OT: Where I've been

[45suited]

Hi again all... Not to bore everyone, but I haven't been on this forum since the last week of September. I see that I've gotten a few PM's (which I appreciate) asking about my whereabouts.

I had a bit of a health issue that I needed to take care of. I'm an old fogie on the forum (turning 34 next month) but I've always stayed in good shape. However, for the first time in my life, for some reason, I had been feeling unhealthy. Getting alot of headaches, and just a general feeling of unease. I thought it was "just" work stress, and like a typical American guy, brushed it off. I ignored the fact that when I would try to sleep at night, I could actually feel the blood coursing through my veins, even pounding in my eyeballs.

Then all of a sudden, I started to have this wierd, shadow like thing pass in front of my eyes every so often. Now, that was when I decided that something was wrong. I got my blood pressure checked at work, and when the nurse re-checked it twice and then conferred with a doctor, I knew something was up. For those of you who don't know, a normal blood pressure is something in the neighborhood of 120 / 80. Mine was 220 / 150. When I told the doctor about the shadows passing in front of my eyes, he sent me to the hospital right away. Apparently, this can mean that you're about to have a stroke at any time.

They ran all kinds of tests and couldn't find any arterial blockages or other structural flaws in my heart or cardiovascular system. But they still couldn't explain my super high blood pressure, especially since I'm 5'10" and about 175 pounds and lead a generally healthy lifestyle with the exception of the occasional fine cigar.

Anyway, this was even more serious because I have only one kidney (a defective kidney was removed right after I was born). High blood pressure is terrible for the kidneys, so it was something that I had to take care of immediately.

Luckily, there was no damage to my remaining kidney. My job has great benefits (and I've built up tons of leave time after 10 years) so I took a month off. Bought a treadmill, became a workout maniac. (You know, the way Raptor can play a gazillion SNGs at a time for God knows how long... the same crazy poker player dedication, only to getting healthy.) I also went on medication, but told my doctor that by my 3 month checkup, I'd be off that crap.

Well, it's been 6 weeks or so, and I have only played 1 SNG and about 2 hours of 25 NL (so I don't lose my Party points!). The 25 NL came back naturally, but I missed pushes and generally played like an ass in my SNG. The good news is that my blood pressure is back down, as of this week, to 139 / 86. Not where I'd like it to be ideally, but a hell of a lot better than where it was.

Anyway, that's the long story of my absence. I'll be back full time after the 1st of the year. Just gotta take care of business here first. If any of you are going to be in Vegas the first week of December, I might be making a trip out there. (I just can't stay away altogether!) Also, I will am still interested in Irie's tournament in the springtime, so I will use the search function to find out where that stands...

Take care for now, everyone...