[at-l] C U

[saunterer@jimbullard.org (saunterer@jimbullard.org)]

At 09:27 PM 11/28/01 -0500, Bob Cummings wrote:
>...clip... I've been putting off "minor" open
>heart surgery (or so my Doc claims) for a decade or so. I tell him when I 
>can no
>longer climb the Whites in winter, I may reconsider his recommendation. (He
>wants to patch a leaking valve that he says became serious only recently. (I
>remember when I ran a three mile race as a 12-year-old and finished last, and
>suspect it's been leaking for many decades.)

Weary, I believe the condition is called a 'heart murmur'.  My wife has 
lived her entire life with that condition.  It would be ungentlemanly of me 
to say how old she is but I turned 57 on the 18th.  She can't run or climb 
mountains with me because the leakage results in her circulation not being 
able to keep up with that kind of exertion.  Another friend, who hiked with 
me for years, also had a heart murmur of less severity and had no 
difficulty climbing mountains.  The question is are you willing to live 
within whatever limits it imposes VS the risk of surgery.  My wife chooses 
to live within the limits of the condition.  If you choose not to risk 
surgery but also not to live within the limits of your condition we may be 
getting an email from your wife some day.

sAunTerer