I Still Like The Odds

Once Scary Heart Bypass Surgery Has Become Common And Safe. Today marks the five year anniversary of my heart attack and triple bypass open heart surgery. I still like the odds. Once scary and impossible, heart bypass grafts have become a common and safe method of dealing with heart disease. If you don't believe that fate guides our lives, listen up. After my wife, Jacquelyn, cared for me through my surgery, she subsequently died of brain cancer. All within a period of five years. How, you might say, can you be so sanguine and upbeat? It really isn't difficult, because it is a choice for each of us to make. Would you rather go through what life we have happy each day you walk around breathing, or sit sullen and angry and unhappy? We don't have a choice, do we? My odds of surviving 5 years were 90%, and CABG surgery was only first tried in 1960. Never tell me we don't have the best medical system and medical care in the world. My survival possibilities for 10 years to 15 years are 20%. As I told the surgeon as I was getting prepped for surgery five years ago, I like those odds. Any odds that are better than zero are fine with me. There is a 100% possibility I am not getting out of this life alive. Today, I will enjoy every breath, and every step, and every ache and pain. I have a new wife, a new life, and a swimming pool to christen. If you don't find something to occupy yourself happily today, that is on you, grasshopper.