my third brush with death

[Redlined]

Last wednesday i got a dispatch from the union. I fueled the car and packed, thursday morning 5am I set out to my new job, painting a small footbridge in Hoodriver. After as little drama as can be expected I arrived at the job sight. introduced myself to the foreman and crew. a couple of which I new.

Being the new guy I got to walk the wire. the bride is your standard steel type with a deck connected to a semicircular arch, they string a pair of wire ropes from one end of the bridge to the other, one on each side. they run a reinforced plank(called a pic) bewteen the two cables to stand on. so I spent the first 5 hours of the day on this skinny plank trying to maintain my balance while hanging under beams trying to paint the outside edge of the bridge. all this is 95 degree weather in heavy protective gear. needles to say I was winded and sweating profusely.

we took lunch about noon, came back for rally about 12:45, I was back up on the wire. after about an hour my right shoulder started to cramp up and hurt. I talked with the other fellow on the wire and we discussed finishing the section we where in and then going down and working on the deck for the rest of the day to help the rest of the crew catch up with us. we talked to the boss about it and he veto'd it saying it wasnt that hot out and he wanted as much of the superstructure done ASAP. Being my first day I was trying to make an impression and tried to ironman it. after another 1/2 hour or so my arm became unworkable and I gave up. I climbed down and talked to the foreman. he reassigned me to the deck and took my place on the wire. within a few minutes my other shoulder started to cramp and my fingers started to tingle like they where asleep, I went and told the foreman, he expressed concern I might be having heat exhaustion and told me to go sit in the shade and drink some water. by the time I reached our laydown area My legs where getting weak and I couldnt use my fingers at all., even to open a bottle of water, After a few minutes the foreman came down and talked to me, he helped me strip out of my protective gear and poured water over me. we tried to walk down to the creek but my legs where to weak, at this point he made the call and took me to the hospital.

I slowly lost control of my motor functions, my last thoughs where of drawing in asmuch air as posibble since I could no longer get my chest to rise and fall.

Friday morning I woke up in a hospital room arms restrained in those neat-o velcro handcuffs you see in movies, a tube down my throat forcing air into my lungs and a catheter in my long johnson. As I slowly discovered over the next couple days, The docotor had gotten some tests back and my "Blood gases" where off the chart toxic. he hit the panic button and ordered me to a hospital in portland that had facilities better suited to treat me. at some point I stopped breathing.

Cut to hollywood style montage of needles and xrays and big humming machines.

When the smoke cleared I was diagnosed as having had an acute cerebellum stroke. I am highly cognizant but my control over the left half of my body is less than precise. I have been moved from ICU to a recovery center with tons of therapists and therapy toys. My recovery has been top notch and Ill likely be released to my own care with ongoing outpatient therapy monday. I am currently walking without aid (wheelchair, walker, cane) but my steps are short and unsmooth. I am looking at making some drastic lifestyle changes. mainly career and diet.

I am 42 years old. Take it from me kids. its time to start watching your diet. dont care how old you are. if momma isnt making your meals you need to start paying attention to what you put in your body. eat like a rabbit, not like a lion. MY Dietary restrictions will include alcohol (no more than 2 drinks in a given night EVER) Red meat (one portion the size of the palm of my hand in a given day) and anything deep fried ( like, none, ever). sound fun? no? get used to it now and avoid the rush.

Thank you all for letting me rant, this was mostly an exercise in finger coordination via typing and has taken me the majority of a day (between therapy sessions). well that and im feeling sorry for myself . Im an athiest raised in a luthran household. offered prayers are accepted but not exptected. Best of luck to you all!

[TBFK]

Well i'm glad to hear your doing better now. Was the stroke caused by the heat or your diet?

[Redlined]

Uncertain as to the actual cause. My brother in law is a doctor and is freaked by my blood gas toxicity for some reason. hes been on vacation so we havent had a ton of communication so Im not sure what all is going on there.

According to my doctor the artery in my neck was somehow injured, the inner linning ruptured and was pealed back by bloodflow that was increased by my elevated heartbeat. it then wadded up and peelback more until it completely blocked off one artery stopping bloodflow to one side of my brain.

Im waiting for my brother in law to get back from vacation and help me sort things out. My diet, however, was attrocious, and Im sure it contributed, though to what extent I dont know.

[AWD_addict]

Sounds like you're lucky to be alive, like a case on "House".

[evolutionmovement]

Shit, that's pretty rugged. Good thing you'll recover, at least.

The change in diet won't be so bad. I used to eat mostly meat and fried shit and way more hot dogs than anyone should ever eat, mostly down to money problems, but since I decided to try to be healthier and joined a CSA farm, I've been eating better and feeling better. After a while, I found my taste changed as well, and I now see greasy and fatty food as disgusting. I still hate a few vegetables, but I found a lot I do like and have learned to cook out of necessity (though I actually enjoy it sometimes). If only could find someone to clean up after, I would be all set.

[Legacy777]

Glad to hear you're doing alright. Overall, eating healthy should help improve things, even if that wasn't the direct cause. Smaller more frequent meals are also better, and not eating real late.

[kimokalihi]

Glad to hear you're ok, that would be scary to go through. Not eating meat as much shouldn't be all that hard. I dropped meat completely in March and haven't touched it since and I don't miss it. The hard part for me has been filling that chunk of my diet with good vegetables and not junk food and starches. I have more energy now and I feel more awake. It feels good. I'll never eat meat again. Like Steve said, after a while it starts to gross you out looking at it or smelling it or watching other people eat it.

The best thing I could recommend is buying all your food from an organic local grower or growing it yourself organically. Oh, and juicing! Not with a centrifugal juicer either (chops and spins the juice to the outside) because it doesn't get much nutrients from the fruits and vegetables you put in it. You want something like the Norwalk Juicer if you can afford it or the Champion as a cheaper less affective but still great juicer.

Juicing does wonders for your body. It will help your digestive system by not working it so hard. If you think about it, it's been working basically constantly without a break for over 40 years now. Juicing every day will let it recover some and it will clean you out some too. It's great in that you can drink SOO much more nutrients and vitamins and minerals than you could ever hope to consume via whole foods and that's assuming your body was in tip top shape and was processing those foods at 100% which you're more likely down around 10 percent or something as most americans are. Also juicing organic foods is the only way to really get organic water and you actually assimilate more water this way than drinking it by itself. Virtually no water you can buy or on toap getting is going to be organic but filtered through the organically grown plants, this is possible.

I could go on an on about health crap but I'll stop there. Hope you recover quickly and live a healthier life!

[Redlined]

thank you again everyone, your morale support is doing me a world of good. At my older sisters behest i have started drinking Odwalla carrot juice, and actually love it. I can see my own recovery progress from day to day and have been told by my therapysts that my recovery is amazing.

[evolutionmovement]

It's amazing how good carrot juice is. First time I heard about it, I thought it sounded absolutely horrible.

Another good thing to try if you like sour stuff is making kimchi/sauerkraut. The fermenting process actually makes it better for you than the fresh vegetables alone and you can jar it and store it for a long time. I do this so I have something to eat in the winter (I refuse to buy vegetables from a grocery store if I can help it). It's good in stir fry with a sweeter sauce to balance the sour of the fermented vegetables.

Maybe in a way this will be for the best. An ulcer was a big reason I started eating better and the greater energy and happier feeling I get keep me going with it. Probably live longer—actually live, not just being propped up by pharmaceuticals, too. My grandfather eats well and is 98, fought off cancer twice, and still gardens and takes care of himself (and some other people).

I have seen people recover from some serious things because they refused to accept being slowed down and have a healthy attitude. I'm sure you'll do the same and I wish you the best!

[Legacy777]

I don't necessarily think meat is bad for you in reasonable quantities, but not all grades of meat are equal, and what most people eat is the lower grade stuff. Burgers, hot dogs, processed crap.