50 years ago i was diagnosed with a heart condition. For the most part, it kept me from doing anything very physical. I wanted to run the cross country, go on long hikes in the woods or anything else that would get me moving but my body wouldn't let me. 1 year ago, i was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. I could only walk 10 feet without collapsing and was near death. When i finally went to the hospital, they found that my heart was only working at less than 20%. My heart valve was failing and they found an anurysim on my aorta that was ready to burst. My chance of surviving surgery was less than 50%. By the time i went into sugery 2 weeks later, I was at less that 13%. I had the first open heart surgery in the morning and the second open heart surgery later that day to repair a tear in the aorta.
As you can tell, i survived. I have done some walking since but a friend of mine, Redhawk44 recently got me started geocaching. 2 weeks ago i went to a trailmix at yellow wood lake in indiana sponsored by Deermark and not only did i climb up the steepest hill there, right after that, i took a 6 mile hike through the forrest around the lake caching with some very nice people. Redhawk44 and his son Skippy were never far away making sure i was OK. Earlier this week, i went on a 5 mile hike over some very rough terrain with a couple of friends. 2 days ago i went with Redhawk44 on a 14.8 mile hike through the hoosier national forrest to get a cleverly placed cache known as the Galac Brick Empire, placed by Monstercatambush himself.
This was 50 years after I was diagnosed with the problem and 1 year to the day i almost died.
Getting married, having kids and this hike are touchstones in my life. Before now, I had only dreamed of being able to do this.....My dream has been realized.
Many thanks to Redhawk44 (aka Bob) and Skippy (Robby) for helping me to realize my dream.
Caching is an awsome sport!.........DragonsBear
