View Full Version : Almost lost the Old Walrus last week.........
greenberetTFS
02-24-2012, 16:01
Well last friday I spent 13 hrs in the Emergency Ward at the Biloxi VA......... Went in concerned about the edema I was having on my feet,(couldn't get my diabetic shoes on) so I was wearing my oversized Clogs........I had the chest xray and EKG when they started to run a fire drill on me after my blood work came back....... First,they put me on oxegon,then they had me chew up an aspirin and drink a little water........I was then admitted into the hospital and had my blood work done again.......... The doctor then informed me of my recent "heart attack"!........ Yep,thats right,it's called a "silent" heart attack and it's just as deadly as the one I had 38 years ago......... After several tests earlier this week it was determined that the blockage that was sustained wasn't as severe as they originally suspected..........So,I was released today and I'm on my way again........ For those of you,like myself who never heard of this type of heart attack,possibly maybe Crip or one of the docs(Red Flag 1)will give a description of what it is........:boohoo
Big Teddy :munchin
Glad to hear you are feeling better!
All's well that ends well Big Teddy - welcome back and glad to hear that you're doing well.
:lifter
Big Teddy, glad to hear you are feeling better sir, take good care of yourself.
Big Teddy I'm glad you went to the doctor and they figured out what was going on with you. Please take good care of yourself.
I guess you could say my heart attack several years ago was silent, I thought I had heartburn.
Be good and listen to your docs!
Hang in there Teddy,,
Very Happy to hear FROM you
Rather than ABOUT you..
Be Safe..
Eagle5US
02-24-2012, 19:06
Hey Teddy,
You had a time where a portion of your heart muscle wasn't receiving enough oxygen and subsequently was died or was damaged enough to impeded the flow of electricity through the heart. This flow of electricity is visually represented on the EKG. Silent MI's tend to be more common in diabetics as well.
You probably had what are known as "significant Q waves" on your EKG. Make no mistake Brother, your Dr. was telling you true when he said that these can be (and are) quite the serious deal.
Very happy that you are doing well.
ZonieDiver
02-24-2012, 19:18
I'm glad you're ok, Brother. Take care of yourself.
I've deciphered most of the Mayan doomsday prophecies and I saw that after 12/21/12, the only things that will be left, are Big Teddy and cockroaches. :D
Glad to hear you're doing okay Sir.
Oh, and listen to your doctors ..... they know things. ;)
tom kelly
02-24-2012, 20:53
Glad you did the right thing and not pass it off as something else.
Recommendation: Get an Appoitment with a Board Certified Cardiologist and more important LISTEN TO & FOLLOW HIS ADVICE; Don't Put It Off. Do it NOW.
Best of luck to you, Tom Kelly
mojaveman
02-24-2012, 22:01
Glad to hear that you're still among the living Teddy and stay away from that Southern fried food. :D :p
Hey Teddy, don't let that happen again, ya hear?! ;)
Pat
Best of luck. Glad the Drs. are on the ball. Hang tough Big Teddy.:lifter
John_Chrichton
02-25-2012, 00:26
Very glad to hear you're ok sir!
Glad you did the right thing and not pass it off as something else.
Recommendation: Get an Appoitment with a Board Certified Cardiologist and more important LISTEN TO & FOLLOW HIS ADVICE; Don't Put It Off. Do it NOW.
Best of luck to you, Tom Kelly
^^ this is the best advice you're going to get. There are so many simple things they can do nowadays to keep you moving. So glad you're back home and not room temp :) the place wouldn't be the same without you.
Glad you did the right thing and not pass it off as something else.
Recommendation: Get an Appoitment with a Board Certified Cardiologist and more important LISTEN TO & FOLLOW HIS ADVICE; Don't Put It Off. Do it NOW.
Best of luck to you, Tom Kelly
In addition to this find a good nutritionist. Make three appointments: initial, 60-days, and one-year out. Make those dietary changes! Managing ones diabetes is 3/4 of the cardiac/vascular battle.
Take your significant other with you to all appointments (for the first year). Patients mistake, mishear, and forget so much. Seriously.
If cardiac rehab is indicated - take full advantage of it as well.
I found that improper diet and exercise led to my cardiac episode - which was preventable. Implementing those changes reversed my CAD (at least numbers wise) in less than six-months.
In choosing your medical professionals - talk to the staff on the floor the facility you were at. Ask them who they would want to manage their health/disease/condition. Seriously.
Good luck and Gods blessing to you and yours. Because walruses are endangered...
In addition to this find a good nutritionist. Make three appointments: initial, 60-days, and one-year out. Make those dietary changes! Managing ones diabetes is 3/4 of the cardiac/vascular battle.
Take your significant other with you to all appointments (for the first year). Patients mistake, mishear, and forget so much. Seriously.
If cardiac rehab is indicated - take full advantage of it as well.
I found that improper diet and exercise led to my cardiac episode - which was preventable. Implementing those changes reversed my CAD (at least numbers wise) in less than six-months.
In choosing your medical professionals - talk to the staff on the floor the facility you were at. Ask them who they would want to manage their health/disease/condition. Seriously.
Good luck and Gods blessing to you and yours. Because walruses are endangered...
All of the above!
Best wishes for a full recovery! :lifter
Dozer523
02-26-2012, 17:41
Teddy! You better take care of yourself. I have a case of PBR and another of Stag in the friidge. I just need ato find some time in the Little Dude's schedule to deliver them to LA. LD wants to meet a real Green Beret.
ZonieDiver
02-26-2012, 19:04
:oTeddy! You better take care of yourself. I have a case of PBR and another of Stag in the friidge. I just need ato find some time in the Little Dude's schedule to deliver them to LA. LD wants to meet a real Green Beret.
We need to rendezvous in Big Teddy's VFW and surround him with SF, instead of all those Jarheads he has to talk to!
greenberetTFS
02-26-2012, 20:03
:o
We need to rendezvous in Big Teddy's VFW and surround him with SF, instead of all those Jarheads he has to talk to!
Really sounds great,but as you know right now my only concern is Maggie and her terminal condition.........I was more worried about her when I was in the hospital than my own situation........ Thank you God,because my grand-kids and daughter really came thru for me.......I know that if any thing really would happen to me I can now count on them to be there........ I really appreciate what you guys would do for me and if my situation were any different,but again with Maggie's severe depression over the loss of her hair from that damn Chemo,I'd have loved to have us go in as a Band of Brothers......... Maybe someday,maybe...........;) :D
Big Teddy :munchin
Damn, Teddy, I go away for a weekend and you go and watch a Toshiro Mifune movie, drink saki, sing karaoke off-key (as if there's any other way to do it), get a headache, belch, pass gas, scratch yourself, go flirt with young ER and CCU nurses, take two aspirin, and try and leave us with the bar tab. What's up with that? Although if I lived in a place like Louisiana and was surounded by nothing but wannabe Francophiles and ex-Marine special forces supply sergeants and underground messkit repair specialists ( :p ), I'd probably be pretty morose, too.
On a serious note, you've gotta quit believing you're really a walrus and change your diet - obviously eating all those BP certified safe shrimp, crabs, tube worms, soft corals, tunicates, sea cucumbers, and non-bearded clams aren't good for you.
I'm glad you're OK - now, back to work.
Richard :munchin
PS - Take care, ya ol' walrus!
Glad to hear that things are okay, your wisdom and musings are integral to the personality of this site. Please listen to the doctors as your peers mention above; docs occasionally know things beyond how to line their pockets.
I am close and have time, so I am available should you need anything. PM out with contact info.
All the best.
Dave
PedOncoDoc
02-28-2012, 10:20
docs occasionally know things beyond how to line their pockets.
Wow - not sure where that came from. Although, if your exposure has been limited to cardiologists, dermatologists and plastic surgeons, I could perhaps understand.
As for the rest of the us docs, most of us have no aspirations to be business magnates or politicians, so lining our pockets is not our top priority. :D
Glad to hear you're still kicking Big Teddy - a silent heart attack is just as serious as any other heart attack, but you don't have any symptoms (chest/arm pain, sweating, light-headedness, etc) to tell you it's happening/happened, so you don't realize the need for urgent medical care.
QP Big Teddy,
Hang in there! And, like the previous posters, listen to your doctor(s), they do know things. Stay healthy and good luck! :lifter
v/r
BOfH
greenberetTFS
02-28-2012, 18:22
I was told by my Cardiac doctor that the above tests were used in the Emergency room to determine what happened to me........... Now I'm going to get a nuclear chemical stress test and heart catheter,however the VA in Biloxi doesn't perform those tests so I'll be going next door to the Keesler Air Force base hospital later this week to wrap up my scheduled heart tests........... This sure has been quite a ride............;) :cool: :D
Big Teddy :munchin
but again with Maggie's severe depression over the loss of her hair from that damn Chemo,I'd have loved to have us go in as a Band of Brothers......... Maybe someday,maybe...........;) :D
Big Teddy :munchin
Big Teddy there are organizations that will help Maggie, some even offer free wigs. My aunt and uncle had a business of providing wigs to cancer patients, and charged very little. If you need/want info you just let me know. I realize a wig won't replace her hair, and it is very upsetting, but they make very realistic wigs these days.
Remember that care givers need respite too. Don't feel guilty about that.
TrapLine
02-28-2012, 19:34
Take care, Big Teddy. Prayers out for your continued recovery. You are way too tough to go - being a hockey playing SF guy!
greenberetTFS
02-28-2012, 19:49
Take care, Big Teddy. Prayers out for your continued recovery. You are way too tough to go - being a hockey playing SF guy!
TrapLine
You just said the magic word "Hockey",now I'm just waiting until the next line change.......:lifter :lifter :lifter
Big Teddy :munchin
mark46th
02-29-2012, 09:42
Be careful, Teddy!! Glad you are getting things treated...
Patriot007
02-29-2012, 13:09
Troponin T is a protein specific to cardiac muscle and is leaked into the blood following a period of ischemia (insufficient blood flow), e.g. blocked blood flow in your coronary vessels. This is one of the main tests used to diagnose a "silent" myocardial infarction (silent heart attack) They are called silent because they don't present with the classic chest pain/tightness with simultaneous dramatic EKG changes.
As Eagle explained the other occult sign is a change on your EKG showing a change in your heart's electrical activity, or Q waves.
You were very smart to be seen with your increasing leg swelling as a heart attack may be as subtle as increased shortness of breath while lying down, new significant fatigue with exertion or increased ankle swelling. This is because your pump is not pumping as well since there is damaged and poorly functioning heart muscle. The important thing is picking this up and seeing the cardiologist as explained to get tuned up and prevent the big one.
Not a cardiologist, nor did I stay in a Holiday Inn last night.
Rest well and and good recovery!
Hope you get feeling better soon Big Teddy, and I am glad you are getting care.
My father was another hard-charging UNH hockey-playing WWII & Korea paratrooper. Woodpecker Lips. Anyhow he, at some point, had suffered a silent one, then later on the big one took him out w/o much warning (or likely he tossed back another swig of Maalox and blew it off.)
I am really glad you are still with us!
greenberetTFS
03-28-2012, 16:51
Hey Guys,I'm fine.....I understand a lot of you are worried about me,don't be....... I've come down since that recent venting and I'm working with the VA on developing a payment plan that we both can live with....... It's just good to know that some people care......;)
Big Teddy :munchin
Stingray
03-28-2012, 20:28
Hey Guys,I'm fine.....I understand a lot of you are worried about me,don't be....... I've come down since that recent venting and I'm working with the VA on developing a payment plan that we both can live with....... It's just good to know that some people care......;)
Big Teddy :munchin
That is good to hear Big Teddy, I was worried about you. We all care about The Walrus. Thats what Family is for my friend.