Did Brookings pastor Kline have a stroke of luck? Health issue forced him to make lifestyle changes
I had no idea what was happening! Getting up in the early morning to go to the bathroom, I seemed a bit woozy. It was necessary to hold onto things as my balance was uneven. Still, I did my business and went back to bed.
Getting up for good an hour or so later, I still felt strange, and mentioned it to my wife when I went downstairs. She took one look at me and said we’re going to the hospital emergency room. Apparently, she could see stroke symptoms in my face.
Sure enough, the tests confirmed, I had a stroke. My old ticker was tired.
Further tests confirmed one of the heart valves was calcified. It was still functioning but wouldn’t improve, only get worse. It was possible to have a new valve inserted through a process labeled TAVR, for transcatheter aortic valve replacement. This is an amazing process, where the new valve travels by way of an artery in the groin to the appropriate place in the heart. First introduced in France in 2002, TAVR is the 21st century replacement for open heart surgery.
After consultation and thoughtful consideration, the decision was made to proceed with TAVR at the Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls. The early morning surgery lasted an hour and a half, the results were positive, and hospital discharge was approved the following afternoon.
Cardiopulmonary rehabilitation has four phases. The first is that time in the hospital right after the surgery. The second is an exercise regimen. I completed that second phase of 36 MWF sessions and received my diploma at the Brookings Hospital. I intend to frame that piece of paper and hang it in my office. It’s signed “cardiac rehab,” but I know it’s really signed by the staff of Louise and Ann and Meredith, the three people who take care of all of us rehabilitates, and do a fantastic job of it. It may mean offering a hand as you step a little dizzily off the treadmill or visiting with you to help the time pass as you work the pedal machine.
The next two phases of rehabilitation are up to me. It means developing my own schedule for exercise, eating right and checking vitals. I intend for the pattern of exercise established at the hospital to continue at the SDSU Wellness Center, where all of the different exercise equipment is available; as well as opportunities for swimming or walking the track in difficult weather. Walking outdoors in the evenings will continue to be a priority, especially as summer heats up and fades into fall.
This is probably the most personal column I’ve written for public consumption. Two thoughts convinced me to go ahead. One reason was simply to hold up and be grateful for all those people who are in the health and helping professions: especially the doctors and nurses at the Heart Hospital, who carried out their duties in a responsible and caring way; and the staff at Brookings rehab, who helped so many of us through phase two to graduation.
The second reason to write about this personal experience is it might encourage or help others in similar situations. Or perhaps it might even get some of the older readers thinking seriously about lifestyle changes: quitting smoking; losing weight; eating healthier; exercising regularly; living longer and better.
As a person of faith, I know that the future is not mine to know or own. Everything is ultimately in God’s hands. But we humans also have hands for a reason. They can be used for good or ill, for harm or healing. Thanks be to God for those hands that affirm life in healing and helpful ways!
Carl Kline of Brookings is a United Church of Christ clergyman and adjunct faculty member at the Mt. Marty College campus in Watertown. He is a founder and on the planning committee of the Brookings Interfaith Council, co-founder of Nonviolent Alternatives, a small not-for-profit that, for 15 years, provided intercultural experiences with Lakota/Dakota people in the Northern Plains and brought conflict resolution and peer mediation programs to schools around the region. He was one of the early participants in the development of Peace Brigades International. Kline can be reached at carl@satyagrahainstitute.org. This column originally appeared in the Brookings Register.
Photo: public domain, wikimedia commons
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