Sorry I've been away...

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
I know I've been quiet on the forums for a little bit, and someone msged me to ask why I recently popped back up.

Well, I figured I'd spill what happened, and tell everyone to take care of themselves, as part of what happened to me:

A while back, everyone in my office was getting hit with illness. People were down with flu symptoms; weakness, vomiting, tiredness, etc.

I got hit with weakness and sleepiness, upset stomach, lots of coughing, and sinus issues, and I wasn't sleeping well. I figured, after 3 weeks off and on of feeling ok, then terrible, then ok, and back to feeling terrible again, that I was going to go see a doctor. So I went in to Urgent Care.

I get to the medical offices, start to walk across the campus, and got winded and short of breath. I stopped, outside, in what everyone else was considering freezing cold, but I was just figuring was "cool for everyone else", since I felt comfortable, temperature wise. Upon entering the Urgent Care office, one of the security guards said, "Are you feeling ok? You look terrible, like you're short of breath. Hold on, I'm going to get a nurse for you."

I was pulled into the back, where they did a blood pressure reading and found it was SKY high. Normal is supposed to be something like 120/80 to 140/90. I was 212/129. I had swelling of the legs, bloating, and it turned out my heart was barely pumping. I had all sorts of excess fluid built up around my lungs and heart, and it was making it incredibly hard for me to breathe; I was on the verge of having a heart attack.

I got diuretics, blood pressure meds, oxygen, and a breathing treatment, and spent nearly a week in the hospital, where I was told I had Congestive Heart Failure, or CHF. My heart was burdened with a bunch of excess fluids, making it hard for me to breathe, and it nearly killed me, at the age of 41.

I've come back out weaker than I was at the end of the year, but I've made progress. I'm on a low sodium diet, starting to exercise, eating better - I've dropped 30 lbs in water weight, and 4 inches on my pants after coming out of the hospital, and have made this my New Year's Resolution - don't die this year from congestive heart failure. :) Yes it's serious, and yes, I'm joking around the incident to some extent, but I've found laughter is some of the best medicine out there - you can't OD, and the refills are free.

At any rate, I want to share this with the FT family to let you know that if you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to fly anymore. Get yourself checked out on a regular basis, keep up on your flu shots, and if you think your loved ones are likely potential "time bombs", have them get checked out. I'm a little young to be having this happen, at the age of 41, but it's a life lesson I want to pass on to everyone else...let yourself get to be like me.
 

Grifflyer

WWII fanatic
I'm glad to see you back and hear that you're okay, I hope you make a good recovery and will stay happy and healthy!!
 

JTarmstr

Elite member
I know I've been quiet on the forums for a little bit, and someone msged me to ask why I recently popped back up.

Well, I figured I'd spill what happened, and tell everyone to take care of themselves, as part of what happened to me:

A while back, everyone in my office was getting hit with illness. People were down with flu symptoms; weakness, vomiting, tiredness, etc.

I got hit with weakness and sleepiness, upset stomach, lots of coughing, and sinus issues, and I wasn't sleeping well. I figured, after 3 weeks off and on of feeling ok, then terrible, then ok, and back to feeling terrible again, that I was going to go see a doctor. So I went in to Urgent Care.

I get to the medical offices, start to walk across the campus, and got winded and short of breath. I stopped, outside, in what everyone else was considering freezing cold, but I was just figuring was "cool for everyone else", since I felt comfortable, temperature wise. Upon entering the Urgent Care office, one of the security guards said, "Are you feeling ok? You look terrible, like you're short of breath. Hold on, I'm going to get a nurse for you."

I was pulled into the back, where they did a blood pressure reading and found it was SKY high. Normal is supposed to be something like 120/80 to 140/90. I was 212/129. I had swelling of the legs, bloating, and it turned out my heart was barely pumping. I had all sorts of excess fluid built up around my lungs and heart, and it was making it incredibly hard for me to breathe; I was on the verge of having a heart attack.

I got diuretics, blood pressure meds, oxygen, and a breathing treatment, and spent nearly a week in the hospital, where I was told I had Congestive Heart Failure, or CHF. My heart was burdened with a bunch of excess fluids, making it hard for me to breathe, and it nearly killed me, at the age of 41.

I've come back out weaker than I was at the end of the year, but I've made progress. I'm on a low sodium diet, starting to exercise, eating better - I've dropped 30 lbs in water weight, and 4 inches on my pants after coming out of the hospital, and have made this my New Year's Resolution - don't die this year from congestive heart failure. :) Yes it's serious, and yes, I'm joking around the incident to some extent, but I've found laughter is some of the best medicine out there - you can't OD, and the refills are free.

At any rate, I want to share this with the FT family to let you know that if you don't take care of yourself, you won't be able to fly anymore. Get yourself checked out on a regular basis, keep up on your flu shots, and if you think your loved ones are likely potential "time bombs", have them get checked out. I'm a little young to be having this happen, at the age of 41, but it's a life lesson I want to pass on to everyone else...let yourself get to be like me.

Wow, your lucky that security guard had a sharp eye. Anyway I'm glad you survived this and hope your recovery progresses well. By the way is this permanent or will it go away?
 

Hai-Lee

Old and Bold RC PILOT
41? OH NO! I have children that age! Now I have to worry about them as well?:eek:

Joking aside, I am glad you survived it and looks like you have it all under control. Welcome back. Not all those that missed your posts would message though.

Have fun, (for a long time to come).
 

Headbang

Master member
It happens. My wife had a heart attack at 42. Big wakeup call. Her cushy government job that had her working 16hr days 7 days a week, without vacation in 10yrs nearly killed her.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Wow, your lucky that security guard had a sharp eye. Anyway I'm glad you survived this and hope your recovery progresses well. By the way is this permanent or will it go away?

Well, I now have to see a cardiologist for the rest of my life, at least once a year; however, I've been recovering much more quickly than he thought I would, which *I* think is progress, but the doc is being cautious. He did say, however, that it's possible my heart will bounce back without a problem.

Also, in going through this, I found out that I have something called Dextrocardia. It's a mutation, potentially genetic; but where most people have their heart on the left side of their body, mine is on the right side. It's not something they would have discovered unless I had a chest x-ray, and this was the first time I'd ever had one in 41 years of existence. They thought something was wrong with the x-ray, so they followed up with an MRI and an echocardiogram to confirm that, yes, my heart really IS on the right side of my body. :)

My wife said jokingly, "Oh, goody! Now I can tell everyone that my husband's heart really IS in the right place!"

As for whether this will be permanent...That depends somewhat on me. I have to keep a better diet, watch how much liquid/water/soup/watery fruits/sorbet/coffee drinks/etc. I take in each day, and make sure I take my meds each day. It's quite possible I will recover, but the likelihood of coming off of my meds within my lifetime is slim to none. But, that's ok. I can deal with that...better than the alternative, right? :)
 

Antioch

Member
Ughh, sorry to hear...went through my version and now on the better living through chemistry plan... so wishing you a nice healthy recovery & some flying when you can fit it in.
 

SP0NZ

FT CAD Gremlin
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Mentor
Glad to hear you got it figured out and your on the mend. Welcome back.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Welcome back mate. Heart issues are no joke. I have a bad heart history in my family on both sides.

Scarey stuff. Sounds like your on the way back to normalcy. Hope you can come back better and stronger.

This is one of the reasons I got back into rc so I had a good reason to get off my duff n move about. We should start a campaign to promote "drones" as a health regimine and move it away from the "evil spy tool" camps.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
It happens. My wife had a heart attack at 42. Big wakeup call. Her cushy government job that had her working 16hr days 7 days a week, without vacation in 10yrs nearly killed her.

Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, with my last job of working for cable internet tech support. You get 2 days a week off; they may or may not coincide with each other for a weekend, and it's almost guaranteed that they won't fall on Saturday and Sunday. There are no such things as holidays unless they happen to fall on your days off. You get 2 weeks of vacation a year, and if you want a random Saturday or Sunday off, you must put in for it approximately 3 months in advance, to guarantee someone else in the dept hasn't already asked for it off.

That job was a big part of why I don't think anyone else should work in cable internet tech support - it will wear you down IMMENSELY. I would not doubt that job contributed in some small part to my health issue now, but it's in the past, and I'm moving forward.
 

JTarmstr

Elite member
Well, I now have to see a cardiologist for the rest of my life, at least once a year; however, I've been recovering much more quickly than he thought I would, which *I* think is progress, but the doc is being cautious. He did say, however, that it's possible my heart will bounce back without a problem.

Also, in going through this, I found out that I have something called Dextrocardia. It's a mutation, potentially genetic; but where most people have their heart on the left side of their body, mine is on the right side. It's not something they would have discovered unless I had a chest x-ray, and this was the first time I'd ever had one in 41 years of existence. They thought something was wrong with the x-ray, so they followed up with an MRI and an echocardiogram to confirm that, yes, my heart really IS on the right side of my body. :)

My wife said jokingly, "Oh, goody! Now I can tell everyone that my husband's heart really IS in the right place!"

As for whether this will be permanent...That depends somewhat on me. I have to keep a better diet, watch how much liquid/water/soup/watery fruits/sorbet/coffee drinks/etc. I take in each day, and make sure I take my meds each day. It's quite possible I will recover, but the likelihood of coming off of my meds within my lifetime is slim to none. But, that's ok. I can deal with that...better than the alternative, right? :)

Ok, well good luck with the recovery. Its unfortunate how bad desk jobs are for people, I have a feeling that this will be even more pronounced for the newer generations.
 

sprzout

Knower of useless information
Mentor
Welcome back mate. Heart issues are no joke. I have a bad heart history in my family on both sides.

Scarey stuff. Sounds like your on the way back to normalcy. Hope you can come back better and stronger.

This is one of the reasons I got back into rc so I had a good reason to get off my duff n move about. We should start a campaign to promote "drones" as a health regimine and move it away from the "evil spy tool" camps.

LOL that sounds like a plan (albeit a bad one for Southern California) - "Cardio Crash Camp" - crash a long range drone, WALK to retrieve it. :)

"Well, my spotter said it went down about a mile out thataway, up on that hillside..."
 

JTarmstr

Elite member
"Well, my spotter said it went down about a mile out thataway, up on that hillside..."

But unfortunately thats private property and the guy there doesnt take to kindly to trespassers so we are gonna have to hike to his house 3 miles over thataway first
 

Headbang

Master member
Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, with my last job of working for cable internet tech support. You get 2 days a week off; they may or may not coincide with each other for a weekend, and it's almost guaranteed that they won't fall on Saturday and Sunday. There are no such things as holidays unless they happen to fall on your days off. You get 2 weeks of vacation a year, and if you want a random Saturday or Sunday off, you must put in for it approximately 3 months in advance, to guarantee someone else in the dept hasn't already asked for it off.

That job was a big part of why I don't think anyone else should work in cable internet tech support - it will wear you down IMMENSELY. I would not doubt that job contributed in some small part to my health issue now, but it's in the past, and I'm moving forward.
I get it, I own a wireless ISP and for the first years I was the only one on after hours. I treat my staff better then you were treated tho!
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
LOL that sounds like a plan (albeit a bad one for Southern California) - "Cardio Crash Camp" - crash a long range drone, WALK to retrieve it. :)

"Well, my spotter said it went down about a mile out thataway, up on that hillside..."


Hey at least there you wont have to walk uphill both ways in white out conditions wearing one shoe and news paper on the other foot carrying the horse like we do here.