First heart attack- spraying roundup on thistles

circa June 4, 1989

You are age 58.

You call me from the hospital in Sioux Falls.  You have been there a day or 2 already, didn't seem to see any urgency to call.

You explain what had happened:
The chest pain had been sufficiently bad that you couldn't recline.  You decided the solution was to sleep in the car (poor choice #1).  My mother joins you in the car (poor choice # 2).  Neither of you thinks to call me (poor choice # 3), your physician daughter, who could have made the diagnosis over the telephone.

Eventually you drive to a small rural hospital, 60 miles from home (poor choice # 4), presenting with chest pain. The EKG shows an anterior MI, but its 1989, and a student is covering the ED.  You are sent home.  It was the wrong thing to do.  He didn't know any better and he wasn't adequately supervised.  Plus, they don't know you in this small town, they don't have any investment in you, as they would have had you gone to your local hospital where people know and care about you.

The next day you spend the day slowly spraying thistles with Roundup (This may be significant in retrospect , 26 years later).  Its not a hard job, but its too much.

Eventually the system kicks in and the abnormal EKG is recognized and you are called back to the hospital.

First angioplasty.

I am watching Tiananmen square protests taking place on the TV in your hospital room.  I am very concerned, very upset, by the poor choices you made in getting to this point.You had at your fingertips resources that could have given a better outcome.  But you chose not to use them.

http://seniorfraud.blogspot.com/2015/02/your-right-to-poor-choices.html

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Does he have diabetes?

The answer was "no" at the time, but by today's criteria, he did have diabetes.

You also never bothered to followup with a cardiologist or primary care doctor, as a routine measure, following this event.

You knew better than any of us, you knew better than what the doctors advised.
Your high intake of supplements would save you.
You continue to order in bulk. The house is increasingly littered with bottles of unopened supplements, cans  of lecithin, brewers yeast, etc. The kitchen cupboards have bottles of stevia, cinnamon.

My mother changes your diet - virtually eliminating red meat.  You rely much more on what comes from the home garden.

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From then on you became much more emotional, tearing up with good byes.
Was a part of the brain lost already with that event?
Or were the tears a recognition and acknowledgment of your own mortality?

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I used to plead with you back then for proper medical care.  I pleaded with both you and Mom.  It was agonizing and frustrating.

Another part of the frustration was the way you preached to and pushed  others to participate in what YOU were taking or doing, as if you actually were in better shape or more wise  than everyone else.

http://seniorfraud.blogspot.com/2015/02/your-right-to-poor-choices.html