Bob - Garden is Life
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thread 1/10
This is a story. It's about me. I'm telling it in part because I'm still processing it. It's ultimately about how random life is. Who lives, who dies, and the stupid events that can make the difference. I'm alive now because I didn't take care of myself in my 40s. Weird, huh? A thread.
12:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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thread 2/10
I've had three heart attacks. The first is the one important to this story. After the heart attack I had a echocardiogram done. Using ultrasound to image the heart. They do this to figure out how much pumping capacity the heart lost due to the damage.
12:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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thread 3/10
The damage wasn't too bad, but the cardiologist said they discovered an ascending aortic aneurism of 4.6 cm. He said if it got to 5.0 we might have to take action. It didn't mean much to me at the time. I got an echo done every 6 months to watch it. After a couple years it reached 5.2cm.
12:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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I was sent to talk to the surgeon. I had a full detailed MRI done and he said the shape and location of it made it high risk and recommended surgery to repair it. It turns out they use a Dacron polyester tube to replace a portion of the aorta. No kidding. Those Dacron disco shirts from the 70s?
12:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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Same stuff. Turns out it's tough and long lasting and the body accepts it as native tissue right off. I had the surgery. Open heart of course. Some interesting complications, but that's for another oversharing post in the future. Surgery was successful. The pathology report on the aorta said
12:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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thread 6/10
the fibers were starting to separate. My cardiologist said a dissection would have been likely within a year. Dissection = blowout. An ascending aortic dissection has a 5% survival rate. It's what killed John Ritter. That was sobering. That's when I made the connection that my heart attack saved
12:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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thread 7/10
my life. No doubt about it. These aneurisms are congenital. They happen in fully healthy people. During the last World Cup a famous sportswriter, Grant Wahl, died from an aortic dissection. He took great care of himself. He ran marathons. He had no reason for anybody to be looking at his heart,
12:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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thread 8/10
so his went undetected before it killed him. My lucky streak wasn't done though. As prep for the heart surgery, it's standard to get an echo on the carotid arteries to make sure they're clear. During that they found nodules on my thyroid. I got a biopsy while still in the hospital from the heart
12:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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thread 9/10
surgery. Report was possible cancer. I had a thyroidectomy. Yup, cancer, but caught it early. Surgery to remove + a round of radioactive iodine.

To review: bad habits -> heart attack -> found aneurism -> fixed it -> found thyroid cancer -> fixed it. I'm one lucky MFer. I make a point of taking
12:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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thread 10/10
nothing for granted. Life is freaking random. We do our best and roll the dice every day. I do find more joy in little things. My gardening and plants are my refuge. I view all relationships as valuable commodities that do have expiration dates, we just don't know the details yet. Thanks for reading
12:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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HawkeyeKateBishop
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In response to Bob - Garden is Life.
That is something else.

We were lucky enough, in my family, to have a loving wife hound our brother into a doctor's office. They did surgery within 3 months during the height of Covid. The surgeon said he could literally see through the aorta.

A little flowering aloe for your mental garden.
01:16 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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In response to HawkeyeKateBishop.
Oh my gosh. That sounds like it was close. I love hearing about others who dodged this bullet.

Thank you for the flower pic. I don't think I've ever seen an aloe blossom.
01:21 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Radmantrev
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In response to Bob - Garden is Life.
This is remarkable. Congrats and may your good fortune continue. 👍
(And thanks for excellent simplified explanations ... Rather than medical mumbo-jumbo that I couldn't possibly follow. 🤪)
12:44 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Claudia Citro
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In response to Bob - Garden is Life.
@trebuchetguy
I’m glad you received the health care you needed. Your thread will likely convince a skeptic to get tests their physician has recommended. Good pay forward.
12:36 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bren
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In response to Bob - Garden is Life.
❤️
12:33 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Haruka (RELOCATED)
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In response to Bob - Garden is Life.
An aortic dissection killed my wife’s cousin while she was driving. I’m glad you’ve been fortunate in finding things out in advance.
12:23 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Bob - Garden is Life
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In response to Haruka (RELOCATED).
I'm sorry. It is an extremely unforgiving thing if it happens. I know how fortunate I am.
01:11 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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Becky A.
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In response to Bob - Garden is Life.
Thank you for sharing this.
12:17 PM - Jan 18, 2024
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