To ALL the ers

[Guest guest]

First an apology for being out of the loop for so long. Been REALLY swamped here lately (not a FlaFla pun to growl at BillMayo ) as I will try to explain later... but do not want to delay getting to the important things I want to say:Prelude: All you ZapFolks are really, really, wonderful to spend time holding the hands, listening, and sharing your experiences with others coming up a stretch of road that you have already navigated. Thanks to all of you... whether grad student or novice living with an ICD. Tonight... reading 40+ postings since my last visit.. lead to shedding more than a couple tears of pride for what is doing, well past its 12th birthday! YOU are all the fuel... that keeps the ZapLife services functioning. My deepest respect and appreciation to you all.1) Stacie... you do not need my permission for anything. YOU HAVE MY BLESSINGS FOR ANYTHING YOU WANT TO PROMOTE... LINK TO... ETC ETC ETC. So please... use and Zapper BBS anyway you want. For ALL you have given everyone here in the way of inspiration and insight for more than half your life.... I don't think there's anyway we can repay you for all your many loving gifts. YOU are the biggest stock holder here, kiddo. That's the reason I tease you: Nothing you ever post can ever be labeled "off topic." Anything and everything that pops into your head is ON topic. OK?2) ... won't belabor the point many have already made again and again. But I concur. Even with only a wife and two kitties... (and northern relatives/snow birds who drop in from time to time) who depend on me for (probably) less vital things that you provide your family... I would not want to deprive them of what I do offer around here. Plus I love the chance to have many more hours of unique experiences - every time my eyes open to see a new day. My life with an ICD has been fairly without incident... except for a few nasties from four (4!) previous EP's who wore out their welcome as my electricians of record (2 because of their incompetent staffs who blocked our access to their bosses and two who were jerks that could not communicate with patients.) I also lost one EP... twice... when he left without warning, once after a fray with the EP boss in his office... and again when he just quit the hospital to go teach EP wannabes at the UF/Gainesville.Now on device number four (#4)... each one has managed to rescue me at least once... blocking my passage beyond the Veteran's Cemetery - or in my case/vase shipment of ashes in many vials to the four corners of the planet. All told... (not counting the test zappings) I have felt the therapy from the 700 volt tingle... Ten (10!) times. Each and every one of those ten was appropriate. And without each of them... I woulda been a croaker.... TEN TIMES OVER! Yea... my piddly dime is nothing compared to Stacie's 25-hundred smackers... but it is still the blessing of one life more than the 9-lives just one of my cats gets! Looking back on all the things (people made art and wonders of nature) I have seen, all the experiences I have enjoyed, all the people I have gotten to know, all the awesome tastes and smells I have sampled, all the rejuvenating cat purrs and Sheri kisses, and yes, all the stories I have been able to tell as well as taking part in the rewarding battles I have fought for the people on this planet... SINCE ZAP#1... I am damn thankful (to the NASA and other scientists and medical pros and the ICD makers, etc.) for this thing inside me. It does not make me less or smaller... it makes me a better giant. And more important, it made it possible for me to continue being a LIVING, BREATHING, BEING.... not just a memory to all who let me be part of their lives.... ten times over! Death is a long time. You have more reasons than I to keep it at bay as long as possible.. and turning 60 in less than a half year, I am certainly in no hurry to experience it!I am afraid this has gotten longer than I wanted.. so I will wrap it up. I close with what's keeping me busy, in addition to work. Had a couple new health scares... my trouble swallowing has gotten worse. Decided to call the doc the day Congressman Lantos died of esophageal cancer and Dr. Gupta or someone did one of those "these are the symptoms" reports. UGI & LGI Barium X-rays last week... showed a hernia and gerd... but no growths (sigh of relief) but also getting endo and colonoscopy soon to verify. Been getting more dizzy lately from low B/P... saw cardio today who changed my meds a bit. Oh... oh... oh... one last thing: My work for Dr. Edlund has lead to another grand video podcast... and just finished editing and post production on it tonight - after a month of work. It is called: Supermodels' Recipe for Thin . I think it is a very important message... viewable as now an MOV file. Will have it converted to FLASH and M4V (for iPods) as well as available via YouTube and Google Video within a week. Please take a look... and share it with others who you think might benefit.Goodness. Out of steam for this day.Thanks again to all of you.Stay well....ZapDuff