So Friday morning my dad had a massive heart attack. He woke up with what he thought was heartburn, but nothing helped and he vomited. Being my dad, he went to work anyway, worked for about a half-hour at 1/10th the pace he normally does, then a customer came in and convinced him to go the ER (my dad was going to go an hour later when my brother came into work to relieve him). All in all, he was seen about five hours after the heart attack started.
Took them about an hour and a half to diagnose him in the ER because despite the fact that he was suffering from a massive heart attack his pulse and blood pressure were normal, good in fact. But they got an angiogram done then rushed him into surgery because he had two complete blockages in his right coronary. He said the minute the first stent was placed his pain went away and he felt better than he could remember.
In the recovery room, the doctor came by and said he was lucky that the back side of his heart is so healthy because it was doing most of the work, while tiny little vessels were doing the rest. He said my dad probably had another heart attack years ago because his left coronary artery is also completely blocked but it wasn't what caused the heart attack. They'll do an MRI tomorrow and if there's any living tissue left, they'll place a stent there in a few months.
What probably helped my dad a lot is that earlier this year he started eating better and exercising a ton. He dropped forty pounds already this year and was biking miles and miles nearly every day. Unfortunately, he had years of bad eating habits and smoking going against him. The therapist said he's recovering remarkably fast considering how bad the attack was. He's going to quit smoking, and despite the fact every time he's tried, he's failed, I'm confident he'll do it this time because he's scared shitless right now. He really wants to see his new grandbaby and see all of them grow up. The diet will be the tough part, especially with nobody at home to motivate him. He'll be on a 2 liter fluid restriction for a while, too.
I feel okay now because the outlook looks good, but I was so close to my life turning upside down for a few hours. My dad's a rock. He's never supposed to look or feel helpless. I still go to him for advice all the time and someone to talk to when I'm feeling down. Besides my wife, he's my best friend. Hug em if you got em, right?
To end on a lighter note...
Right after the surgeon talked about the insertion site by my dad's groin, my dad was thinking of the things he'd need us to do for him over the next few days. He turns to my brother (who lives a block away) and says, "You'll need to feed my pussy." Without a beat, Ryan says, "What else did the surgeon do down there?"
Uh... yikes. Best wishes for your dad. Glad he went in, glad they're fixing him, still scary stuff.
I hadn't heard much since Ryan let me know a few hours after it happened, so I've pretty much been thinking of you guys nonstop. I'm relieved to hear that things are looking up.
Good luck, Beau. I'm glad things are looking okay.
Good to hear your dad is doing okay, Beau. Best wishes for a quick recovery.
Glad to hear he went in and got it addressed. Best of luck on recovery/rehab.
best wishes to the beaumily. glad to hear everyone's doing better.
Ryan does have a delicious sense of humor. Good luck, Beau - hopefully the recovery will go smoothly and he'll get to spend many, many years with the grandbaby.
dido everyone else here, and respect to your brother for being quick on the draw in a tough situation. It will be the stuff of family legend.
Here's to a short and full recovery.
Glad to hear he's doing we'll, all things considered. I'll echo the others round here and say best wishes on a quick recovery.
My best to your family.
thanks everyone. He's doing even better today. Here's hoping.
I just saw this now, and want to add my good wishes. Your dad is in our prayers.
I also just saw this. My old man had a massive heart attack in his 50s that led to a quadruple bypass. He's still going strong into his mid 60s. Best of luck to your family, beau.
From the Strib: "Twins fan takes one on the chin"...really gotta watch that assumption of the risk stuff (liability discussions still make my head spin).
My lay interpretation is that the club is completely right that they bear no legal liability. But a visit to the hospital from a few players and team officials after her surgery probably could have made a huge difference to her, even if it did not address the monetary losses.
I pretty much agree with you here, and I sympathize with the medical bills thing. (Although she's got it pretty good if a trip to the emergency room and a couple jaw surgeries only cost her $1500.) But, I can't help but feel she's being a bit dramatic and unfair to the Twins a bit. For one, while only the very expensive seats have netting, there a thousands of much safer seats that cost much less all over the stadium where you'd really have to not be paying attention to sustain that severe an injury.
Perhaps. But, then again, she had her jaw wired shut and may never be the same again. There is room between paying for her medical bills and completely ignoring her if for no other reason than to avoid having an article like this end up in the most read newspaper in the state.
If Michael K. Steenson says that the club bears no responsibility, you can take that to the bank. That man lives for Torts Law.
If I recall, the young girl who was killed at a pro hockey game about 15 years back...her family successfully sued. But that may be the netting rule.
That happened before it was required to have netting. Her death resulted in the nets being put up
Hockey has had plexiglass above the boards for decades. Why would netting be required?
(not that it would be a bad idea -- no one should have to risk his/her life to go to a hockey game)
sometimes, an arrant shot or deflected puck will fly over the glass
I know that. I was drawing an analogy to the baseball rule. I would have thought that plexiglass above the boards would have satisfied the rule. SOME seats are protected.
I can tell you we get around 3-5 pucks out of the netting around our rink every day. And a lot of our ice time is either youth hockey (who can't get the puck going that fast), open public skate, or figure skaters.
Oh, lord. It's not getting easier in KC for a while:
Belcher shot himself in front of Pioli and Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel in the parking lot at the team's practice facility outside of Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday morning, according to police. About an hour earlier, police said, Belcher allegedly killed his girlfriend at a residence in nearby Independence, Mo. Police identified the victim as 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins, the mother of Belcher's infant daughter.
Yeah, I read that awful story last night. This one seemed to hit everyone he knew as a shock...hard to say how this originated (and unfortunately, we won't be getting any more answers).
Yeah. I'm disappointed, but not surprised, that the game is still being played today.
at the same time, i'm sure more than a couple players are happy to have something to take their minds off recent events.
Over and above all of the emotional wreckage in here, one hopes that the daughter has her financial interests taken care of. She deserves at least that, but I would imagine that there will be other parties competing for those resources.
sounds like the Chiefs players/org is setting a fund to make sure the kid is financially taken care of.
For the artistas in our midst (I was led to this by an article in The Economist on Makoto Aida.
woah.
seconded...
Not to pour salt in an open wound, but it appears that 30,000 of Clint Eastwood's closest friends attended the B1G title game. I didn't see the SEC title game, and it was being played in the home state of the East champs, but I would have to believe that things were a little different there. But hey! I heard last night that GA Tech is interested in joining up, which makes a lot of sense, if they can bring Fla State, too.
its stupid for the Big Ten to play their games in Indianapolis.
But they want climate control instead of sold tickets and stadium atmosphere.
Rick Majerus is dead at 64. It's not surprising, I guess, especially since he'd been hospitalized for a long time. Something I didn't know: he gave Glenn Rivers his nickname.
They just ran an article about him here in StL not long ago. I hadn't realized he was that ill before reading it.
When he was brought in to SLU to coach, he pushed out former neighbor Brad Soderberg, although it wasn't Majerus' fault as much as it was a BIG contribution from an alumnus that forced the change. Majerus was a class act while he was here.
fun coach who will be missed.
Someone should probably tell Les Frazier that Ponder is kinda stinking up Lambeau Field right now.
I'm not sure how much of this is the fact that he doesn't have anyone to throw the ball to, but he looks just terrible out there.
there is that, but the two interceptions were brutal
so you're saying he DID have someone to throw the ball to
Morgan Burnett has 2 receptions. He plays for the Packers.
He also plays for my fantasy team...
I haven't watched much Vikings football this year, but Ponder looked like he had no zip on the ball at all. Every pass he threw just kind of floated out there. I wonder if he (or the team) could be hiding an injury.
From my twitter feed:
I'll look back at the opportunities I missed that could have helped us win the game
• The Twins have been in contact with representatives for nearly every free agent starting pitcher on the market. One name to keep an eye on is left-hander John Lannan, who was non-tendered by the Washington Nationals last week. According to league sources, Lannan, 28, has generated interest from several teams, including the Twins. Lannan owns a 4.01 career ERA in 783 2/3 innings in the National League, striking out a Nick Blackburn-esque 4.7 batters per nine innings while walking 3.4 per nine. But he has maintained one of the best groundball rates of any pitcher over that span.
FEEL THE EXCITMENT
Any time you have the chance to sign a left-handed clone of Nic_ Blac_burn, you gotta do it! Lock him up for 5 years!
You can't teach left handed!
Actually, I would say Lannan is a lot closer to Diamond than Blackburn. Blackburn is "supposed" to be a groundball pitcher, but he's not nearly as groundball heavy as Diamond and Lannan. All three have low K rates, but Blackburn's has been getting worse of late. Lannan's K rate last year was the same as his career rate. The biggest difference in peripherals was Diamond has a very low BB rate, while Lannan is just average. And being left-handed is a factor, as the pitchers who do best at getting away with low K rates are left-handed. Lannan doesn't have the preferred low walk rate, but he does keep the ball on the ground. Plus, Lannan and Blackburn have about 800 career innings with Lannan having a 103 ERA+ and Blackburn with an 86. Lannan is also just entering his age 28 season and pitchers of his type tend to age pretty well (such as Moyer and Chen).
I guess the Twins could do worse than having two lefties who get a lot of groundballs in the rotation. And that 103+ ERA does look pretty nice. I'll blame Mackey for mentioning Blackburn in the article for my knee-jerk reaction. And I'll blame Blackburn for not being very good.
I still want Ryan to sign someone who can strike out 7-8 people per start, but given that the Twins need probably 3 starters, Lannan definitely wouldn't be a crap signing like some we've seen in the past.
And if by some chance he would fail as a starter, he can start his long, meandering second career as a successful waiver-available LOOGY.
As always, it depends on what they'd have to pay and for how long. Basically, what the Twins would be hoping for out of Lannan is that he could be someone who can resemble a major league starter for a couple of years, someone to get them by until the young pitchers are ready to do what the Twins are hoping they'll do. If Lannan could be signed to a reasonable contract, there's a decent chance he could do that.
Yeah, I was thinking. Great if it's a minor-league signing, horrible if it's 5 years, all guaranteed.
But I expect it to be closer to five years, so I'm looking for the silver LOOGY in that choice.
So Friday morning my dad had a massive heart attack. He woke up with what he thought was heartburn, but nothing helped and he vomited. Being my dad, he went to work anyway, worked for about a half-hour at 1/10th the pace he normally does, then a customer came in and convinced him to go the ER (my dad was going to go an hour later when my brother came into work to relieve him). All in all, he was seen about five hours after the heart attack started.
Took them about an hour and a half to diagnose him in the ER because despite the fact that he was suffering from a massive heart attack his pulse and blood pressure were normal, good in fact. But they got an angiogram done then rushed him into surgery because he had two complete blockages in his right coronary. He said the minute the first stent was placed his pain went away and he felt better than he could remember.
In the recovery room, the doctor came by and said he was lucky that the back side of his heart is so healthy because it was doing most of the work, while tiny little vessels were doing the rest. He said my dad probably had another heart attack years ago because his left coronary artery is also completely blocked but it wasn't what caused the heart attack. They'll do an MRI tomorrow and if there's any living tissue left, they'll place a stent there in a few months.
What probably helped my dad a lot is that earlier this year he started eating better and exercising a ton. He dropped forty pounds already this year and was biking miles and miles nearly every day. Unfortunately, he had years of bad eating habits and smoking going against him. The therapist said he's recovering remarkably fast considering how bad the attack was. He's going to quit smoking, and despite the fact every time he's tried, he's failed, I'm confident he'll do it this time because he's scared shitless right now. He really wants to see his new grandbaby and see all of them grow up. The diet will be the tough part, especially with nobody at home to motivate him. He'll be on a 2 liter fluid restriction for a while, too.
I feel okay now because the outlook looks good, but I was so close to my life turning upside down for a few hours. My dad's a rock. He's never supposed to look or feel helpless. I still go to him for advice all the time and someone to talk to when I'm feeling down. Besides my wife, he's my best friend. Hug em if you got em, right?
To end on a lighter note...
Right after the surgeon talked about the insertion site by my dad's groin, my dad was thinking of the things he'd need us to do for him over the next few days. He turns to my brother (who lives a block away) and says, "You'll need to feed my pussy." Without a beat, Ryan says, "What else did the surgeon do down there?"
Uh... yikes. Best wishes for your dad. Glad he went in, glad they're fixing him, still scary stuff.
I hadn't heard much since Ryan let me know a few hours after it happened, so I've pretty much been thinking of you guys nonstop. I'm relieved to hear that things are looking up.
Good luck, Beau. I'm glad things are looking okay.
Good to hear your dad is doing okay, Beau. Best wishes for a quick recovery.
Glad to hear he went in and got it addressed. Best of luck on recovery/rehab.
best wishes to the beaumily. glad to hear everyone's doing better.
Ryan does have a delicious sense of humor. Good luck, Beau - hopefully the recovery will go smoothly and he'll get to spend many, many years with the grandbaby.
dido everyone else here, and respect to your brother for being quick on the draw in a tough situation. It will be the stuff of family legend.
Here's to a short and full recovery.
Glad to hear he's doing we'll, all things considered. I'll echo the others round here and say best wishes on a quick recovery.
My best to your family.
thanks everyone. He's doing even better today. Here's hoping.
I just saw this now, and want to add my good wishes. Your dad is in our prayers.
I also just saw this. My old man had a massive heart attack in his 50s that led to a quadruple bypass. He's still going strong into his mid 60s. Best of luck to your family, beau.
From the Strib: "Twins fan takes one on the chin"...really gotta watch that assumption of the risk stuff (liability discussions still make my head spin).
My lay interpretation is that the club is completely right that they bear no legal liability. But a visit to the hospital from a few players and team officials after her surgery probably could have made a huge difference to her, even if it did not address the monetary losses.
I pretty much agree with you here, and I sympathize with the medical bills thing. (Although she's got it pretty good if a trip to the emergency room and a couple jaw surgeries only cost her $1500.) But, I can't help but feel she's being a bit dramatic and unfair to the Twins a bit. For one, while only the very expensive seats have netting, there a thousands of much safer seats that cost much less all over the stadium where you'd really have to not be paying attention to sustain that severe an injury.
Perhaps. But, then again, she had her jaw wired shut and may never be the same again. There is room between paying for her medical bills and completely ignoring her if for no other reason than to avoid having an article like this end up in the most read newspaper in the state.
If Michael K. Steenson says that the club bears no responsibility, you can take that to the bank. That man lives for Torts Law.
If I recall, the young girl who was killed at a pro hockey game about 15 years back...her family successfully sued. But that may be the netting rule.
That happened before it was required to have netting. Her death resulted in the nets being put up
Hockey has had plexiglass above the boards for decades. Why would netting be required?
(not that it would be a bad idea -- no one should have to risk his/her life to go to a hockey game)
sometimes, an arrant shot or deflected puck will fly over the glass
I know that. I was drawing an analogy to the baseball rule. I would have thought that plexiglass above the boards would have satisfied the rule. SOME seats are protected.
I can tell you we get around 3-5 pucks out of the netting around our rink every day. And a lot of our ice time is either youth hockey (who can't get the puck going that fast), open public skate, or figure skaters.
Oh, lord. It's not getting easier in KC for a while:
Yeah, I read that awful story last night. This one seemed to hit everyone he knew as a shock...hard to say how this originated (and unfortunately, we won't be getting any more answers).
Yeah. I'm disappointed, but not surprised, that the game is still being played today.
at the same time, i'm sure more than a couple players are happy to have something to take their minds off recent events.
Over and above all of the emotional wreckage in here, one hopes that the daughter has her financial interests taken care of. She deserves at least that, but I would imagine that there will be other parties competing for those resources.
sounds like the Chiefs players/org is setting a fund to make sure the kid is financially taken care of.
For the artistas in our midst (I was led to this by an article in The Economist on Makoto Aida.
woah.
seconded...
Not to pour salt in an open wound, but it appears that 30,000 of Clint Eastwood's closest friends attended the B1G title game. I didn't see the SEC title game, and it was being played in the home state of the East champs, but I would have to believe that things were a little different there. But hey! I heard last night that GA Tech is interested in joining up, which makes a lot of sense, if they can bring Fla State, too.
its stupid for the Big Ten to play their games in Indianapolis.
But they want climate control instead of sold tickets and stadium atmosphere.
Rick Majerus is dead at 64. It's not surprising, I guess, especially since he'd been hospitalized for a long time. Something I didn't know: he gave Glenn Rivers his nickname.
They just ran an article about him here in StL not long ago. I hadn't realized he was that ill before reading it.
When he was brought in to SLU to coach, he pushed out former neighbor Brad Soderberg, although it wasn't Majerus' fault as much as it was a BIG contribution from an alumnus that forced the change. Majerus was a class act while he was here.
fun coach who will be missed.
Someone should probably tell Les Frazier that Ponder is kinda stinking up Lambeau Field right now.
I'm not sure how much of this is the fact that he doesn't have anyone to throw the ball to, but he looks just terrible out there.
there is that, but the two interceptions were brutal
so you're saying he DID have someone to throw the ball to
Morgan Burnett has 2 receptions. He plays for the Packers.
He also plays for my fantasy team...
I haven't watched much Vikings football this year, but Ponder looked like he had no zip on the ball at all. Every pass he threw just kind of floated out there. I wonder if he (or the team) could be hiding an injury.
From my twitter feed:
Who said it?
can he throw the ball?
not Denny Green
on the Twins radar: John Lannan
FEEL THE EXCITMENT
Any time you have the chance to sign a left-handed clone of Nic_ Blac_burn, you gotta do it! Lock him up for 5 years!
You can't teach left handed!
Actually, I would say Lannan is a lot closer to Diamond than Blackburn. Blackburn is "supposed" to be a groundball pitcher, but he's not nearly as groundball heavy as Diamond and Lannan. All three have low K rates, but Blackburn's has been getting worse of late. Lannan's K rate last year was the same as his career rate. The biggest difference in peripherals was Diamond has a very low BB rate, while Lannan is just average. And being left-handed is a factor, as the pitchers who do best at getting away with low K rates are left-handed. Lannan doesn't have the preferred low walk rate, but he does keep the ball on the ground. Plus, Lannan and Blackburn have about 800 career innings with Lannan having a 103 ERA+ and Blackburn with an 86. Lannan is also just entering his age 28 season and pitchers of his type tend to age pretty well (such as Moyer and Chen).
I guess the Twins could do worse than having two lefties who get a lot of groundballs in the rotation. And that 103+ ERA does look pretty nice. I'll blame Mackey for mentioning Blackburn in the article for my knee-jerk reaction. And I'll blame Blackburn for not being very good.
I still want Ryan to sign someone who can strike out 7-8 people per start, but given that the Twins need probably 3 starters, Lannan definitely wouldn't be a crap signing like some we've seen in the past.
And if by some chance he would fail as a starter, he can start his long, meandering second career as a successful waiver-available LOOGY.
As always, it depends on what they'd have to pay and for how long. Basically, what the Twins would be hoping for out of Lannan is that he could be someone who can resemble a major league starter for a couple of years, someone to get them by until the young pitchers are ready to do what the Twins are hoping they'll do. If Lannan could be signed to a reasonable contract, there's a decent chance he could do that.
Yeah, I was thinking. Great if it's a minor-league signing, horrible if it's 5 years, all guaranteed.
But I expect it to be closer to five years, so I'm looking for the silver LOOGY in that choice.