Sometimes life gets in the way. Put up with me as I explain what I'm talking about.
I turned 70 last year and things seemed to go downhill. In June, I unexpectently passed out at home which resulted in a trip to the ER and a four day hospital stay. They poked and probed, but couldn't find anything wrong. I was discharged, but had to wear a heart monitor for 30 days. They also took me off one of my heart meds.
A couple weeks later I went in for a treadmill test. A few minutes into the test the RN administering the test said something was abnormally wrong, ripped the graph paper off the machine, and literally ran from the room in search of a doctor. I sent another several hours at the hospital but, again, they could find nothing wrong. They took me off another of my heart meds.
Over the next several months, I had three more trips to the ER, two by ambulance. Same results. Bottom line... I had been in the hospital four times. They had taken me off three of the heart medications I had been taking and they had reduced the fourth medication by 50%. I was feeling great without any additional episodes. I had lost another 15 pounds or so (168 now) and felt terrific. Yahoo!
The Yahoo was short lived. Last Friday morning I had just gotten out of the shower and was shaving. The next thing I remember I was walking into the bedroom holding the back of my head. I told TPO, "I think I fell". She looked at the blood stained pillow and lickedly-split, we're one the way back to the ER. Three staples, two cat scans, IV, took what seemed to be a gallon of blood, peeing into a plastic thing while lying down, etc, etc, etc. "Everything looks fine, but we are going to put you on another 30 day heart monitor."
A couple other things of note. I"ve recently had some skin cancers removed, two of which had to be cut out and biopsied. All is well, but I have to do a skin rinse on my head, face, hands and arms. TPO says the rinse is like a liquid chemo. It peels a couple layers of skin off. It makes you look like someone auditioning for the Living Dead. It takes about a month and I start this week. My biggest fear is that I'll be looking like Tom for a while.
Lastly, I was recently diagnosed with cataracts in both eyes. (I've have the surgery on both eyes and everything went fine. I should be re-examined for glasses sometime next week.). Of more concern was that during my initial examination for the cataracts I was told I have the very beginning's of macular degeneration in both eyes. I was told that there was no cure for macular degeneration and that the end result is blindness. I was also told that the progression of the disease was "extremely" slow. When asked what "extremely" meant I got a typical lawyer answer..."It depends".
So, for the above stated reasons, I will not be able to attend this year's "get together". I am in hopes, however, that all of you have a wonderful time at the event. For you first-timers, you will experience what an incredible company Do-It is and how much they appreciate your participation in the forum. You, individually and corporately, make a huge contribution to the continued success of the company. To you old timers, I have it on pretty good authority that the "sticky fingers" issue that has been overlooked in the past will not be overlooked again. In fact, they will have armed plainclothes mercenaries walking the isles. Forewarned is forearmed.
Have a great time.
