I recently heard that an old friend of a friend is in ICU due to a heart attack...

[Richard Steele]

Now, I've known this FOAF since I was I small child,
and he was a large man back then...
A big man, a huge man, a very VERY large man...

When his older brother told to us that his little bro
was in ICU, he also mentioned that the dude weighed in
at 632 lbs.

So, what the hell do I even say to that? What the FUCK
do I write on his "get well" card"?

This guy was always big-n-round since I was a kid, but
his entire family was always always tremendously strong...

Back in the late '80s, he and his wife drove a mid-sized
Chrysler sedan, and when they had a flat tire one night
he wandered off into the woods , found a big chunk of
a dead oak tree that someone had sectioned for firewood,,
and lifted the ass end of the car onto it so he could change
the flat tire.

You think I'm kidding? I thought he was kidding when he told me
the story, until he lifted the back of the car with one armto show
how he changed the tire without a jack.

Anywho, he's only 52 years old, the youngest sibling in his family,
and he's weighed into ICU at 632 pounds...what the hell do I say to that?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear dicksteele...

I used to work ICU many years ago, and I can tell you that anyone weighing that much could be in a lot of trouble. I mean, unless he's 8 feet tall, or something.

I wish him luck.

He's going to need it. I'm guessing, but I'd bet he has high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. Both are implicated in heart attacks.

Vibes to you, and to him, and his family...

:hug:

[Richard Steele]

4. Oh, my dear "Notorious Calli-P"...

I've always known everything you are saying, but I
hoped he was an exception to the rule...

He doesn't LOOK like he weighs 600lbs...
muscle being 3 times a dense as fat, he was always
a "Santa-shaped" 6'9" 30 years ago....

Yeah, he's almost 7' tall, and he's BIG for his heighth...
but so are both of his older brothers, and they were just
starting to worry about finding a good geriatric orthopedist
to take care of their KNEES when he suddenly pulled this
"heart attack" bullshit.

They are very large men, and their "feats of strength"
are the stuff of legend up in these parts...
and now their little brother is in a hospital bed
with tubes going in and out of him every which way....

I just want to know what to say to him when I go see him, knowhutImean?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

5. Sorry...I didn't mean to talk down to you...

I think you can't go wrong if you do what auntAgonist suggests...

I hope he's an exception to the rule, too...

:hug:

[Richard Steele]

7. FUCK THAT NOISE. You have NEVER "Talked down" to anyone here at DU...

Anyone, in any thread, anywhere, EVER.

[auntAgonist]

2. You write "get well soon"

that's all.

You don't need to comment on the man's weight at all.

I hope he recovers.

aA

[Sebastian Doyle]

3. No question that 632 pounds is just way too big in any case

But I'm thinking a man who could lift up the ass end of a car with one arm must not be all fat. That would require some serious muscle strength.

And I say that as a man in his early 40's who knows he weighs too damn much and is trying to do something about it, but can't lift any cars without mechanical assistance.

Hope he makes it, and finds a healthier life as a result.

[Richard Steele]

6. Yeah, that's the thing: He's tall, and has some sort of "solid muscle" gene.

He was "built" like a 6'5" Santa Claus...
he and his brothers do things every day that
put those "strongest man in the world" competitors
to shame.
And even as familiar as I am with the fact
that muscle weighs more than fat (ask anyone
in the NC group about my former sweetie),
I never would have guessed he weighed that much.

He was halfway to seven feet tall, strong as an ox,
and i would have guessed he went around 475 lbs.


Of course, weight issues aside, I would have guessed
that it have taken an SUV at 40mph to put him in ICU.

But it wasn't a head-on impact with 2 tons of fast-moving steel
that laid him low...his ticker served him notice
that it's been overworked and underapreciated for awhile now

[old mark]

8. I had 2 heart attacks about 5 years ago. If he is still strong

it will help him recover.
I am built more like Brian Westbrook, and I was in pretty good shape - except I had blocked arteries and my regular doc mis-diagnosed it. Having done exercise and having good muscle tone helped save my life, probably his too.

Just say get better and be positive with him - believe me, he can use all the friends hs can get right now, and it will be a great help to his recovery just to have you there, even if you say nothing.

Hope he makes a good recovery.

All the best.

mark

[Richard Steele]

9. Indeed. nm