Farmdoc rides again.

On Sunday I’m being admitted to the Melbourne Private Hospital. Then on Monday I’m having coronary artery bypass graft [CABG] surgery. It’s major. Seminal. Existential. For me. And also for my darling family and my friends. Even in some way for my acquaintances. So I need to write about it: to consider it. To weigh it. And of course to record it. What better way to do all this than Farmdoc’s Blog. So the journey begins. Actually, no. It began a year ago when I began feeling an ache behind my chest bone. It was exercise-related then. And it’s remained so since. At first I thought the cause was the hiatus hernia I knew I had. So I took Nexium. It helped. But not totally. Long story short, on 14 April I had a treadmill exercise test which showed I had a heart problem. Then on 27 April an angiogram revealed severe disease of all three main coronary arteries. Indeed so severe it wasn’t amenable to angioplasty. Therefore it’s CABG surgery for me. Given my family history, I’ve long thought coronary artery disease was in my future. For decades I’ve been trying to avoid it by attending to all the known risk factors. I may have delayed it. But I couldn’t outrun my chromosomes. With Sweetheart Vivienne I’ve been walking: 3-4 km each day. So I’m physically ready for surgery. I’m psychologically ready too. I’m focused and determined. Oh I expect rough times ahead. But I know I’ll get there. And so, it seems, do all the people mentioned above. I’m overwhelmed, and humbled, by their love, care, wishes, and in some cases prayers. I’m ready. Bring it on.

P.S. I hope to put up daily posts. The first few will be retrospective. They’ll cover medical matters. But more so my thoughts, my anxieties and hopefully my triumphs. I invite you to share my journey. If you’re up for it, to paraphrase the bumper sticker: Log on, sit down, buckle up and hang on. We’re going to hell and back. Farmdoc rides again!