Lets get to the heart of the matter...
 

Boys, I'm down but not out... I have been very quiet the past few weeks. Ever since my trip to RTTH3 in TN this past fall I have been beat. Exhausted is more like it. I remember saying the same thing when I was finishing my own car last year.

Low and behold I now have a heart condition. It's called heart failure. Usually this results from a previous heart attack or poor eating habits etc.

I have neither. Born with a abnormal heart rhythm called arrhythmias. I know from the past few years I was alway tired. I have related that to some of my past back and intestinal surgeries. Never thought more of it.

But now I'm winded at a whole new level. My heart is functioning at 63% efficiency. The doc's tell me its time to install some hardware.

Pacemaker / defibrillator time. Oh well life is a bitch especially when you are only forty nine years old. However, no time to cry just move onward and upward.

So if you don't see me posting at least know I'm reading everyones post.

Surgery is scheduled for the first of the year. Hopefully in a few weeks I will be able to gain some strength back and be re energized. Kind of like the battery commercial. He,he, my own joke, he keeps on running.....

R.P.

Hey Roger good luck and just to let you know my familys heart history is in the toilet as well. My father had the same exact condition as you and he was always tired. He had the surgery on Monday and come saturday was cutting firewood like he had before the problems. He oftentimes said he felt like a new man post operation.

Good luck and everything will be fine. :thumbsup:

Hang in there Rodger and keep a good attitude.

If it makes you feel any better High Performance Pontiac is going to run a feature on your car! :thumbsup:

They loved the pics I took and will be contacting you about the story.

Hope ya get feeling better!

Roger!

Good Luck and godspeed! Please say hello to your wife for me!

John

Hang in there buddy! Isn't modern medicine increadible! My dad's had a heart issue since he had a heart attach at 37 and is now 63...life is good!! Just do as the doc says and you will be fine! ;)

Hang in there Homey, you are indeed the man, hang tough!

i have notice you MIA, hope it all works out for you. and aparently (above post) congrats on the mag feature!!!

Hang in there Roger. Send your car out here to me in Sunny Ca. for some rest and relaxation.......

Or just come out here with it and enjoy some R&R. Good luck and have a speedy recovery. Your thoughts & suggestions are needed on the boards.

That surgery is very succesfull. You will be fine. I have the same problem, on a much smaller scale, only need meds 4-5 times per year, no surgery. Very common.

Take a baby aspirin daily to reduce the chance of clot formation and possible stroke. :thumbsup:

Linda, says HI back at you. She has just informed me that a close friend of yours has won the Project Runway Contest for season 3. Congrats to him and his family... :thumbsup:

I loved your getting fired joke.

R.P.

Yeah! You know me! I hang with ALL the celebrities!:lol:

John

You mean I'm not going to make it to the big show? You must of forgot I'm a PHR subscriber only.:lol: I have learned with these photo shoot guys to believe it when you see it. :rolleyes: Hehe. Sorry could not resist.

Congrats on your SEMA trip and coverage. Damn that Willwood banner of your car may go national.... It looks that good. Beside other magazines courting you why not ad marketing to your resume. :thumbsup:

R.P.

Yeah, I hope the surgery will add some of my strength back. It's an effort just typing on the forum. Pain I have learned to tolerate, this is a whole new ball game.

R.P.

Rodger,

Our prayers will be with you! Good luck with the surgery I hope everything goes without a hitch. If you need anything let us know. :thumbsup:

+1

Rodger..

Things are different today.
Stay positive. You have all my best wishes!
Scott

Hang in there Roger, our family will keep you in our thoughts. -Rob

Good luck man, we are here for you..

SW

Roger, this is startling news. I'll be keepin' you in my prayers friend. I'll give you a call closer to Christmas to see how you're doing.

Hey Roger- Get well soon!

Can't they just put a turbo on ya somewhere?

Seriously- I'm glad they were able to find this before you had any major issues, and they'll be able to get you all sorted out prior to any damage being done. That's good news!

Please keep us updated and get better before the cruising season is back upon us!

~SP~

Good luck my friend.

My grandfather and his father both died at the age of 65 of heart attacks. It's important to stay on top of that stuff. I wish you good luck! :)

Well this explains when I was in RTTH3 and I needed to crash all the time.
I remember walking up to the drag way on Sunday from the parking lot. It felt like I climbed Mt. Everest.

Hows your Camaro going? I haven't seen a updated thread in the last few weeks on Pro-Touring. Stay on it. :thumbsup: Lots more work then it looks?

R.P.

Roger,

Just saw the post, hope you get well soon. Thoughts are with you.

Brad

Rodger, hope all goes well for you. Good luck.

Jump into the projects section over there, I have a thread going. It's going good actually. And yes...a MOUNTAIN of work getting that LS1 in there. But a lot of fun as well.

Good luck to you Rodger. I have a friend going though the same thing, and he's not that worried about it. He has arrhythmias as well or at least says he does, and he has the same problems as you have stated and he had the surgery and came out like a champ. Feels better with no problems at all. I can put you in touch with him if you like.

Well guys I'm still ticking but still hurting...
 

I'm a little more knowledgeable of my heart condition.

I have a multiple of issues. The first being Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome.
It is an adnortmaility of the hearts electrical system. This causes palpitations, light headeness, loss of consciousness, chest pain, fatigue and general feeling, is there going to be a tomorrow?

I spent 5 hours on the operating table Jan 22. They do this by putting electric wires through your main artery in your groin. In my case they tried both sides of my legs. Its called radio frequency ablation.

With my past back surgeries I was in PAIN the whole time while on the operating table. They keep you somewhat awake during this procedure. But because of my inability to lie on my back for more that 5 minutes they had to severely keep me in the o-zone.

Loaded with this many drugs does not feel good, its like having a two day hangover except instead of booze its excess medicine.

Anyway, the surgery was not successful and I will have to go under the knife again in early April.

My other issue is that my heart is only working at 62-63%. I have a heart virus. This problem I will just have to learn how to live with. Nothing can be done. The good news is I do not need a pacemaker or ICD at this time.

So in summary boys I'm still hurting big time, however still functioning. I try to check in on the site every couple of days to see whats new and going on.

Later, time for rest...

R.P.

I wish you the best of Luck Roger.

Roger,
I am sorry to hear about all that you are going thru.
You seem to have a positive outlook and that is 90% of the battle.
Keep us posted and I wish the very best:thumbsup:
Scott

My wife just had this done this past November for WPWS, she was on the table for little over five hours.

We were told it was a birth defect and she has always remembered having it. Her heart would race and then after a few minutes it would stop. When she was pregnant we had to call the paramedics twice her heart rate was sky high and it wouldn't stop. They had to give her a shot that stopped and reset her heart. The last time it happened when she was pregnent they gave her three and if the last one didn't work the were ready to get the defibulators (sp?). It took two trips to the ER for them to figure it out what was wrong.

Sorry to hear that yours wasn't successful. I will be praying that you have a speedy recovery and a successful surgury later. Get well soon.

my grandfather had to have a pacemaker defibulator installed as well. Went well for him and actually saved his life on multiple occasions (literally). Hope everything goes well for you.

I was in the garage today working and you popped into my mind Roger - I wondered how you were doing and then I check in tonight and see your update - must have been a ripple in the force OB1 !

Very glad to see they are figuring everything out for you - sometimes that's the hardest part of the deal. My father had a pace maker installed 2 years back - and he's great today. It was about 6 months before he started really getting around again (he's 89) - but he's glad he did it.

All our very best, get some rest - and do what you're told ! :yes:

Jim

Good to hear from you Roger! Get your rest and keep postive!!

Roger...I'm floored. Wolf Parkinson White Syndrome...I had the same thing about 5 years ago and had the same procedure done. Like you it took 5 hours and I kept waking up in the operating room (cold as a meat locker in that damn room as I remember). They were successful with mine. Where did you have it done? Mine was done by a renowned doctor at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit. He's the same guy that did Joey Harrington's ablation when he had his problem. I forget his name...foreign guy. Yes...it's a birth defect and is corrected by actually buring the errant electrical pathway off the heart's wall with radio frequencies. My heart didn't race though, what happened is through my life my heart would flutter from time to time. I never thought anything of it until one day at work I was in the studio for a meeting and I felt my heart flutter as it would normally do maybe 3 or 4 times a year and this time it didn't stop. I then got a massive head rush and then dizzy and my heart went into what is known as Atrial Fibrillation. It didn't hurt or anything but my heartbeat became erratic (felt like a squirrel was running around in my chest). Scary stuff. Roger...I'll drop you a line this weekend.

WOW...sorry to hear that Roger. Like someone else said earlier. I too was thinking about you yesterday. I was about to email Tony...but here you are. maybe a little worse for wear, but now they know where to go with it I guess. Hang in there bud!!!

Hang in there Roger. It was a pleasure meeting you in Colombus this year and I look forward to hanging out at some events in the future. You have a great attitude and that means ALOT! Keep it up. When you get down, look in the garage know that you have many years of fun coming in the Goat! :thumbsup:

Hi Roger, sorry to hear about the difficulties in surgery, but it is good to hear that at least the docs seem to have a handle on what is giving you trouble. Hang in there, get plenty of rest, and keep the faith... -Rob

Thanks guys for the encouragement. The mental part is the hardest. These type of injures or illnesses just wear on you big time. I'm so tired of it all...... :mad:

R.P.

I'm alive!
 

Well it took two surgery's to resolve the defective heart. I'm now 3 weeks post operation.

Good news is that I can now walk up a flight of stairs. One floor mind you. Haha.

When I reach the top I'm gasping for air and it takes a few minutes to catch my breath. However, this beats the hell out of before when I would walk from one end of the house to the other and need a nap by the time I reached my destination. I'm now working on conditioning. One small step forward....

The best part of waking up each morning now is that I feel ALIVE. :)

R.P.

This is GREAT news!! I'm so happy to hear from you and all the great news is icing on the cake!! Stick with the PT and you will be in the best shape of your life!!