First was the heart attack…

Then three little strokes…

Now add this on top…

So Sunday evening was like a blizzard outside and I had to walk the 100 or so yards from the gate to my cabin carrying a propane tank through hip-deep snow drifts in 50mph+ winds which I did no huge deal for up here in winter. Quite common actually and I’ve been living up here at 9,200 ft for years now and am fully acclimated. I have had a heart attack and three “TIA’s” or mini-strokes in the past three years attributable to a combination of high cholesterol, dehydration, and high physical activity (skiing or hiking) combined with high levels of alcohol consumption and smoking but have modified my diet, cut out alcohol all together almost a year ago, cut back on smoking and was barely exerting myself at the time when this hit me Sunday evening. At first, it felt like I had pulled a neck muscle while lifting and twisting the propane tank out of the truck and lay on the floor to crack out the kink and got back up, and started hyperventilating uncontrollably with each drawn breath stabbing like a knife in my right chest as I have never experienced before.

Finally, after trying to lie down in any position to calm down (thinking still it was a pinched nerve) I went out into the blizzard and made my way up to seek help from Harmon and Joseph. Harmon tossed me in his pickup and drove me down off the mountain in a horrible to Taos Holy Cross ER an hour away where they first gave me doses of morphine and muscle relaxers and off to Radiology for X-Rays and CAT scans. I spent the next 48 hrs in the hospital on all sorts of IV drips and mostly slept it off and they discharged me on Tuesday with six (countem six) new daily prescriptions that each have various side effects that I’m adjusting to.

Discharge papers say “Acute Pulmonary Embolism”

I’m going to lay low for a bit to adjust to these medications but really don’t have the time to do so. What a year this has been.