There's something to be said for going out with a massive heart attack after a good surf.
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I'm with you on that. I hear stories about that happening like its a reason to quit surfing. I'm thinking it don't sound like such a bad deal. I quit surfing for 23 years. I'd rather keep at it 'til I die now, I'm making up for lost time!
My mom gave me a scare today. Called and said she might need to go to the hospital, the rest of my family is out of town right now, so I drove down to her place in L.A. Turns out she's OK, but I'm taking her to the doctor's tomorrow. Last run of tests they did they said she's healthy as a horse. Not bad for 93.
some of us “younger folk” actually benefit from you “old guys” experience in more than just shaping boards…
I remember Bill Barnfields health scare a few years ago and that prompted me to take a real good look at my own lifestyle and I made some big changes in no small part due to reading what Bill had to say. And a bit later the where some threads about skin cancer that also made me think twice about going shirtless when I was in Africa and the Carribean.
so this “younger folk” is actually interested to learn something every day…
aw heck in few years I’ll be older folk and probably rambling on as well… come to think of it, my shoulder is really killing me since I windsurfed in 30~35 knots last monday…
This is the last thing I have to say about this and then it’s back to surfboards and such. If your lucky you’ll see it coming and have a loving son like Wood Ogre to let you die with dignity in your own home. That’s how my uncle left. At home and surrounded by family. But, what happens in some cases the hospital will refuse to send the person home and threaten to call the ‘elderly abuse police’ if you don’t put the person in a nursing home. If the person doesn’t feel like eating they give them drugs so they get hungry, drugs to make them sleep, strap them into bed or a chair and let them sit around most of the day drooling, shitting and pissing on themselves while Oprah blares away on the TV. It’s a tough call. And if you become demented, you don’t get to make the call. Someone else is going to do it for you. I don’t want that for me or anyone in my family. When I’m old, worn out and nutty let me wander off into the chaparral, fall over and die. Bury me under the oak tree out back where I buried my dogs and let the ants, beetles, and bacteria recycle me back into that old tree. Mike
Been through several “dashes” to the hospital (an hours’ drive!) this last year with my Pop knowing all the while driving he’s dying en route. But thank the Good Lord he’s pulled it out every time. I’ve watched my folks bury two of their three kids and there has been plenty of discussion of “what to do”. My mom has instructed me many times to “just put a bullet in my head”. Righteeo Mom! She refuses to be put into a home and I’ll respect that. As a joke I had a silver bullet made (gallows humor) and made a nice little box out of rosewood and gave it to her. She looked at it laughed and asked, “will this really work?” When my time comes I’m going to stuff my pockets with USDA choice central coast beef and take a long walk on Kodiak Island. It is now my life’s ambition to end up bear sh#$. Aim High!
I was impressed with your high level of being your own advocate and being privy to some of the data you were compiling and sending to your specialist. I guess being a nurse helps in that regard. Glad you were able to buck the bureaucracy with your insurance carrier too.
After following you around in the hills on some of the more memorable hikes in the L.P. its no wonder that you’re still around. (kidding) So glad to hear that you are better!
Well.... I wish I could say it was over and done with and that I was 100%. I saw the specialist last week and he gave the go ahead to do whatever I wanted. I've been on a bicycle and decided it was time to go surfing again. Two days out of two I had the same symptoms that got me in to this mess.
I'm likely in for another round in the O.R./Cath Lab in the near future to see if they can fix it for good.
Skip - If I recall correctly, you were leading the charge - replaced hips and all! Sheesh, getting old ain't for sissies.
They did it all manually. No clamps. They had one hand on the entry sites and one hand on my foot, checking the distal pulse. I still ended up with some massive hematomas. They had a total of 6 lines (3 per side) going to my heart so I guess that is to be expected.
They said clamps can totally occlude the blood flow or slip off and allow a big leak.
Howzit John, Are they not letting you drink beer. My surgeon told me beer can cause cancer nd I told her I have already given up smoking and other pleasures due to both diabetes and cancer but I am not going to give up my 3-4 beers a night since that is about the only thing I have left for pleasure and I don't get drunk or even a buzz since it takes me about 1 hr per beer. There is a thing called quality of life and I refuse to give up al the good things just to stay alive since we all have to go someday. Aloha,Kokua
Hey John, I hope things go well. One time the nurses used a huge c clamps to put pressure on my groin after they were done putting stents in. They clamped me down for hours, just like laminating pieces of wood together. At least they gave me morphine and that knocked me out.
Right now I have a messed up back, I think I may have a bad lumbar disk in the lower back and a torn muscle or pinched nerve in the upper back. The wife says no surfing or sex till I’m better. I told my wife I want to die while having sex with her. That would be the big O. She doesn’t think it’s funny.
I also have very bad sleep apnea. I figure a lot of my health issues are from years of sleep deprivation.
We live hard, play hard, beat the heck out of our bodies, and forget that we’re not 20 or 30 or 40 anymore and don’t spring back as fast.
I can't say the thread title without hearing the tune to ''Puttin On The Ritz.'' You've got to write the story in prose, that is appropriate to the tune, and put it on You Tube. It'll go viral!
Howzit John, So riding a bike is OK but when you surf your chest hurts again. Other than the paddle out I would think that riding a bike would put more stress on your heart than surfing unless you are just cruising on the bike. Getting older is not fun and I have been getting the worst headaches ever and I never get headaches. The doctors did a cat scan nd all they could come up with is inflamation on 1 side of my head. Gave me some anti-inflamitories but they just put me to sleep. Aloha,Kokua
Hi Bill - "Putting on the Ritz".... I like that! I should ask Ambrose to help me out on that. I've never been much of a poet.
Kokua - Funny thing about all this is I've never had chest pain except when they were burning away the heart tissue that was conducting the short circuit. THAT hurt - it felt like someone stuffing out a lit cigar against the back of my sternum.
It seems to be rate dependent. I hit a certain threshold and my rhythm goes haywire. When I'm on my bike I wear a heart rate monitor and try to keep my rate within a specific range. It's pretty easy to control on a bike. When I'm out surfing I must get excited or something and hit that threshold. I haven't tried the heart rate monitor in the water. I may give it a try and see how that works.
I don't think I'm quite ready to just hit it and die in the surf although like Rooster, I can certainly think of worse ways to go. For now, I have too many projects to finish and too much crap cluttering up the place. I pity the poor soul who might have to deal with that!
I don't think I'm quite ready to just hit it and die in the surf although like Rooster, I can certainly think of worse ways to go. For now, I have too many projects to finish and too much crap cluttering up the place. I pity the poor soul who might have to deal with that!
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I believe Rooster said surf and then die, not the same LOL! Oh man, if cleaning up the clutter is a requirement, I may be stuck here for a long time!!
Mike----------------Granny can't surf! but you can come home and tell her about it. What you did, where, the board you rode. Don't imagine she's heard much of that "surf talk" over the years. She might dig it. Might put a distant twinkle in her eye.
A week spent surfing good waves (a couple times a day) while camping at Leo Carillo made me realize something-
The surf was really good, but Sequit has a really tight take off zone and at times it was pretty crowded. You had to be aggressive to get waves, everyone jostling for position next to the rock. I got some good waves but it was a bit stressful. I realized just how stressful when I would get back to the beach and find my daughter playing happily in the tidepools. I could palpably sense my mind switching from aggro to total relax. It made me realize that you could be happy without surfing.
Blasphemy?
Or, earlier this summer we were up in Cayucos. I was on the beach, the surf situation was the opposite of Sequit- pretty much flat. Around sunset an elderly lady (70?) walks down the beach in a wetsuit with a boogie board under her arm. She proceeds to spend an hour walking out 20-30 feet, turning around and catching little shore pounders and riding them straight up onto the beach. It reminded me of the thrill we used to get when we were 10 years old riding surf mats at Torrance Beach. Here I was, bumming out that there was NO surf, and this old lady demonstrates to me the old Don Redondo adage- “There’s surf out there, but you got to be a waterman to see them.” Maybe the definition of being a waterman changes as you age.
Then, I figured if I couldn’t surf I’d sail. Just steer the boat and recruit a bunch of twenty somethings to grind the winches. “Dropping in baby!”
Finally, to those who say they’d never want to live in a nursing home- my grandfather just passed away. He was 102 (and I hope I inherit his longevity genes). He was active and independent until 99. Played golf twice a week until he was 98. It was sad to put him in a home, but we’d go there and sit in the patio and he’d play with my daughter. Just rolling a ball across the table. Or bouncing around a balloon. I think my daughter will have good memories of him. I’d often think what I’d be doing if I was there. Watching surf movies I think. I just wish Jason Baffa would make a few more "One California Day"s. If you haven’t seen it, get it .
