Where i am at now .

It is funny how life has its twists and turns , well it is not for some i guess , but i am a little amused . I digress . About 18 months ago i was laid off and shortly after that the wife threw me out . Oddly enough it was perhaps the best thing that ever happened to me , well kids and all but you get what i mean . You see if that had not happened i may have lost my legs , yes both . Now while i was working i had problems with the legs ( could not walk 200 meters ) but never bothered much about it as i had no real need to walk . Doctors said (several ) walk more and i tried but figured father time was catching up . Anyways i knew my cholesterol was bad and i mean really bad , i mean double figures bad and i had a blood test . Seems my cholesterol was worse and this doctor wanted to look into it further ( god bless her and i ain't religious ) . Well in short time i had angiograms , lung function , CT scans , X rays , heart stress tests and a lot more . Seems in my left leg my artery had narrowed ( just below groin ) and in my right leg ( same) i had 6/7 blood clots . Woo hoo , well no , just below my heart my Aorta was dangerously narrowed as well . Anyways after a four and a half operation i have a second artery going to my legs . The original feeds my ass and the new one my legs . And i feel great . I mean i dont drive around the car park to save 20 meters walking anymore . I can walk , my calfs have tripled in size . Now i dont expect anyone to reply to this BUT. GIVE UP SMOKING NOW . I was going to put a pic of the operation scars but it might cross T&Cs .


Thank you docs , all of you , and all you nurses at the RAH .

a reply to: hutch622

Wow, that is an amazing recovery. I should try and appreciate more of what I DO have physically and mobility wise. It seems that a lot of people don't appreciate the simple things until they are gone. But at least you got them back.

Do you really think all of your ailments were due specifically and totally to smoking?

a reply to: hutch622

From adversity comes triumph.
Strange how life works innit , glad to hear you're well and averted disaster hutch , keep on keepin on mate.

Now can you change that avatar.

a reply to: ClovenSky

TextDo you really think all of your ailments were due specifically and totally to smoking?

Short answer is yes , well at least the narrowing arteries bit . The clots , well put it this way my cholesterol was over 14 so that might have something to do with it .

a reply to: gortex

Now can you change that avatar.

Cheers mate , was thinking of going back to this . Is there a prettier thing on the planet than this . Seen 2 in the wild and i used to live where they did

a reply to: hutch622

My step dad who smoked for 70 years, yes 70. Had his arteries in his legs scoped. The nurse said the insurance only pays for one scope, because he smokes. They ended up finding nothing.

He had Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in his left knee 10 years earlier. He also had COPD and ended up dying at 84 of lung cancer, and that sounds old. But his sisters and brothers are over 100 and still kicking around in Wisconsin.

As for you, walk Forest! walk! (Forest Gump)

a reply to: seasonal

The nurse said the insurance only pays for one scope, because he smokes.

Luckily i live in Australia . All tests , operation , hospital , follow up cost . Nada , Zilch , nothing . But i get what you're saying . Do all people who smoke get lung cancer , no . Did all lung cancer people smoke . No . but a fair percentage did .

Man, one of these days I will need to give up smoking (20+ years now). I have always had the opinion that I could pollute/addict/enjoy certain chemicals if I balanced that out by exercising, eating healthy, maintaining low stress and trying to simply enjoy every single day of this reality as it is. I am probably living a lie and will need to quit soon.

bummer

a reply to: hutch622

Good luck Hutch glad they caught all this soon enough that it didn't effect your ability to get around. People take for granted the fact that they can swing both legs over the edge of the bed and get up every morning. Take care buddy

a reply to: hutch622

Thank you for this message... its going to be hard for me to quit

May you recover quickly and live a long and productive life.

a reply to: ClovenSky

balanced that out by exercising, eating healthy, maintaining low stress and trying to simply enjoy every single day of this reality as it is. I am probably living a lie and will need to quit soon.

I was the sportiest person on the planet until i got to around 30ish . Then it was golf , lawn bowls ( lawn bowls was great ) . I mean the average golf course is a 7 k walk . Then bang , soon i could not walk .
Edited for T&Cs .

Taken on a phone , my tummy looks pretty slim now .
Looks good doesn't it smokers .

a reply to: Mousygretchen

May you recover quickly and live a long and productive life.

I walked out and had no pain . I was supposed to be in hospital for ten days and was out in 4 . Told the nurses no more pain medication on day 2 . Great surgeon .

a reply to: hutch622

The scars on the groin are where they burrow under your groin muscles to connect the artificial artery . The lop sided tummy is because they pull your tummy out so it does not get in the road while operating . Smoking , good eh .

a reply to: hutch622

Oh my God, you have Socialized medicine.....I'm surprised you didn't die in the parking lot waiting for 2 years for an appointment./sarc

Not here in the US damn it, we pay through the nose for 1/2 assed medicine.

a reply to: seasonal

Oh my God, you have Socialized medicine.....I'm surprised you didn't die in the parking lot waiting for 2 years for an appointment./sarc

I get the sarc . After referral from my GP the next doc ( honestly dont know where he fitted in the scheme of things ) said if i still had pain in my legs after walking to his room said . If your legs were still cramping you would stay in the hospital tonight . Went in next day for tests . Things went quickly from there .

a reply to: hutch622

Congrats on the service you received. In the US we are awash in propaganda that our system is #1 and super duper. We are #1 in cost only.
Oddly enough the lobbying from medical/pharma eclipses all other lobbying efforts.
I fear our "leaders" will ride this mother right into the ground and we will have massive hospital closings and the ugliness that goes with that.

Man you must feel like a million bucks-again congrats.

a reply to: seasonal

Haha here this wouldnt be nearly as much of a success story because while alive and walking again the man probably wouldnt have two pennies to rub together anymore as he made payments for years.

a reply to: hutch622

Thank you for shaming my smoking habit. I know I have to quit.

a reply to: lightedhype

Haha here this wouldnt be nearly as much of a success story because while alive and walking again the man probably wouldnt have two pennies to rub together anymore as he made payments for years.

Did you not read all the replies . I am Australian . The whole process cost me NOTHING ,

a reply to: lightedhype

Yep, wonder what taxes look like in Australia?

I can see raising my taxes if we could get a viable medical system that has some sort of rhyme or reason to cost and quality.