by Jimbo Roberts » May 5th, 2016, 8:45 am
You need passion to keep going when things get tough.
It is cool that they were able to figure out how to make that glove that allows him to hold the rod.
You've got to love people that will figure out how others can keep going.
I don't have it nearly as tough as this man, but I had another one of those revelations this past weekend.
For me it's "What will you do to get to the mountains to fish for Cutthroats?"
I was mowing the lawn, I was half-way through the back yard.
I felt as if I was overheating and it was only about 80 degrees outside.
The sweat was pouring off of me. I decided to come inside and cool off.
I sat down at the dining room table when I felt that familiar grabbing deep inside my chest.
I was having another heart attack,..... a really bad one this time.
When it started I knew I needed to get to the hospital as quickly as possible, there was no riding this one out like last year. The N.E. Baptist Hospital is 10 miles away. No 911 call, no waiting for the ambulance to arrive, jump in the car and drive like mad,..... Time is the enemy. I got to the emergency room and was placed directly into the examination room. Stints go in both arms and later my crouch. Electrocardiograms, blood tests, more tests,..... and after writhing there for about 30 minutes the head nurse said in jest, "I think you're having a heart attack". We had to wait for the surgeon to arrive. He was completing another surgery on another heart patient. I was there waiting,..... seconds passed like days, waves after waves of pain washed through me coming and going, waiting till I could be wheeled in the operating room. Just keep breathing, just let my heart keep beating till I could get into surgery, just keep those eyes open, thinking about dryfly fishing to distract me from the moment. Finally the doctor and his team arrived, he had not eaten since breakfast, it was 4pm, I would be his third surgery of the day, anesthesia was authorized. I was wheeled into surgery. There, fully awake, I was able to watch the monitors as the doctor found the problem areas. He asked his students in his team if they saw what was wrong and what to do about it. I was a teaching experience. They placed 3 new stints in my chest. 3 hours after it had begun I was being wheeled into a private room to rest and recover. Someday a heart attack will kill me, my genetics suck, but not this day. No I've got a date high in the mountains this summer to chase my beloved Cutthroats with big bushy attractors on top. Maybe this year I will be able to land that 28" Cutthroat. The doctors at least gave me another chance.
Jimbo