ... and hopefully he will soon be back at it ...

Tony...I’m still fuzzy, so I’m sure you’re right. It just has a little more Hollywood flair thinking that Gary is serenading the local island girls.

That’s another problem getting old. Eye’s are going, yet they continue to force us to read and type on smaller and smaller screens.

I guess I need the iPad mega when it comes out🤓

Thanks
JM

Hi, Gary. I hope everything works out for the better. I'll keep you in my prayers. God bless.

hey Gary hang in there buddy. We need your input here on a steady basis for some time to come.

Headed to the lab for a Thalium stress test. If the results are negative, they will send me home.

Gary

I can be there in about 6 hours if you ever need me.


R.

Best wishes, Gary ...

Thank you for all the things you do. I wish you well and a complete recovery. You are such a fine gentleman.

Best wishes.

Gary, most people do not realize what you are teaching here. The reason? They are not there yet. Your desire to share the steps you are going through, and your feelings, is like leaving a legacy. What you are living through is the reality of life, and you’re sharing it. Nice, much appreciated. I read your every post looking for a clue that I might use in my journey, I am there.

Thank you my friend, the best of health, John C.

Get well soon Gary,you really have got some good support on
your side of the pond.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery and that you will soon be back to doing all the things you love.
ciao

Hang in there Gary..thinking of you.

Thanks guys for the wonderful support and well wishes. I just got another load of IV radio active dye and will be heading back to the lab for another CT scan. If the results are good, I might go home tonight. If not, it means a cardiac cath tomorrow.

Keeping my fingers crossed,

Gary

Go sorry to hear this. Please get well my dear, dear friend!! -charley

Thoughts and prayers Gary
JM

Gary, I’m a little late in wishing you the best, but you are and always have been a power of example. Get well soon and thanks for the call last week, it was great to talk with you! Actually I was thinking of you this morning as we were driving over the bridge at Havre de Grace as I recall the marina you keep your sailboat is off to the left of the bridge when you’re heading north.

A bit late here, too - again. Wishing for the best of outcomes for you.

So sorry to hear this Gary. Just relax and let your heart rate drop and get well. Not getting any older sucks much more.

Thanks guys, a bit of a rough night, but with luck I'll get some sleep.

Gary

Gary...any update on next step (only if you want to share). Thinking of you and your wife and pray that whatever the next step is...it will allow you to resume living your life outside of the confines of a hospital.
JM

I just got home from the hospital, feel like I have been run over by a truck, have not slept more than a total of 3 hours in 3 days, the doctors screwed up my regular medications, which shot my blood pressure over the end of the Richtor Scale, and have not received any breathing medications the entire time I was hospitalized. I am amazed that anyone gets out of that hospital alive.

Consequently, after finding out what the initial problems stemmed from, I told the nurse this morning when she didn't show up with any of my regular breathing medications that I was out of here by high noon - come Hell or high water. She promptly said I could not do that, at which point I replied "Wanna bet?"

Then the attending physician came in and asked a really stupid question. She looked like she was only 19 years old, had a pleasant smile and said "Hello Mr. Diamond, my name is Dr. So&So. Tell me what brings you to us here." I guess I must be getting a bit old and cranky, plus the lack of sleep allowed my disposition to slide over the top a bit. I fired back at her and said "For Christ's sake, didn't you read my God Damned chart?" The nurse looked like she wanted to crawl under the bed, the doctor appeared somewhat indignant, and I said "I'm outta here - Hell or high water."

I just finished checking my email, had a quick lunch consisting of a chicken salad sandwich and I'm now sipping on some Jim Beam Honey Bourbon over ice. Also had to take a bunch of pills to catch up on some of the medications that have been neglected for the past three days.

Fortunately, the cardiologist provided me with some answers, says my heart is just fine, though I'll probably glow in the dark for the next month from all the radio-active material they injected in me yesterday. The radiation arm pain is most likely from the herniated C-3/4 disk in my neck that takes a bad beating when I go into a bad coughing spell from my fibrotic lungs. He recommended me seeing a neurosurgeon, or at the very least a neurologist to address this problem. Said I might be able to get away with some steroid injections, but I have doubts.

Hey, at least I made it out of the Hospital From Hell - ALIVE!

I would personally like to thank everyone for your wonderful support and well wishes and now I'm going to join my cat in the family room recliner chair and take a long nap.

Love ya all,

Gary

Sleep well Gary😴...you’ve earned it

Continued thoughts and prayers,
JM

Gary, glad to hear your heart is fine ...
I would suggest that you find another hospital to go to if heaven forbid you should ever need one ... not just because you apparently weren't treated well, but also because if you ever go back there and they remember you, they are liable to ignore you completely !!!
Be well ...

PS: don't worry about glowing in the dark ... I've been there and that stuff will be out of your system in no time ...

Tony,

At one time in my life, when I was a newlywed kid of 21 years of age, I administered radio-active dyes to patients. Back then, it took two weeks before the stuff was out of your bloodstream and most tissue, while today, it just takes a couple days at most because the dosages are far lower and the scanning systems are so much more sensitive and accurate. However, there is still enough radiation to cause problems from exposure and that's why the syringe used to inject the Thallium is made of glass covered with lead sheeting.

This hospital is now owned by the University Of Maryland Medical System, of which I was employed for about 8 years back in the 1960s. Had I done some of the things that they did to me during the past 3 days, I would have been fired in the blink of an eye. Unfortunately, the practice of medicine has changed a lot since then, and there apparently seems to be no accountability. The facilities depend on insurance companies to do this, thus creating the highest medical malpractice premiums in history, some with annual fees exceeding $100,000 for just dispensing anesthesia or delivering a baby.

Thanks for thinking of me, old friend,

Gary

Jeez, think of the stage presentation aspect of glow-in-the-dark. Massive!

Just having a bit of fun, Gary. If only it didn't have to come with all the other **** you're having to go through. Hang in there, mate.

Thanks guys. I just woke up, wolfed down a couple slices of pepperoni pizza, took my normal meds and ready for another nap with the cat.

All the best,

Gary

BTW, Gary ... The reason the doctor looked like she was 19 years old is that as we get closer and closer to 80 they are 50 years younger than us ...

[quote=travlin'easy]I just got home from the hospital...


Gary, I'm glad you're finally home! Sorry to hear about the ordeal, though. All the best for a speedy recovery, and welcome back to where you belong!

Best wishes bro, stay positive as those oysters will wait for you.

Allan

Thanks guys - good to be sleeping in a comfortable bed again.

Gary

Morning, Gary:

After catching up on your ordeal... I was so pleased to hear you are home at last. I don't think there is a better remedy for old coots like us than being home in familiar surroundings... the usual caveats apply, though... someone who cares about us being with us to keep us on an even keel. (You know the drill!)

Rest as often as you can, then get badly needed exercise (but not too much) and leave that Pizza alone! LOL!

Hang in there, friend... it appears that at least half the folks here at the Zone's Arranger Forum are in the same or a similar health boat. Keep us posted when you feel up to it.

All my best, ----Dave

Congrats on making it out alive, Gary. Love reading your posts covering all aspects of your recovery.
Like Dave says. seems over half of us are in the same heath boat.

Glad everything turned out OK.