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Sunday November 12, 2006
I am feeling mellow tonight. It is raining outside here in New York and I wish the daylight was longer. I enjoy working in the yard and caring for my koi. When the days are short I cannot enjoy them as much. It was about 60 degrees today so I was able to feed them today. You should not feed them when the water temperature is 40 degrees or lower. They just bunch together at the bottom of the deepest part of the pond and stay absolutely still. We only had 4 or 5 as of the spring 2006 but now we have babies galore. One Toncho died during child birth but we know she had babies because there are many that resenble her.

The pond is about 12 feet wide by 40 feet long by 2 - 3 feet deep. The winter is not fun because I have to detach the untraviolet light so that it does not freeze and I worry that the electric does not go off. If the electric goes off then the pump to the filter stops and the pipes freeze. The filter can and should operate 24/7 and 365 days. If it freezes (and it has) I have to detach the pump, bring it indoors to thaw and wait for several 40 degree plus days so that I can get it all working again. During the winter I also shut off the waterfall and use the underwater jets to circulate the filtered water. It is also necessary to have a small heater floating on the pond to keep an area ice free so that air can circulate.

The large fish only had babies after they become 3 years old and we only have 3 large ones now. We have lost some to ainmals. Some we don't know how but we have seen a hawk and a gray heron around so we suspect them. Plus we did have a fish injured by a gray heron who stabbed her beek through the back of one fish. That fish has survived and had babies since.

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Well, turning 55 was not the beginning of a good year for me. I experienced my first heart attack on Friday, June 2, 2006.

It didn't happen in the textbook manner. I had hints earlier in the week but this was REAL. On Monday I was moving some garden rocks that were placed on a plastic sheet. I removed all the rocks, boxed them, and placed them in the garage. Then, as I lifted the plastic sheet I got a very sharp pain in my chest which I interpreted as being in my lungs. I took an allergy pill and continued with my work.

Tuesday, I went into work to sub for my good friend Tom and between classes I was very tired and dizzy. I rested in my car and felt better. Wednesday was OK as far as I remember. But then came Thursday!

Thursday, late afternoon, I had that tiredness, anxiety and pain. I took a pill to rest and fell asleep from about 7pm to 11pm. I woke and got on the computer; gave my online class an assignment, but could not relax to get to bed again! I was very anxious and had a cold sweat. By 3AM I couldn't take it. I felt a feeling of doom, that I was going to fall down, so I went in to my bedroom and told my wife I was calling 911.

They showed up very quickly and I was already standing outside. The cops asked me if I wanted to sit but I said no. They arrived with no sirens just as the ambulance did. They had me lie down and put me in the ambulance. They called ahead to the hospital with vital signs and were instructed to give me what seemed like two tablets of nitro under my tongue. They asked me the pain level which I placed at a 7. (I had a back operation back in the 1990's in which chunks of sharp calcified disk material was floating in my spinal area which I placed at the pain level of 10 causing me to crawl on all fours.) Then they gave me a shot of morphine. Chill time . . .

Emergency room - EKG, Echo Cardiogram, and they determined I needed a stent. NOW here is the rub. It seems that Good Samaritan Hospital in West Islip, NY is only permitted to do emergency surgery so they only put in one stent. I'm sent up to CCU (Critical Care Unit) and as the day goes on the nurses ask me how my pain is. The number kept rising as the day went on. The doctor saw other places a stent would be useful but they were not considered "emergency." So, as the pain reached a "7" again they prepared me for more surgery. The doctor is pushing my bed down the hallway at a run and the nurse is in front. I can see we are not going straight and then CRASH right into a door jam for a full and complete stop. I had lifted my knees so it wouldn't hurt. On the table now the doctor asks me how the pain is and I said " I feel like I'm in love." He said OK but we can FIX this! Two stents later I feel better again. But they tell me I have to go in again for another. If only you could get the whole job done while your in for one emergency. The pain is not necessary.