Once again there’s been a delay between posts here. Many of you already know why:
Sometime, just after the “Lion’s Gate” event on 8/8/2017, I had a heart attack. I am a bit vague about exact time here because my symptoms were pretty mild – no great drama, no race by ambulance to the hospital, no life-saving actions by first responders. No, just a few days of chest pressure and a restless, mostly sleepless night on 8/10.
On 8/11 I taught my Friday morning Qigong class. This felt good, but the pressure in my chest continued and began migrating to my back. Hmmm! Between Rosemary and me we decided to give our local “urgent care” a try. Good experience. They sent me to the emergency room with EKG, chest X-Ray and instructions to Rosemary to get me through triage fast.
Long story short my troponin level, a protein marker for heart attack, was through the roof. By early morning on 8/12 I was on my way via ambulance to Washington Hospital Center for catheterization to determine the cause of this heart event. In at 8:30; by 9:00 they knew I had blockage that needed CABG (the cardiology short-hand for Cardiac Artery Bypass Graft) – three of them in fact.
My CABGx3 got scheduled for Tuesday, August 15 (Mary’s Assumption Day, so I knew I was in good hands!). I spent the rest of Saturday through Monday in the hospital under acute observation; I had this time to prepare.
I continued my Qigong practice. There was this lovely atrium window on the fourth floor where I could go through my morning routine in nice light. I knew at this point that Qigong had saved my life, kept me healthy and strong enough to endure/survive the heart attack. I certainly wasn’t going to stop practice now, especially prior to surgery!
Surgery was routine, as these things go. I suspect splitting open a person’s chest to access the heart’s arteries is never quite routine. My care at Washington Hospital was stellar! I can’t imagine my experience going any better. (OK, the food was not gourmet but it was edible!). By Saturday, 8/19, one week after admission, was released with new drugs and a few restrictions. No Qigong for a few days! But I walked out with the “heart of a 20-year old” (according to the cardiologist who read my echocardiogram) and new plumbing.
And I have been on a fast-track to full recovery ever since. I started my Qigong classes up again on 9/22 – added two make-up classes to cover the missed August classes.
And now I am launching my next series of classes for the Fall 2017; they run from October 6 through December 29, 10:30 am in West Annapolis. And these classes are available LIVE via internet. You can find the details here on the website.
Qigong saved my life. It continues to speed my recovery process. And I am committed to bring this ancient, life-saving technology to as many people as I can reach.
Join me!