Stent Man
“You could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think.”— Marcus Aurelius I thought I would be home in a couple of hours. I was certain the doctor would tell me there’s nothing wrong, that the cardiac catheterization procedure I had to endure on Thursday would show that I was in tiptop shape, and I could go forth and live a happy life. It didn’t exactly work out that out. I was stretched out on a table in NYU Langone, my right hand strapped down, while a surgeon inserted a miniature camera into my wrist and through my arteries to get a live picture of my heart, which appeared on a widescreen TV in the operating room like a hockey game in a sports bar. The surgeon had advised me prior to the procedure that if he found any serious blockage, he’d have to put in a stent, but I knew that was ridiculous. I work out regularly, I watch what I eat. I’m in the clear. And then he poked his head out before behind a protective screen. “When you work out, d