some vacation / fishin trip

[.ghoti.]

I've been debating with myself for a few days about posting this bit of info. I finally decided that a public service of sorts could be performed by doing so, So, here it is.

My wife and I, along with my brother, his wife and son, took a few days off to go fishing. We stayed at Old Northwwods Lodge, in far north-eastern Minnesota. Great lodge, clean cabins, excellent food, good fishing on Poplar Lake. I'd recommend this place to anybody. Gale, the owner is a truly nice person, very helpful and a wonderful cook. I hope to retrun to this lake, and this lodge for another trip. We caught a lot of smallmouth, quite a few pike and a few walleye. We were not really walleye fishing on the trip. We were all more interested in the smallies. We caught our share.

Grand Marais, the nearest town, located on the north shore of Lake Superior is a neat little town, with interesting small shops, and some excellent, unique eating establishments.

All in all, a good trip; one we will do again.

Now the exciting part.

We were five days into the eight day adventure, out fishing after dinner, when I got a severe case of "heartburn". I'd had this three or four times during the preceeding 2 weeks, so I thought little about it, took some Tums, and kept on fishing. Well, it did not go away this time; just got worse and worse.

Turns out I was having a heart attack. Not one of life's more wonderful experiences, I assure you. We motored back to our cabin, got to the lodge and called for help. About 45 minutes later, a young lady showed up, in her own car, with no medical supplies, to see what the problem was. She informed us that she was not certified to do anything, she was there as a first responder, which meant she asked me questions. About a half an hour after that, another one showed up, asked the same questions, administered no aid or medications of any kind, and finally decided to call the ambulance. By this time, I was in serious pain. I'm a pretty tough guy, but, I'm tellin ya, this was kickin I disagree, big time. About an hour later the ambulance showed up, it took about 30 minutes for them to decide to load me up, and then an hour drive to Grand Marais. All together, it was about four hours after the attack started that I finally got some medical help. At the Grand Marias hospital's emergency room were a doctor and two nurses. These three ladies saved my life, in my humble opinion. After a few quick questions and tests, the doctor realized the problem and started what she could do at this facility, which was shoot me full of morphine, and some other drugs, whose names I can't remember, designed to dissolve the blockage. It took about 90 minutes for the pain to finally disappear. At this point, I was loaded into a helicopter, and taken to Duluth, where another wonderful lady doctor finished saving me. I got one artery roto-routered, another opened up with a stent, and a third minor blockage, which is being chemically treated, at this point. I escaped from all this with a very small amount of permanent damage to the heart, which is truly amazing, according to the cardiologist, considering the time factors. I got lucky. Many people do not survive their first heart attack. Having one in the middle of nowhere, with such a long delay before treatment, decreases the odds even further. I'm very fortunate, and very thankful to be here. So now I'm on a very different path. I take a hand full of drugs every day, and will, for the rest of my time here. A lot of my favorite foods are on the forbidden list. My beloved cigars are in the trash, never to be replaced. I'm drinking decaf coffee, yuk, yuk, yuk. ( it turns out that the coffee is the hardest part of this so far )

And now for the public service piece.

I know you've all seen those tv adds, touting all the new wonder drugs, and the diet adds, and the health warnings, and all the reports about Americans being over weight, and so on and so on. You know what I'm talking about. I also know that there are a bunch of you, just like me, who saw these things and said to yourselves, yeah, I need to loose a few pounds, quit eating all the crap food, cut back on the cigars or quit the cigarettes, get in better shape, yada yada yada. And then you said, just like me, yep, I need to do that some day, hey Honey, get me bowl of ice cream while you're up, will you please.

Well boys and girls, my someday got here, a lot sooner than I expected. I wish I had listened to that little inner voice a few years ago, and cut back on the cigars, ate better, lost the spare tire, etc. I'm doing that all now, you may rest assured. I've had my warning shot, and fully intend to pay attention to it.

So folks, and you know who you are, pay attention to that little voice that's telling you to take a little bit better care of yourself. It knows what it's talking about. Please do not put it off, like I did. I got very lucky. You may not be so lucky. Many people die from their first heart attack. You will be missed.

When I'm tempted to stray from my regimen, I simply remember the emergency room at Grand Marais. I was shot full of morphine, and still in extreme pain, and a nurse was shoving a tube up my crank. I was trying to tell her that either that was too big a tube, or too small a crank, but I was too stoned on morphine to articulate the thought, and I don't think she would have listened anyway. That's my motivation now; a memory of a 800 pound, 500 degree F anvil in the middle my chest, and somebody shoving a tube up my wazoo.

Play that little movie in your mind the next time you feel like having steak and eggs for breakfast. And if you have any pains in the chest, go have it checked out. Do not travel to the middle of nowhere without knowing what's going on with your health.

OK. I'm done preachin; thanks for listening.

Cheers,

GK

[Guest avid]

that kinda heartburn can kill ya dude.

You got a second chance for a reason.

don't waste it.

Best of luck to you.

[skillet]

 Sure glad everything came out for the best !!!

                                   As Ever,

                                    skillet

[MALTESE FALCON]

Glad you're still her Gary, It's very strange, you're the second person I know that had "heart burn" symptoms and it turned out to be a heart attack.

Life changes are difficult but necessary. Work real hard at it. I'm still hoping to see you here fishing on St. Clair with me.

Good luck,

Rick

[justfishin]

Thank goodness you are alright. Hey, that was your warning. Some changes are not optional. All the Plavix, Lipitor, nitro's for Angina, etc, etc is not going to help you without a lifestyle change. diet, excercise, quit smoking, no caffiene, cut back on your carbs and starches and you will be fine. I see them come in all the time for " heartburn " and when I asked how long they have had it they tell me a few weeks. If you are having chest pains, vertigo, malaise, numbness, sweats, and a general sick feeling get to a ER or dial 911--PERIOD, like RIGHT NOW. Age does not matter either. I was giving a 28 year old guy a EKG one day because he was complaining of chestpains and he had a heart attack before I was finished. Be well my friend.

[FishingBuds]

Glad your fine-how's your wife and family doing with it?

My Fishing vacation trip last July could've been a disaster, Actually could've been the worst thing ever to me.

First day Monday morning we all woke up about the same time, my son was crawling down from the drop down bed in our RV, the bed comes down from seat belt buckles. well the male end is what he caught on the way down and I heard him moan for help(A daddy knows a hurt call) I walked up to him and saw him holding his side of his belly. The male end must've caught him just right and ripped him. He did great with it(proud of him for that) it was one of those wounds that hardley bled. he ended up with 7 stiches. after it was over and we pulled in and ate at Subway did we realize how worse it could have been, kinda brought us to tears right then. we couldn't thank the Lord enough.

I was having heartburn as well for awhile-had to change what I ate(love spicey) I've been taking Prilosec OTC and its been gone since But I will pay more attention to detail since reading your post. Thanks Gary

[Daniel My Brother]

Thanks for the warning Ghoti.

You've got me re-thinking some of my lifestyle choices.

Excellent post on a tough subject.

[justfishin]

I would also like to stress the importance of taking a CPR class. Not only adult CPR but, a more advanced class that includes Child CPR along with the training in the use of a AED Defibrillator. A lot of Malls, stores and such have this equipment now for quick access by the public and you can purchase them for home as well. They are user friendly nowadays and some will coach you through your CPR process. I think everyone should take CPR and a general First Aid class. Call the American Red Cross or your local Hospital for info on classes.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

HOLY CRAP!!!

Glad you are here and glad you shared your story!!

That's one heck of a vacation,...you met a bunch of women AND got a helicopter ride....was all that in the brochure???  ;D

Glad you came through it ok buddy!