As I’ve already shared, I’m facing the very gnarly reality of open-heart surgery within the next few weeks – maybe sooner.
Here’s how I got here…
Towards the end of the pandemic, my Apple Watch notified me that my average resting heart rate had significantly dropped over the course of a few months, from the low seventies down to the mid-forties.
This surprised me.
I went to my GP about it, but he didn’t seem to think it was serious enough to investigate, so nothing was done. I noticed I was more tired than usual, but I’ve been seeing him for 25 years, so I trusted his judgement.
I may need to reconsider my primary care physician, but that’s for another time.
About a year and a half ago came “the event” as I’ve come to call it. I woke up to uncontrolled A-fib at 4am on a Thursday morning. It was serious enough to make me want to go to the hospital, which is unheard of. Thankfully, my Apple Watch let me know about this one and is the reason I went to the hospital.
You can read about that one on its own.
I endured the usual poking and prodding after: A stress test, EKGs, blood tests, and whatnot. Nothing bad was found. I will say that I’m lucky to have been referred to a really good cardiologist as part of it though.
Over the course of the last year and a half, I cleaned up my lifestyle, got on the right meds, and managed to shed nearly 60 pounds, putting me back at the weight I was when I met my wife 32 years ago. I felt better than ever and was happy to be fit again.
Then about a month ago came the night I woke up to chest pain. I thought it was a cramp from sleeping wrong. Then came the same pain when I exerted myself. This told me something wasn’t right. Before I could get in with my cardiologist, I had more A-fib events which I was able to capture on my watch.
I took the first appointment I could to see one of the other doctors in my cardiology group since my regular doctor was booked. She recommended a CTA, or computed tomography angiography. The results of the scan were concerning enough to warrant a full-on invasive angiogram a couple weeks later.
I had that procedure late last week. My wife and I hoped a couple of stents could be placed and I’d be right as rain again.
That wasn’t meant to be.
Instead, my cardiologist found I’m on the verge of a widow-maker heart attack with multiple blockages of 80% or more. Stents couldn’t fix this one.
Damn. That is some really serious shit right there…
That catches us up to today.
I have an appointment with a thoracic surgeon on Wednesday. I already know what’s going to come of it – open heart bypass surgery. The only thing I don’t know is how quickly it’s going to happen. It could be a couple of weeks, or it could be a couple of days.
I’ve got to get a lot of things in order quickly.
I’ve never faced anything remotely like this in my life. I’m kind of scared by it, and I’m still trying to grasp what’s about to happen. It’s going to be intense and life changing. But, I know I can pull through it, and I know it’s for God’s purpose.
If you’ve read this, I appreciate you taking the time. I’m usually pretty private about things like this, but I needed to get it written and published so the story can be continued later.
I also appreciate the great encouragement I’ve already received. Thanks to all of you (so many already) who have shared something. It means more than I can say.
I’m happy to share that a new mnml update is on the way. This release (v2.5.7) adds the following new features…
The ability to toggle a “Subscribe via RSS” link in the theme footer for those on Micro.one who don’t have the customizable footer option that Micro.blog does.
The ability to toggle a “read time” for posts with a title. This applies to any post with a title for the time being.
Given the recent turn of events, I’ve decided to accelerate killing off the single-user Mastodon instance I’ve been running apart from Micro.blog and federate from here. I feel good about it. It’s one less thing to worry about right now.
Really bad news from my cardiologist today. Five significant cardiac stenoses, which means open heart quintuple quadruple bypass surgery very soon. I’m in shock and it hasn’t sunk in yet. This is warning that it’s going to play out through my blog, so forgive me in advance and unfollow if you’d prefer to.
A much deserved — yet delayed — shout out to @Mtt (and by extension @sod) for proactively reaching out about a category related issue in mnml, which is now fixed. It’s collaboration like this that makes Micro.blog awesome.
I’m reconsidering my online presence, yet again. I hopped back on Bluesky not too long ago, and definitely think I don’t need it. I’m also debating the ROI of a Mastodon presence apart from Micro.blog. I’m not sure spending $72 a year is worth what I’m getting from it. 🤔
My new Logitech MX Master 3S arrived today. It’s more of a handful than what I’m used to, and it’s a little heavier, but I can see why people rave about it. I’m liking it so far.
A small mnml update on the way (v2.5.5) that adds Chinese (Traditional) localization – props to @bobbytung – and tweaks a couple styles that you won’t even notice.
Thanks to @manton, I’ve been able to lay claim to the much coveted short Micro.blog username of just @jim. So if you’ve known me by @jimmitchell, I’m even cooler than I was before. 😁
We’re about to go and try to pick up the RV for the second time. I’m really hoping for all the things to be fixed this time.🤞🏻
Well damn… Not very good news from the cardiologist today. Significant blockages and calcification found. The one good bit of news in it is we’ve caught it in time to do something about it. Paying the tax on all those cheeseburgers, I guess.
The feeling when you see the number of tasks in your task manager and realize you’ve been kicking too many tasks down the road lately. I’ve got a lot on my plate today for sure.
After receiving some glowing recommendations for the Logitech MX Master 3S For Mac online and getting a comprehensive review by email (thank you, @luxury_format), I dropped the cash for one. I’m hoping it lives up to the hype, y’all…
