Davilla Appleseed November 8-9 AAR

[Counselor]

I attended the November 8-9 Appleseed at Scout's place near Davilla, Texas.  As usual, Scout, Junior Birdman, and the other instructors worked us hard, and it was a productive weekend.  Voortrekker's friend Kendra earned her Rifleman badge, as did 3 others.  A 3-generation family team came all the way from Louisiana; that must be one proud grandpapa.

But I digress.

Approximately 10 days before the Appleseed, I took a stress test that revealed "moderate blockage" in my arteries and was told I needed to undergo a heart catheterization; this is how they determine what work you need done.  Since I had been feeling fairly/almost comletely symptom free, I scheduled the cath procedure for immediately after the Appleseed.  Appleseed came and went, and I thoroughly enjoyed the weekend, as always.

Monday morning I drove back home and even attended a brief court hearing that afternoon. Tuesday morning I got up early and drove myself to Tyler, Texas (about 35 miles away), fully expecting to receive a stent or two (at the most).  When I came out from under the anesthesia, imagine my surprise to be informed I needed open heart surgery: 2 arteries completely blocked and 2 others with significant blockage.  We scheduled it for the next day, and so on November 12 I underwent a "quadruple bypass".

QUESTION:  What if the AS had not gone well?  What if I had died right there on the firing line? Would the program be destroyed? Probably not. But it couldn't help, could it?

I owe an apology to all my fellow Appleseeders for putting off a vital medical test just because, by golly, I wasn't going to miss my AS weekend, especially since I had pre-registered. No way.

The point of my post is this: We owe it to our fellow Appleseeders and to the Program to properly prepare for each and every Appleseed.  Tend to your health as well as to your beloved M1A.  You can't bail out America when you are flat on your back in some hospital bed, full of tubes.


Jim Kittles
"Counselor"


P.S. The procedure went well, and I am recovering very nicely, thank you. I foresee many more Appleseeds in my future, as my quest to become a Dangerous Old Man continues.

Blessings on you, Scout, for your dedication to the Program and for your beautiful family.

And a special blessing on you, Fred, for your inspiration which became the Appleseed Program.  May your dreams come true.



P.P.S.  All this was written before finding out about Dean's own health issues at the Boot Camp.  Hope he is doing well.

[POP]

Jim,

There is much truth in what you say about keeping onesself physically and mentally fit prior to an AS event.  I am so glad you're recovery is going well. 

Don't beat yourself up too bad.  Just take a respiratory pause, keep coming back to AS and tell your story to others.  And please bring Mrs. Kittle and your friend with you.

AS is blessed to have ya'll aboard.

POP

[wcmartin1]

Counselor,

Glad to hear you're doing well now, Sir.