I’m supposed to walk one-quarter mile two times a day. (I actually do, once and a while)
Last week I walked down to the center of town to get my stroll in and thought I would stop to see Steve the Barber and get a hair cut. (Actually, to get them all cut, while I was there)
I hadn’t been there for a while, as I have been involved with this heart thing.
It was slippery, so I brought my cane and Steve was surprised to see me using it.
"What happened to your leg?"
"Oh, it’s a long story," I said.
"Shoot, we’re all alone here."
"Well, in Dec. of 1999, I had a stroke and it left my left side weakened. And since my last haircut, I had a quadruple heart by-pass and that affected the fine motor dexterity in my left leg so I decided to use the cane for stability. It is only temporary."
"WOW, quadruple by-pass! Jezee, you look great! How many valves?"
"No valves, fortunately, just arteries."
"Wow! Quadruple? How many arteries?"
"They did 4."
"Wow! And how many valves is that?"
"Just plumbing to by-pass 5 clogged arteries and to make sure there is adequate oxygen to the heart muscle."
"Wow! Five clogs. And how many valves did you say?"
"Just five clogs and 4 by-passes." (Steve’s knowledge of the heart seems to be limited.)
"That’s how many valves?" Steve repeated over the drone of the electric clippers.
"At least seven," I finally acquiesced.
True story from John Treworgy via eMail, Wed, 12 Mar 2003 22:25:36 -0500