16 Feet to 16 Miles - Part 1

After a serious heart attack (my one doc called it "massive") on September 5, 2007, I committed to starting from scratch. I won't bore you with all the introspective reflections I've tossed through my head and heart since then. There have been plenty of awakenings.

The silent killer grabbed me in the middle of the night, knocked me to the bathroom floor and the damn elephant decided to sit on my chest for a long while. My wife and daughter fought by my side with my daughter saving my life by yelling at me to keep my eyes open and stay alive.

I said my goodbyes to them and to my son, apologized for my failings while the paramedics worked on me and hauled me to the ER. Yea, I moaned and groaned. The pain was intense.

A freelance angel named Dr. Juma Bharadia inserted a stent and sent me on my way cautioning me to stay away from cheese. The guy knows his stuff. At the time, he thought the other two substantial blockages could be managed with diet, meds and exercise. Nope.

So, a few weeks later, I drove myself back to the ER for an encore appearance. Going back in, I told Dr. JB to do whatever he had to do to accomplish my one goal...not having to wait for the other shoe to drop...for the next big one. Fix ANY blockages NOW! He inserted two more stents into the two arteries which had gone from 50% blocked to damn near 100% in such short order that he said he'd never seen anything like it. Those aren't the words you want to hear from your heart doc.

Yea, I owe him my life. And, the guy interrupted his family vacation in Santa Barbara 2 hours away to come and bestow life giving gifts numbers 2 and 3.

I am deeply repentent for putting my family through this trauma. Sure, facing death and trying to figure out how to say so long to your loved ones isn't easy, but, I deeply regret putting my family in that predicament on my account. I have apologized at every opportunity and will always remember the pain, suffering and fear I have caused them because of my stupid past lifestyle...bad eating habits, zero exercise and a head-in-the-sand approach to my health care. Throw in bad heart genes and I deserve what I got.

But I also got chance number 2. And so, to honor my family and to make them proud and to try and do a little bit to redeem my stupid self in their eyes, I move on to 16 Feet to 16 Miles - Part 2.