No More Water Slides?

Last week I took my daughter and two of her friends to the Six Flags “Hurricane Harbor” water park in Largo, Maryland. One of the perks of being a parent is getting to act like a kid every once awhile. I’ve found that water parks generally afford that opportunity.

One of the rides the girls wanted to go on was called the Tornado. This ride entails lugging a four person raft up a 75 foot stair tower and then plunging down a chute into what resembles a giant funnel laying on its side.

It was a blast! The girls had fun and I had fun.

At the end, however, as I went back to retrieve the flip flops I left at the foot of the slide, I noticed this sign. I guess I should have read it beforehand.Hmmm. I wonder what they infer by “heart conditions?”

Prior to my cardiac event I never gave a second thought to signs like this. Now I’m supposed to pay them heed?

I don’t think so. Not this heart attack guy anyway. The way I see it, the most stressful part of this ride is lugging the raft up the steps. As long as I keep myself in shape, I figure I can continue to enjoy the rides.

And that’s the thing; I am in better shape than most men my age. Still, I get friends who come up to me with a look of concern and say “how are you doing?”

I always respond, “I’m doin great, how’re you doin?”

Oh yeah, by the way, this was my first and last visit to Six Flags. The whole time we were there not one single staff person smiled. Most were sullen. It was not a happy place.

Checking In

Shortly before I began my cardiac rehab program I told my cardiologist that I planned to run in a 10K race this spring.

“You might have to wait another year for that,” he gently replied.

Nothing doing. I was determined to be a model cardiac rehab patient and get myself back in shape quickly, as long as it was within the bounds of the nurse directed program.

Okay, I wasn’t exactly a model patient. I skipped most of the “education” sessions. I attended a few but soon I grew uncomfortable sitting in a small crowded room watching a videotape for thirty minutes. I am much too restless for that regime.

On the other hand, as far as the exercise portion of the program was concerned, I was focused like an athlete training for a big game. The nurses soon caught on to my determination and they supported and encouraged me as long as I kept within their prescribed limits.

The result was that at the end of the 36 sessions I was ready to get back to my old exercise regimen and I was even more determined to participate in the race that was now about two and a half months away.

To make a long story short, I completed the 10K race in just under an hour. I was elated to say the least.

I was also thankful. I truly believe that the nurses in the cardiac rehab program were instrumental in making that happen. To thank them I bought a large box of Godiva chocolates and stuck my marked up race bid in the bag with them and dropped back by Howard County General Hospital to deliver them. It was a small but heartfelt gesture.

Hall of Fame

Over the Thanksgiving holiday I got out for the first round of golf since my heart attack. We have a Thanksgiving holiday ritual where, along with my brother-in-law and two nephews we play a round of golf in Birmingham the day after the big feast. I can happily report that my heart attack did not affect my game at all, I still stink. I refer to my game as golful.

Eric Compton is a professional golfer who has had more than his share of heart issues and he is only 27 years old. He had a heart transplant at age 12. His most recent incident occurred while he was filling out insurance forms in the emergency room at Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital. After reading Eric’s story by Randall Mell in the Sun-Sentinel.com website I decided he should become the second honoree in the heart attack guy Hall of Fame.

Hang in there Eric!