Out of commision - heart attack

[Ross Buettner]

Hi everyone.

A few of you told me a year ago I'd kill myself if I continued what I was doing.... you were almost correct.

8 days ago I was responding to a customer's email and felt a ball of fire in my throat. I simply went to the ER not wanting to risk it.

They did enzyme tests, the first of which was negative. The second showed a positive result. After being admitted 1 hour later I had an ehco done on my heart to find a torn aorta and non working valve. I was pumping blood into my neck.

20 minutes later I was on a helicopter to Milwaukee, WI for emergency surgery. I was given 33% odds of surviving the flight.

Once there I was given 40% to survive the prodecudre of which took 11 hours and 8 pints of blood to do.

I am at home. My kids are trying to keep the janitorial end together. The carpet cleaning is done. There is no one I can train in my health. Im not even allowed to drive for the next 60 days.

I have 2-3 nurses a day here to monitor me. I have 6-8 months of rehabilitation left.

It's taken me almost 2 hours to type this. It's that hard for me to communicate. As time goes on, things will get better for me to communicate.. but not much of it makes sense now, and honestly I can't worry any, or I'll be dead. I should be dead already.

Ross

 

[Dolly Llama]

LORD HAVE MERCY ...
WOW....donno what to say

hang tough, brother
Guess all you can do is RELAX and take it one day at a time

.L.T.A.

 

[Desk Jockey]

WOW that's a shocker!

You better not worry about anything, time will take care of everything, relax and heal.
You may not feel like it but you're one lucky dog! Glad to still have you with us!

P.S. Consider having them contact a business broker and sell the carpet cleaning, it still has value to a buyer.

 

[FLYERMAN]

I'd come over there and teach one of your employees to clean carpet. I could stay for a few days maybe more if you got a quick learner I could put him in good shape by then.

 

[Giorgio]

jeepers!

I don't know what you continued to do that caused people to say it would kill you. so I'm guessing you worked too much... DON'T DO THAT ANYMORE!

Praying for a speedy recovery for you Ross...

 

[Eliott]

Don't know you. I just joined this forum yesterday.

But let me tell you Brother I can understand where you at phisicily and emotionally.

I had a similar experience at age 46, hart valve quit working, I was completely down for six months and another eighteen months of recovery after that during which I found out I'm diabetic and have a lot of other problems I had no idea I had.

Hang in there buddy keep your chin up. Your health comes first and it sounds like you have some good people around you for support.
One thing that was hard for me was letting them take the rains and run with it.
Mostly I didn't want to burden anyone with my problems.
I learned out of my experience. Most of those that are close to you go through emotional stress very similar to what you experience and there reaction and trying to help you out is as much a coping thing for them as it is support for you.

Don't turn away those that want to help and if you just need an unbiased ear let me know
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2

 

[Greg Cole]

No need to shut it down. There are plenty of people here that I'm sure will be happy to help you get someone trained. Better to save most of it rather than lose all of it.

You just need to document your cleaning procedure so that it can be taught. You can use the SFS one as a template (I'm sure Steve Toburen would send you a copy).

Call me if you want some advice. I've helped at least a dozen friends through the same type of scenario over the years and would be happy to help you strategize.

ALSO- You can get the DRAGON program for your pc or Mac. it will transcribe your words into text just in case you need it.

 

[Buck1955]

Hang in there! It takes time to recover from a heart attack. Mine wasn't near as bad as yours. When you feel like it, let us know where you live and I'm sure a few of us are close enough to come train. A previous post said you were working alone 7 days a week. There must be plenty of business to keep it alive, or sell. Let us know how we can help.

 

[cu]

is this the crap you pull just to take a few days off.........your fired

 

[hogjowl]

Thank God you live in a land with a safety net available to you. I hope you don't need it. I hope you fully recover and your business life goes on unchanged.

 

[Mikey P]

Yikes, sorry to hear it Ross


would you be so kind as to remind me/us about what you were doing (wrong) that led to people warning you that this would happen?

 

[ruff]

Wishing you a quick and full recovery.

 

[J Scott W]

Best wishes for a full recovery. Don't worry.

Steve will be along soon to explain why he cut his thumb off and how things like this are a lesson for all of us. Take note! It is not worth killing yourself to make some extra $$$. Start now and develop a plan for your business just in case disaster strikes.

 

[Dan]

Best wishes to you Ross. I wish you a happy and speedy recovery.

 

[Jack May]

All the best Ross. Lucky to be alive.

Sorry about your business, but at this stage your health is top most priority.

John

 

[bob vawter]

Listen......first thing you do is find some dumb smuck to BUY yor bidness.......

 

[Jay_wat]

Ross,,hope you recover quickly,,and thankfully you didnt chance it and went in to get it checked out!!

 

[Scott O]

Tough break but your still breathing.

Get well soon

 

[Jim Morrison]

Hey Ross good thing you went to the ER when you did! Hope you can relax in your recovery.

 

[Ross Buettner]

I have mulitple sources for some help. My trouble is (and what Mike asks as a good question) is: Wtf I was doing, when you all were telling me otherwise?

Insomnia. Constant use of anything that works fast to get 5-6 hours of sleep a night.
Coffee/soda in the morning to counteract
Constantly obsess, worry, go do "that one more thing" that had no relevance to what was needed to be done.
Pissing your family off, being justified because you're the bread winner.
Trying to prove to the world you're better than you are.

And the list really goes on.

When the Doc in the HeliPad says, "No sure, if you're a spiritual man... but you've got about 35 minutes of redemption up there in that chopper with your maker son." The you're signing waivers with the terrible odds of surgery holding them harmless.... It's game-changing.

Keep in mind I JUST TURNED 40................

Well, the lesson at hand IS here. I am alive. I can either mess this up and go right back to it, killing myself in a few months. Or I can recover, and take a real damned hard good look at what I need to do to have two businsesses... and work like nomal people do.

I did get a call for some free training from someone in the lower state area. For the sake of getting the booked commercial work sopken for, I might just send him down there with the truck and take advantage of that. My fiance is taking a semester off of college to keep things floating.

 

[Shorty]

Glad you're still with us Ross, and hope that you will be for a long time.

TRY not to stress out over anything and DO take on Flyerman's offer.

Get your family, friends and someone with legal smarts together to try and work out the best solution financially for your future.

Let them handle it instead of you stressing.

I think many of us are guilty of burning the candle at both ends, and I praise you for having the balls and the sense to get to the ER in time.

Hang in there Brother.

Shorty.

 

[randy]

Best wishes for a full recovery. Don't worry.

Steve will be along soon to explain why he cut his thumb off and how things like this are a lesson for all of us. Take note! It is not worth killing yourself to make some extra $$$. Start now and develop a plan for your business just in case disaster strikes.

That is so true, we have this idea that we are indestructible. The other day I was cleaning from 7am until 1am the next morning to get a few last minute bookings done. Sure it was fun to go home and crash with $3400 in checks but there is a limit how long you can do this crap folks. We are all going to get old and die, just don't speed it up.

A few months ago I quit drinking pepsi, coke, gateraid or dr pepper 24/7. I'm not off it 100% but pretty close. I collapsed one day and busted my head pretty bad, six stitches. Just passed out from dyhidration. My hatred of water had to end and my soda dependency is going to have to go. The crap is horrible for your body, it will kill you eventually. One past member of this board was famous for drinking around 20 12 oz cans of mellow yellow everyday. Clearly his drug of choice till he had a massive heart attack and had to leave the industry. That much caffeine alone can shut down the proper function of your organs. Literally all the negatives of massive alcohol on your liver as it has to process the mega dose of high fructose corn surp & caffeine , but for what ? Why do it do yourself? Now that I'm drinking around 100 oz of water everyday I feel so much better and sleep better.

We need a basic health class in this industry before we see too many more good go down unnecessarily. Our schedule sets us up for distruction.

 

[Steve Toburen]

Steve will be along soon to explain why he cut his thumb off and how things like this are a lesson for all of us. Take note! It is not worth killing yourself to make some extra $$$. Start now and develop a plan for your business just in case disaster strikes.

Well, only since you suggested it, Scott:

http://sfs.jondon.com/10245/blog/as-a-carpet-cleaner-do-you-have-a-disaster-plan-in-place

Scott, does your boss know you are lobbing me softballs to hit out of the park? Doyle would have had your head on a platter! See you in Vegas!

Steve

PS Seriously, Ross, I'm glad you are alive. (I'm amazed with my OCD personality I didn't wind up this way at 35!) The very best disaster plan is to not use the one you have in place. So I hope everyone wakes up and thinks carefully about their lifestyle and their physical/ emotional/ mental health.

 

[Dolly Llama]

We need a basic health class in this industry before we see too many more good go down unnecessarily. Our schedule sets us up for distruction.

might be a good "feel good" program , But I'm not sure it would help Randy.
Like so many things in life, be it biz or personal, it's not that most don't "know"...it's that many don't "do"


..L.T.A.

 

[Ross Buettner]

How are take care of ourselves is a majority of the battle.

This whole thing was a genetic defect I had. Hda I lived a better life, mayby it wouldnt have happened. No one can really tell.

The bills are starting to come in over 1 million. I have no insruance.

 

[Dolly Llama]

The bills are starting to come in over 1 million. I have no insruance.

fortunately, there ain't no debtors prison .
Actually, you can make many arrangements with medial providers ..as long as you're "regularly" paying "something" every month..even a small manageable amount, they generally won't throw in collection and muck up your credit .
also be sure to tell them you don't have ins ...they'll likely reduce the charges substantially.. as well as possibly get you enrolled in the many programs available to help those in your situation ...or point you in the right direction anyway

Here's what I'd suggest you do though, Ross
Apply for temporary social security disability (SSI)...your expected recovery time (6 months or longer) qualifies you.
The monthly cash bennies may not be so much, but the biggie for you will be the medicade bennies ..they'll cover your scripts, office visits and related medical need$ .
best part is, the coverage will be retroactive to the date you went down


..L.T.A.

 

[Hoody]

Here's what I'd suggest you do though, Ross
Apply for temporary social security disability (SSI)...your expected recovery time (6 months or longer) qualifies you.
The monthly cash bennies may not be so much, but the biggie for you will be the medicade bennies ..they'll cover your scripts, office visits and related medical need$ .
best part is, the coverage will be retroactive to the date you went down


..L.T.A.

X2!

Have a good friend who owned a small coffee shop in town. Its a hoppin place here with the college students, free wifi, library, ect ect. He had a stroke, and the end result was 75% paralysis of the right side of his body. With therapy he's much more mobile than he was. They had to shut down the coffee shop after his stroke while he was going to therapy. Long story short he didn't know what to do, but I finally convinced him to apply for SSI.

Applying for SSI is sometimes no easy task. They may deny you, and make you jump through hoops to get it, but keep with it and don't get discouraged. I would contact any of your doctors, surgeons and let them know you're going to be applying. They can help gather your records, and the proper reports to make the process much more smoother for you.

 

[truckmount girl]

I just saw this thread. So glad you are still with us Ross! Where are you located? What kind of help do you need from friends, near and far?

Take care,
Lisa

 

[rwcarpet]

Damn, that's scarey! I'm going on 60, been cleaning for 35 years, and something like that would close me down. What did you mean by " Constant use of anything that works fast to get 5-6 hours of sleep a night"? Xanax? Ambien? alcohol? Just curious. I still take xanax and an Ambien sub, but I'm not out working 24/7. (I take these for something that happened 10 years ago......still keeps me up at night).

Our prayers are with you, Ross.....what a tuff break.

 

[mcatt]

God bless you and speedy recovery. Let other help you. There are great people who can train techs to run your biz.