Having a Heart
by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Too bad I can't tell you that my heart issue was from injuries sustained by stopping a stagecoach holdup, but it was much more mundane. In October, 2001, I began having chest pains and thought I was doing too much manual labor. But they got worse, so I went to the doctor. Even though I was in my early forties, they gave me nitro pills and did some checking, but couldn't find the problem. I was sent to a cardiologist, who figured the only way to be really certain was to get me on the operating table and take a look. The surgeon put me under anesthetic (but not completely under) and put a tube in a major artery in my leg. This was a camera thingie, and it was pushed up all the way to my heart for a look-see. The surgeon brought me out of it and said, "One of your three major arteries is mostly blocked". (I think he said it was 97 percent blocked.) "Do you want me to open it?" Yup, do that. You know he had to ask, protocol or someth