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Post by Pumpkin on Jun 18, 2009 19:29:06 GMT -5
Hey aido179, I appreciate that a lot.  If your brother could make it back to playing rugby, well that's quite a recovery! There is always hope. I doubt I will ever be in rugby shape again, but I can set my sights a bit higher than the living room couch and tv remote, that's for sure.  I bought an elliptical rotary machine before we moved to VA. The idiot movers lost the power cord for it.  If I can't find it, I will order a new one from the manufacturer and bill the idiot moving company for it. Anyway, I was making pretty good progress---about 25 minutes every other day at a turtle's pace, but hey, it was exercise. I had to stop several times to catch my breath, but I could at least stick with it on an easy pace. Rain.....I see the drought is intensifying in Texas. Damn, the forecast this time of year in San Antonio seems to always be Hi: 98, Low: 75, abundant sunshine....Sound nice until it's that way for months on end. I'd have liked a storm to have washed up a coconut like Mahnarch said. ;D |
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Post by Beangirl on Jun 18, 2009 22:08:20 GMT -5
It's interesting how different climates are. It seems that the Western United States at least the southwestern United States doesn't get a ton of rain. I guess that's why most of West Texas, Arizona and South California there's less grass and more of a rock hard ground too. Maybe that's not true but that's the impression I get. Yes, We don't get much rain here . Our climate is like the Desert . Very dry. We USED to have lots of rain in the Winter.Not very recent since The Pacific has gotten warmer. We are pretty much The Concrete Jungle here in Los Angeles. I have been in the South (Arkansas) . The lush green land just takes my breath away. We don't have any woods here. All our Forrests are National and protected. Pumpkin? Our State debt is about 1.9 billion.  |
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Post by Pumpkin on Jun 20, 2009 13:39:25 GMT -5
A debt of 1.9 billion? That's all?  I remember when I lived in Minnesota for 42 years, it seemed like that was a normal budget shortfall....Well, not that bad, but it always seemed like it. Just raise taxes......  and cut public services. |
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Kimm
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Post by Kimm on Jun 20, 2009 14:28:59 GMT -5
Even with Jesse Ventura as Governor? He claimed an independent resolves these woes. That Republicans make budget cuts and Democrats increase taxes but an independent needs to make the difference. I wonder about that sometimes how it was felt about his policy but I don't know anybody other than you from Minnesota and I don't think we ever mentioned this before in this exact content. So Pumpkin as a former Minnesota resident how do you feel Ventura did as Governor? He did not seek reelection and that's unusual even for believers in term limits most people believe that at least 2 terms is fair.
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Post by Pumpkin on Jun 26, 2009 16:15:45 GMT -5
I voted for Jesse for Gov. in November of 1998, then I moved out of state in January of that year, right after he took office. So I kind of was an outside observer from next door---North Dakota during his administration. My sister in law still has not forgiven me for voting for him. ;D From what I could tell, he stuck to his principles, but he had little support on either side of the aisle. He had a hard time getting his agenda through the legislature. And he got into a lot of squabbles with the powers that be in both parties and took exception to the state media coverage of his family, especially that of his son. He decided not to run for another term due to political and personal issues. He was not shy about speaking his mind, that's for sure. He described himself as a "social liberal and a fiscal conservative" who railed against "career politicians". I think in the end, he leaned more towards the Democrats. I think he did a pretty fair job as the Gov. It was just going to be hard to govern with BOTH parties opposed to you and your policies. I think the budget deficit was large again by the end of his term, and there is blame to go around to everyone for that. I love MN, and it will always be "home", but it's a tax and spend state---we affectionately refer to it as the "Land of 10,000 Taxes" instead of the license plate saying of "Land of 10,000 Lakes." A fiscal conservative just wasn't going to work out there as Governor. There are too many spending machines and programs in place. Jesse went to the same community college I went to in the fall of 1975. I didn't know him, and he left shortly after to start his wrestling career as "Jesse the Body". I sure loved him as a wrestling heel and later on as an announcer. He was good on a local sports talk radio show the year before he ran for Governor. Whew! That was fun listening! ;D |
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Kimm
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Post by Kimm on Jun 26, 2009 18:48:21 GMT -5
I like Phils imitations of Jesse I think he has Ventura down pat. ;D
I think Pumpkins point is a very good one and most people forget about it. Being an independent in the executive office there would be a lot of political stalemate. When the ruling party has half or almost half of the congress in power theres only a few votes to try to swing.
It might actually be harder for an independent for those reasons. Instead of a house divided in 2 its divided in 3. I never really thought about that but Pumpkin beings up a great observation.
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Post by Pumpkin on Jul 2, 2009 14:30:48 GMT -5
Okay, now I am beginning to feel like my life is like one of those old country songs, you know, "my dawg died, the crop failed,'ya picked a fine time to leave me Lucille'" kind of stuff. Now the Docs feel I may have some narrowed or clogged coronary arteries after all. That may also explain the congestive heart failure---I might have some dead heart tissue or tissue that's not getting enough blood from previous heart attacks....Well, if I understand correctly.  Sadly, it kind of makes sense as an explanation for my problems.  I could also have the heart failure separate from the clogged arteries. I don't know......I'm 3 weeks shy of my 52nd birthday. My Dad died at 40 from heart disease, so at least I have had 12 years extra, but I'd like a lot more. I'm just not sure it's gonna happen. Everyone knows they will die some day. We all have that shadow. Mine just seems to be looking over my shoulder lately. |
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Post by Blix on Jul 2, 2009 17:22:06 GMT -5
Lewasite is full of threads about dying these days. :s What the hell is going on?!?
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Post by Demona on Jul 2, 2009 18:30:26 GMT -5
Lewasite is full of threads about dying these days. :s What the hell is going on?!? Don't rightly know. Pumpkin I have a feeling is being honest here though. |
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Post by Blastgirl on Jul 2, 2009 23:52:57 GMT -5
As always Pumpkin you can count on Classic and I to pray for your healing.
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Post by Pumpkin on Dec 26, 2009 18:38:28 GMT -5
I have been without a computer for a while, so I've been absent from the forum.
Well, several doctors and months later, I finally found an expert on the heart condition I have. It's called hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HOCM). It's not congestive heart failure, although it does cause heart failure sypmtoms to be sure. This is a cardiac muscle disorder of the genetic kind. So I was born with it.
It looks like open heart surgery is just around the corner as is the placement of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) device.
That's what I have been up to the last few months. Oh, the Mrs. and I did celebrate our 30th back in October. ;D
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Post by Phil on Dec 26, 2009 19:31:22 GMT -5
I have been without a computer for a while, so I've been absent from the forum. It's funny how we all get. I went 25 years without a cell phone, 29 years without internet access, and I can't imagine having to manage without those 2 things for a time. Oh I know I could if I really had to but even though I was married with a kid on the way when I got my 1st cell phone, and I was almost 30 when I got internet I have become painfully depending on both things. I hope you had a merry Christmas Pumpkin. |
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Post by Classicblast on Dec 27, 2009 2:31:57 GMT -5
I'm glad you're back on the boards Pumpkin. I will echo Phil and say I hope you had a very Merry Christmas.
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Post by Jason O'Lewa on Dec 27, 2009 12:01:21 GMT -5
welcome back
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Post by Pumpkin on Dec 27, 2009 15:39:05 GMT -5
It was a pretty good Christmas. We just had a quiet day together, me and the Mrs. We didn't have any company this year.
The only fly in the oinment for us is that I am looking at having an implantable cardioverter defrillator (ICD) device implanted in a few weeks. You have to be put under general anesthesia so they can stop and start your heart to test the device. Any time I hear "heart" and "stop" in the same sentence, I get a bit uneasy.
It turns out that the cardiac symptoms I have been having are due to hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, an inherited and progressive muscle disease of the heart. That's what's giving me my heart failure symptoms.
We are trying optimal medical treatments, but they aren't working well so far. I most likely am looking at open heart surgery sometime this spring to remove some of the obstruction and give me symptom relief.
Without successful medical treatment or surgery, my heart will deteriorate and shorten my life considerably. Some folks with this disease need heart transplants---I'm trying to avoid going there.
Well, the silver lining to all of this is that Mrs. Pumpkin and I celebrated our 30th back in October. She told me that she doubted we'd ever have 30 years together based on my family heart history.
I heard a song on the radio, an "oldie" that had the refrain "ain't no woman like the one got"....I'd have to agree with song in regards to my wife. ;D
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Post by Phil on Dec 27, 2009 17:45:08 GMT -5
Congratulations on 30 years Pumkin. We will pray for the success of the procedure that you must have to make your life healtheir.
That Four Tops song is a good choice for the occasion.
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Post by Mahnarch on Dec 27, 2009 21:50:29 GMT -5
Whoa. An ICD is big business, Pumpkin.
I hope all goes well for you.
My mum's friend just went through 'Sleep Apnea' testing and the doctors found out that his heart was stopping every 15 minutes after he went into Alpha.
That explains why he was/is always coughing and chocking every few minutes when he sleeps.
They thought at first it was Sleep Apnea but, I guess, it has something to do with is cardiovascular system - maybe similar to yours(?)
Congrats on the longevity with the fabulous Mrs. Pumpkin - and I ask again: Does she know of Lewasite and how to log in..... just in case?
[With the recent Britney Murphy thing, I've set ALL my affairs to paper (aside from bank account, savings, CDs, MMAs IRAs, 401k, etc), including Lewasite, Youtube, SomethingAweful, etc.
Usernames and passwords; with instructions to tell everyone what happened and who gets what account in order to add a final post/video]
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Post by Pumpkin on Dec 28, 2009 13:46:16 GMT -5
Yep, I will definitely give her my login info. Hopefully she won't need it for bad news.....
They looked at sleep apnea for me too. I came out okay on that, but I have some trouble falling asleep and waking gasping for breath. That's the heart failure portion of the enlarged heart.
Heart stopping while in alpha sleep....I don't know, maybe she gets into a ventricular arrhrthmia---which can be damn serious. I hope they can get to the bottom of this for her.
Speaking of getting to the bottom of things---I finally had to go to the top to get a right diagnosis. I always thought cardiology was a specialty. Well, there are specialities within cardiology---I had to find one with expertise in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).
I went through quite a few cardiologists over the years and my symptoms got worse the last 20 years. The last one I saw before the specialist looked at my echocardiogram and said "has anyone ever talked to you about hypertrophic cardiomyopathy? It's all there for God's sakes."
Well, he was right about the cardiomyopathy, but wrong like everyone else about the meds. It turns out that the blood pressure meds I have been on for 25 years were provoking the obstruction in my heart.
Well, I'm getting Cadillac care now. ;D
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