I woke the morning of August 11 feeling a little bit unwell. Not sick like cold or flu, just more out of balance. No matter, Kev and his son Logan were coming and we were going fishing. We reach and fish the first body of water with no indication of the pending issues about to befall me. Moving on to the second body of water, Kev and son walk down the trail to the lake as I lagged behind feeling even more "off" than before. Apologize for not having a better explanation but that is the best I can do, simply say I felt different. Instead of rigging my rods as usual, I started down the trail with the rods still safely in the Plano rod tube and my reels in the backpack.
Halfway down the trail... I fell .... first thing I'm aware of is flipping forward and landing squarely between my spine and shoulders all while tumbling. How my head didn't get split or bones broken is beyond me cuz the fall took me off the path and rolling over cantaloupe size round rocks. As the tumbling stops there is a true millennial girl asking if I'm alright. You know the really fit kind with clothes too tight and half her body covered in tattoos? Of course she didn't come any closer to see how I was either. Somehow, ants were all over my body, but they weren't biting and stinging. Weird!
Next thing you know Kev is there asking what happened and if I were hurt. Told him then as I'll tell you now, I have no idea how I fell. Other than disoriented, a little sore, a little embarrassed and still feeling "off" everything seemed back to normal. So what do you think I did? Yep, went on down to the lake and started fishing. Was moving pretty gingerly but climbed in the water to cool down and get ants off of me. Kev was getting bit but my heart for some reason just wasn't in it. So we decided to move to Antero. I was feeling worse now and as unfair as it was, I gave Kev a 30 minute window and then we headed home.
Sunday was exactly what was expected... sore all over. Sore bones, sore muscles, wounded pride. Monday, again was as expected, all the same soreness but less so. Then came Tuesday. What an absolutely miserable day. I had splotches all over my body with raised bumps. No itching or pain but it covered me in my entirety. My hands and feet were swollen beyond recognition. To say I felt bad was an understatement. So off to the Dr we went. Something had set her off course and we were seen well over an 1.5 hours late and she completely misdiagnosed me. Said it was from my fall and stay home for the week and it'll be ok. It was NOT ok, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday simply exacerbated the issue.
My hands and feet had swollen so bad I couldn't even think about closing my hands. Urgent Care here we come! As soon as the Urgent care Dr saw me she was ordering me to go to the emergency room. Of course that's when the fight began because I was going home DAMNIT! You can't tell me what to do! She matched my being obstinate page for page. She told me I WAS GOING to ER if she had to subdue me and call the ambulance herself. Between her and The Boss I agreed to go to ER. The Doc thought I might have Sepsis and called St Francis to prepare them for our arrival.
They were ready for me and got me in ASAP. Of course first thing they did was draw blood and guess what? My Troponin levels were high! Troponin levels are what tells them you had a heart attack. Thus began my journey into a double bypass and some seriously cool and scary shit! I know I know, not supposed to curse.. but it's highly accurate.
Oh!! My fall? That was my heart attack. If you think back, I couldn't remember WHY or HOW I fell. That's how a large team of doctors concluded it was a "silent" heart attack. ZERO chest pain, no sore jaw or numb left arm. In part 2 we'll talk about how it took a week for them to find the problem and everything the hospital did to finally get there.
Glad your doing better Jim!
Scary stuff Jim. You are a lucky man to be alive to tell about it. Hope things are going well my friend.
So sorry to hear about this. Get better soon.
Thats scary stuff Jim, glad you are getting better and here to share it.
Sorry to hear about that Jim! Glad you had someone there instead of being alone.Hopefully this will make others think before going out if something doesn’t feel right,especially alone! Get well Jim! This site wouldn’t be the same without you! 🙏💪♥️
We're happy that you’re still with us Jim and we wish you a speedy recovery!
GOOD to hear from you , take care Jim :)
Get better soon Jim, ice fishing is right around the corner.
Scary stuff Jim . Get well soon !!
Darn Bud, Glad you made it and are doing better! That's some scary s*%t! I wondered what Lindsie was not sharing with us.
Get well, ice fishing season will soon be with us!!
Congratulations . . .your now a "cabbage kid" .
I had my attack Dec 31 2007 during the worst blizzard Colo has seen in 30 yrs,in Trinadad CO of all places. Took the National Guard three days to come get me out of there.I got a GREAT Cardio Dr if you need one.
Glad you are doing well, a day of ice fishing sounds like more fun.
Definitely scary sh%t Jim. Glad you're doing better!
Wishing my fellow fisherman a speedy recovery. I'm one of many who have benefited from your contributions to this site, keep up the good work!
Someone was watching over you when you went to the ER!
Best thoughts, and glad u made it through it all. Ski
Glad to hear you are on the mend and around to write about it! Take great care of yourself through it all, and get better quick so you can get back on the lake!! Let us know if you need anything!
Definitely scary stuff! Hope you're feeling better! Got some really cool new fishing lures for you to aid in your speedy recovery!
Get over it all ready and go fishing. Would ya
Hi all, thank you for all the kind words and all of your support. It did occur to me what might have happened had I been on tube or toon, especially since the toon was with me. Wonder if it would have been worse, not because I fell in, but because I didn't? Am pretty sure hitting the rocks "woke" me. FIH - oooooooo I like shiny new lures. lol
At least those Ditch Pickles are safe for a bit :)
Jim, glad to hear you are on the mend after a potentially fatal incident. I'm looking forward to part 2 of the story, but I hope there is never sequel. Best wishes for a full recovery.
I wish you a successful, quick and pleasant recovery - take all the time you need to heal thoroughly. What a scare. While it frustrates me to hear that you ran into some troubles with getting care, I am glad that things worked out in the end. Rest up!
Hope you get better buddy. You and the boss are in my prayers. Can’t lose you, you have always given me so much joy on some of your post.. you really do make me crack the luck up sometimes...
Wow Jim, sorry this happened to you. Hope you are on the road to a full recovery. Your story is very valuable to others because this could've happened to anyone. Being aware of unusual signs like yours could save a life. BTW, I did have my left knee replacement surgery 2 weeks ago. The healing process is taking place. Stay well.
Glad that you recovering. Hope that all the pain and suffering will become just a memory.
I must tell you that you very lucky being seen by more than one doctor. With my extensive medical background, I am very surprised why first doctor even mentioned a sepsis
thanks again guys. Gunny - I'm grounded from fishing until Thanksgiving but I'll be around. Paul I hope you have a great recovery with your knee. Jacob - the first Dr sent me home.. the urgent care Dr didn't know exactly what was wrong me, just that she knew it was bad and I needed to go to ER. She suspected sepsis because of all the swelling and splotches. It is very likely she saved my life. As for the team at St Francis, as said before, they were great! If there is ever any kind of medical emergency in my family we will be going to see them.
