Thursday I had a very hard day of work. Yesterday (Friday) I woke to my cell phone screaming at me. It was 3:00AM. I was getting called in to try to save a life, which we were able to do. I handed him off to the cardiac surgery team (my past work-mates) at around 6:00AM and they opened him up, bypassed several arteries and threw a new mitral valve in for good measure, though the damage to the pump function of the heart had already been done and he can't support a viable blood pressure without a mechanical assist device. Very poor prognosis, in other words.
I went straight from that case into another busy day of scheduled angiograms and coronary interventions (balloon angioplasty/stent placement). My day ended up being 19 hours long, all of it high-stress stuff. When I got home at 8:30PM I was so tired I couldn't sleep.
Curses! I'm hardwired to get up early every day, or at least be wide awake. It didn't used to be this way. I used to sleep in like a teenage slacker, but not for the last several years. Whatever. I was awake early this AM, and the weather was stunningly good. I dragged my tired carcass out of bed and about halfway up Matilija. I parked in the sun on the creek and enjoyed several hours of doin' nuthin. My batteries did not recharge. I need sleep.
One cool thing happened today that I have to share. I met a real nice guy named Jeremy Scarlett. He was out on the trail with his two handsom sons, one knocked out in a kid carrier on his back. He had recognized me at a glance, said he often reads this blog. I thought that was just great. I also thought it was great that he was out there with his young boys, opening their eyes to something greater than video games and cartoons. He seemed like a great dad in just the few moments we spent. Well Jeremy, if you want to do a local hike, kite me an email.
Speaking of dads out in the woods with their kid. . .I was out pokin' around San Ysidro Canyon in SB last Saturday on an overcast day with scattered showers. I came around a corner on the trail and there was this dude with a very young baby wrapped up in a carrier on his chest. It wasn't what most people think of as a good day for a hike with cool temperatures and spitting skies. Yet, here was this guy carting his little one up the trail. I thought it was pretty cool.
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