Next week is my first true test as a Senior Citizen with a medical appointment every day except Tuesday – and there’s still time to complete the sweep. Mondays are typically a standing visit with my Chiropractor, but instead I’ll be having a TEE procedure, another steppingstone on the path to repairing an aortic aneurysm. After a day of recovery, I drive to Sarasota to speak with my cardiologist and review both the TEE and Heart Catheterization tests that I will have undergone. Most likely, we’ll set a day for surgery. On Thursday, I drive to St. Petersburg for more tests regarding my prostate issues and perhaps a firm date for that procedure. On Friday, I will be at the mercy of an Ophthalmologist and a painful Prokera eye surface treatment in preparation for cataract surgery. Most likely, I will be sight-challenged and uncomfortable the following week.

I’m facing three major surgeries, heart, eyes, and prostrate, in such a short timeframe, after 72-years of no operations. It’s a sure sign that my parts are wearing out, with thoughts of Hollywood:

“The Six Million Dollar Man was an American science fiction and action television series, running from 1973 to 1978, about a former astronaut, USAF Col. Steve Austin, portrayed by Lee Majors. After a NASA test flight accident, scientist Oscar Goldman proclaims, “We can rebuild him. We have the technology. We can make him better than he was. Better, stronger, faster.” As a result, Austin is rebuilt with bionic implants which give him superhuman strength, speed and vision. 

In my particular case, perhaps The Wizard of Oz story is a better example. I do run with the speed of a Tin Man, with heavy steps and in need of a good oiling. However, as The Wizard says to the man in need of a ticker: “And remember, my sentimental friend, that a heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others!” I will not get the strength or speed of Steve Austin but perhaps better vision and a heart that is no longer a ticking time bomb. 

Austin was retooled by the Office of Scientific Intelligence (OSI), while mine is hopefully mostly paid for by Medicare. I will also have a super woman by my side to get me through this, my own Jaimie Sommers. My wife and our friends/family have been truly supportive and sympathetic. I truly am loved, but still will be just the same old fart with some brand-new parts! (I feel a poem coming on…stay tuned)