I Died........and Lived To Tell About It

[the fisherman]

That's right boys, I guess 13 days ago, I was working in Eureka on some new crab gear, at 2:15 pm. I had a catagory 5 heart attack. I could'nt decide if I wanted to say anything about this or not. Well, I decided it's worth mentioning, because for two or three months I ignored all the warnings you could have,shortness of breath, severe pain in my neck,and some chest pain.I passed off the pain in my neck as a pinched nerve,which I have a lot of, but the rest of this s%$t I just ignored. I am very lucky this didn't happen at my house, because I would for sure be dead, too far from the kind of help I needed. I am told that I went into cardiac arrest twice on the way to the hospital. Every body who had a hand in saving me did exactaly what they were supposed to do, and thanks to them I can tell you this story. I am not having an easy time recovering from this, and this probably didn't have to happen if I would have used my head. So, what i'm trying to say is don't ignore something like this, the price you can pay is very high, as i'm finding out.I know my life has probably changed forever, and some of it i'm not going to like. TT ,no i'm not pissed off, Herr ,don't give up,I will send the fish, Dirty Dog I will post puppy pics. and tell the puppy story, which is turning out pretty sad. But i've been hit by a speeding train, it'll take me a while to shake this one off. Save the get well cards, I'm already tired of hearing about it. I'm just glad to be here, I have a positive attitude about all this, so I figure I'll be OK. Pvstoy, don't post anymore pics. of Salmon that are that ugly......Jees

 

[pvstoy]

Stay on the mend

Holy Crap!

Thanks for the reminder about paying attention to the warning signs. I too would have shaken it off and made excuses as to why. Just hope I can do the right thing when the time comes. Too much to live for.

Yes it was a UGLY dead fish……sorry. 20 pound test in a drift boat, now that would be fun……

 

[Sam]

Glad to hear you are ok and have a positive outlook. I work in EMS and as you know you are very, very lucky. Most don't survive. You must have been in the right place with the right people at the right time. Thanks for giving others a heads up on the symptoms and to not ignore them.

Stay Healthy!

 

[chnlisle]

Geeze Salty, Please take care of yourself I need someone to annoy me.

 

[the fisherman]

Fear Not Mr. Pueblo

There's still enough left to get that job done, in fact it looks like i'm going to have a lot of free time on my hands, so ready up!

 

[HERR42]

a very close friend suffered a stroke last year.
i was shocked by the impact...it took him many months to get back to 90%.

but the main thing is that he did.....you will too.

maybe youve been EATING TOO MUCH FISH?

i assume your doc has imposed some changes on your lifestyle? are you planning on being cooperative?

 

[DLN]

Great to still have you with us, your story gives me chills just reading it. Thanks for the heads up and hope for a speedy recovery.

 

[DirtyDog]

Wow fisherman, sorry to hear that! I wondered where you were off to..... I hope you have a speedy and full recovery!

 

[Puffins]

Speedy recovery Brother

 

[craig333]

Dont ignore the warning signs. I used to be an emt. One night I thought I was having a heart attack. Almost dialed 911, didn't, probably should have but I ran through the symptoms in my head. Wasn't quite right. Saw my doc the next day and had an ekg. Was picture perfect. To really put my mind at ease I had a heart scan done. Looked good. Funny but as soon as I realized i wasnt going to die (immediately) I didnt have any more chest pains. I'm not a hypochondriac by any means but it was funny how once I started to think I had something it just snowballed.

So, theres kind of two morals to that story. If you think you have something get it checked out. If you dont you may not be around to worry about it.

Sure glad it worked out for ya.

 

[John D]

I saw your first post in this thread. I agree. Those get well cards are for sissies. Heart attacks are just weakness leaving the body. Weakness ought to be all gone now. Your body should be real strong. Truth is, you are lucky, and I would rather be lucky than good at following all the rules.

Fisherman, I think I saw some of those salmon in a stream in Alaska that looked real sluggish. I saw people catching them and it looked easy. I guess the fish were dying after coming up the little creeks? Are those dying salmon any good to eat? Do they taste rotten?

 

[Ted]

eating spawning salmon

John,

Not sure what the Fisherman's take will be on that. Generally I would say any chance to eat fresh salmon is a good thing. But I think the best thing you can do with a spawning salmon is smoke it, then throw away the salmon and eat the smoker.

 

[the fisherman]

Cardboard Would Be Better

A spwaning Salmon usually has to travel long distances to spwan, in the process they use up almost all their body fat doing so, that accounts for the almost white flesh you will see in a spwaned out fish. They make great fertilizer, or maybe cat food, but for me I'll take a fresh ocean caught fish, if they ever let us catch another one.

 

[EdoHart]

Wow! Glad you can tell us.

Let me add my prayer that you have a healthful recovery.

Although you were undoubtedly unconsciousness, maybe someone has told you what the first responders did. Did someone perform Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) or use an Automatic External Defibrillators (AED) to aid in your survival? I only ask as a means to continue the important discussion you started.

The American Red Cross provides CPR and AED training (usually free at a scheduled class) and many public locations (hotels, airports, restaurants, etc.) have AEDs available, which though they are self explanatory to one who is in a calm state of mind, may be quite confusing to someone in a near panic watching someone die (you said it, not me).

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

Let me add my prayer that you have a healthful recovery.

Ditto that.

I have been wondering (to myself, up to now) whether you feel your life may have been handed back to you for a larger purpose, fisherman. If you do, perhaps you'll share...

P.S.: I ought to have said, "greater purpose". =D

 

[John D]

His larger purpose is to eat more fish.

 

[buzzman]

Good grief! That was scary fisherman. Glad you're back up and commenting here.

Keep us informed.

 

[the fisherman]

Still Sorting It Out

Ditto that.

I have been wondering (to myself, up to now) whether you feel your life may have been handed back to you for a larger purpose, fisherman. If you do, perhaps you'll share...

P.S.: I ought to have said, "greater purpose". =D

Mark, the only reason I made this post in the first place was in the hope that I could save someone else from making the same mistakes that I made. For me it's kind of a personal thing, but for sure my outlook on life has changed, even before this happened I was thinking that it was time to start giving something back, try to leave things a little better than I found them. More later, when I figure all this out, I want to say thanks for all the good wishes, I'm feeling pretty good all things considered, and it's time for me to move away from this, I was a very lucky boy on that day and I figure it just wasn't my time, so it's time to get back to work. Some one asked about the circumstances on that day, well everybody who works on my boat is CPR certified and we carry a defibulator on the boat, now everybody knows why.I think I survived because I need to catch a few more fish to fill my quota.

 

[ScottBailey]

Keep fishing....

I think I survived because I need to catch a few more fish to fill my quota.

Ye, keep fishin'....