My Mom's Big Heart

Some of you may know this by now, and I am sure many of you do not.

Last Saturday, February 25, Patti and I were hosting a party at my house to celebrate my Mom's 80th birthday. She had been down in The Big Apple, the week before with my brother, and his partner David, and my sister Laura. They were doing up New York City, big time, took in a Broadway show, had some great meals and arrived at the airport Saturday afternoon to head to the party.


I was standing with my sister (who came in on a different flight) waiting for the rest to come in. My Mom came through the sliding doors and down the ramp, gave me a hug....looked at my sister (who by the way is a nurse) - and said "I am having chest pain".
Instantly I thought....is she tired? Is it from pressure from the landing? Now as this was happening, my brother Don and his wife Rosie pulled up in front of the terminal....Laura and Mom got into the car and were gone, as I waited for Jim and David to get off the plane.

I quickly got a call from my sister in law....just a few short minutes saying that they were on the way to Credit Valley Hospital. Now it was getting scary. In the meantime, I had 25 family members on the way to my place to celebrate my Mom's birthday. We decided to go there first, and wait to get a call from the first carload going to the hospital.

By the time they arrived at the hospital, my Mom was officially scared, my sister ran inside and said I have an 80 year old woman with chest pain rated at "10 out of 10". The professionals quickly reacted to assess what was going on, and in short order determined that indeed my Mom was having a heart attack, and in fact one artery was 100% blocked. One thing we did not know of course is, Credit Valley is a great hospital, but Trillium in Mississauga is the "Heart" hospital....and quickly the decision was made to send her there. She got there quickly by ambulance and she was rushed in for an emergency angioplasty surgery.

Meanwhile back at the house, the family was showing up, my daughters, my brother Steve and his entourage and my nieces etc. etc. Slowly we told people as they arrived what was going on. It was surreal. I didn't know what to do. You like to think you will make the right decisions, but you keep wanting this not to be happening.

Back at the hospital, the angioplasty has been done. Patti, pulled me aside and said, you and your brothers (Jim and Steve) need to go...."don't worry about us" - so we did, we headed to the hospital....not really knowing what to expect.

We arrived and found our way to the CCU (Critical Care Unit) - found my brother Don and wife Rosie and my sister Laura sitting in the CCU waiting room, along with about 15 other people....sadly, a really busy place. My sister filled us in on everything. Mom had a substantial heart attack. She had the one 100% blocked artery fixed with a "bare metal stent". We also found out that she had another artery 95% blocked.

What is really interesting about this picture is that the arrow pointing to the Left Anterior Descending Artery is pointing exactly to where her 100% blockage was. The arrow pointing at the Right Coronary Artery is pointing exactly to where her 95% blockage.

Here is a great picture of a Normal Artery and a Narrowed Artery....caused by the buildup of plaque. This is what was going on with my Mom, and of course nobody, including her, knew this.

Angioplasty is a technique for reopening narrowed or blocked arteries in the heart (coronary arteries) without major surgery. Click here for more on the procedure.

An amazing procedure.

My Mom was feeling a bit better, but still had a lot of pressure on her chest. She had to have another Angioplasty done on the 95% blocked artery, but they wanted to wait until Wednesday or Thursday for that. However, on Sunday night, she was having a lot of pain again...and the decision was made to do the other surgery on Monday. It was a long 24 hours.....waiting. The surgery was done Monday afternoon. My amazing sister was there all day with her, keeping us on in the loop. I arrived at the hospital after the surgery. I walked in remembering how pale my Mom had looked on Sunday night....I was really worried. When I came in she was eating fruit cocktail and looking great (Amazing, I thought to myself).

It is now Wednesday night, and Mom already looks like her energetic self. She will be discharged in a couple of days, and of course has been told to take it easy...but they have also told her to resume her normal activities. Wow! What a difference a week can make.

That is the end of my "educational blog" for the day. I am working on a follow up....stay tuned.

Thanks to the staff at Credit Valley and Trillium....amazing. Thanks to Don and Rosie for their "ambulance like" drive to the hospital....thanks to Jim and David....for being here, and brother Steven too for all their help.....thanks to all my family and friends who have been in touch to see how she is doing.

Special thanks to Patti, who was (and is) simply amazing.

A very special thanks to my sister Laura. I cannot even describe to you how important it is to have someone looking after things that can combine knowledge with compassion, and have the calm ability to keep us informed. Thanks Laura. I love you.

As for you Mom.....we all love you....and your Big Heart.

Sports Tidbits!

Now....to bring you up to date on this and that in the sporting world.

1/ Milos Raonic won another ATP event, winning his second straight SAP Open championship Sunday behind a powerful serve nobody in San Jose could solve, rolling past Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the finals.

Raonic's serve was phenomenal. At one point Istomin challenged one of Milos' serves as being out. It was in by a long shot. "I didn't see it at all," Istomin said, laughing. "That's why I challenged it."

Keep an eye on Milos Raonic.

2/ The Jeremey Lin show continues in New York. Yesterday the New York Knicks played the defending champions Dallas Mavericks and won  104 - 97. What did Lin do? - 28 points (remember the best in the league average 29) and he added 14 assists (Steve Nash averages 11 - he is the best) and Lin also had 5 steals (the leagues best average 2.5 steal per game) - Phenomenal Game. Fun to watch.

Here are his 14 assists:

                                                 
                                                               This is fun stuff!

3/ Last year Bill Haas won the Fedex Cup in the PGA. He came out of nowhere (seemingly) to finish the PGA tour strong and had a spectacular run to take the trophy. Some people thought he got a little lucky (which I don't agree with) - but just so you are up to date on how he is doing this year.......

He is doing it again. Yesterday Bill Haas beat Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in an extra holes victory at the Northern Trust Open at the Riviera CC · Pacific Palisades, California. Haas drained a 43 foot putt for the victory. How does back-to-back Fedex Cup Champion sound? - Good luck Bill.

4/ Ho-Hum.
The Detroit Red Wings won its 23rd straight at Joe Louis Arena, setting an NHL multiple-season mark for home dominance by holding on to beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2 Sunday. It must be fun to go to the rink every game, expecting to win......something my favorite team can only dream of.

                                               I put this in for my nephew Jackson Ross.


5/ Finally, as most of you know, I have a hard time not saying something about lacrosse. And seeing how the premise of passitonsports is passing it on, I thought I would share a short YouTube I found on Facebook, that I thought does a good job of embracing what sports should be about. Pass it on.

Please go to www.passitonsports.ca and share a feel good sports story of your own.

15 Minutes of Fame? It's Lin-Sanity!!

Do you know Jeremy Lin?

You want to talk about a "feel good" sports story.

Basically 2 weeks ago, nobody really knew Jeremy Lin. He is a Harvard graduate, and that is a story all on its own. He was undrafted to the NBA, wasn't quite a fit, I guess. The Golden State Warriors did finally sign him to a contract, but was quickly released. Houston Rockets picked him up off waivers, and again released him in order to sign someone else. Finally the New York Knicks picked him up off waivers on December 27th 2011 as a backup to Mike Bibby and Toney Douglas.

• On February 4, 2012, Lin got his chance to play and had 25 points, five rebounds, and seven assists—all career-highs in a 99–92 Knicks victory over the New Jersey Nets.
•  In his next game he got the start and he had 28 points and eight assists.
• In a game against the Washington Wizards, Lin had 23 points and career-high 10 assists. It was his first double-double.
• On February 10, Lin scored a new career-high 38 points and had seven assists, leading the Knicks in their 92–85 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. (Kobe had 34).
• On February 11, Lin scored 20 points and had 8 assists in a narrow 100–98 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Five wins in a row for the Knicks. Lin is the first NBA player to average over 20 points and 7 rebounds in his first four starts. The knicks are back in the playoff hunt. Lin was player of the week last week in the NBA. What an incredible story. How long will it last?

What kind of impact does this have on the NBA?

Actually it is phenomenal. Tshirt designers and sellers have gone crazy. NBA online store says that the Lin shirts is the highest selling NBA shirt. 10 days!!! that's all it takes?? - Stores can not keep them in stock.

Here is just a random sample.

 

Here is one of my favorites (just to point out the insanity)

I am sorry, but sports fans are nuts. But even worse, I fall into the group, I am loving this guy. Jeremy Lin and The New York Knicks are in Toronto tonight to face the hapless Raptors. It has been a horrible year for the Dino's. There has been only two sellouts. Home Opener and then  Kobe and the Lakers.....and by now you probably can guess, they have another sellout tonight. That is the impact that a "star" can have on the business side. Because of the phenomenon know as Jeremy Lin, and whether or not this is just his

"15 minutes" or not, the point is, Toronto will be buzzing tonight, the bars will be a little busier, more beer, and more food and more merchandise. Crazy, but true.

Follow him on his twitter account  @JLin7    so far he has over 240,000 folowers

 (social media - yikes)

Have a look at this kid tonight. Should be fun.

10 days is all it took, to make a SuperStar. How long will it last?

Fundamentals

There are many different definitions for Fundamentals. I like this one.

Fundamental - Something that is an essential or necessary part of a system or object.

Let's talk sports. (why not?) - In order to play a sport, you need to learn the skill of the game. You also need to learn competitiveness, strategy, and rules of play.

But, in order to be good, even more, to be great, you need fundamentals.

You heard the saying, you must crawl before you walk, and walk before you run. This is also true in sport.

I was coaching lacrosse one year, and I will never forget this. A beloved parent came to me and asked "Why is my son not on the powerplay". Now for all coaches out there you can appreciate my answer. I said "Your son, is doing so well. I really am seeing some improvement, and with some more work, perhaps he will get an opportunity down the line".  Now that is "Coaching 101" and usually gets you by. Now I would like to give you the answer I really wanted to give the parent. Try this on.
"Why is your kid not on the powerplay? He can't catch. Simple as that....oh, and he can't throw the ball either. Shall I go on"?  You get the idea.

Athletes want to be great. We all have dreams of making the Big Play one day, scoring the big goal, having our moment in the sun. So here is my advice to young players of any sport, and of course to all you parents and coaches who impact the kids directly.

Take the time to "Learn your Sport". Be a student of the very basics of the game. Learn the proper form of a jump shot in basketball. Learn how to swing a golf club properly. Find a wall, and throw the lacrosse ball off of that wall, over and over......and over an over. And tomorrow, do it again. Check this great YouTube of Joe Walters doing a little wall ball. This is what I call working on fundamentals.

We are in an era now that old time athletes like myself can hardly believe. At your fingertips you can google anything....youtube, facebook, twitter and beyond. If you don't know how to do something, you can usually find an instruction manual or video in about 30 seconds. Really amazing. This is all really great, BUT, don't forget one thing. You do not get better online. Put down your iphone or Blackberry and get away from your computer and get out to the gym, the court, the course, the wall, the floor, the rink, the trail.....whatever it is....get out and do it. "Practice makes Perfect" (old saying but still true)

Coaches - if you have 8 players that can pass and catch at a high level, and 5 that cannot...what can you do. Some would say, work with the "good" players while the others practice, and I guess this can work. But i think that you need to get the whole team on board with helping the weaker players to get better. Find ways to work on fundamentals as a team - All Year. - Before the playoffs begin, go back to some basics. How to pick up the ball, how to throw, how to catch. We need to repeat these habits over and over....and everybody will get better.

In order for a great play to work for a coach is simple. You draw up the play. everybody runs the correct cuts, it is perfect. However, this is a fact, the play will only work with a great fundamental pass, and catch of the ball.

Fundamentals - Time to get to work.

Check out this kid working on fundamentals.

Super Bowl Sunday

Not everybody loves the Super Bowl. However, I do.

I have been watching this big game since I can remember, I have attended many Super Bowl parties over the years, and of course the ultimate....I have seen My Team, the Purple People Eaters lose this big game 4 times. For you Non Super Bowl fans, you heard that right. The Minnesota Vikings Have been to the Big Show 4 times, and came away empty each time. And yes, it hurts (ask the Buffalo Bills fans)

Minnesota Vikings 0 wins 4 losses in Super Bowls

The NFL is an amazing league, and a phenomenal business machine. They do it right, from the opening kickoff in the fall, all the way to the Big Game today. It has been 2 weeks of hype, interviews and sports pundits finding something to talk about. It is all over now, and it is time to actually play football. The best place in my opinion to see the game, if you are a big fan, is squared up on the lazy boy or your favorite spot on the couch. It would be great to see the game live at some point, but for roughly $1200 to $4000 per seat (depending on who you talk to)....I think the house is a good place to see the game.

As for today's game? The New England Patriots vs the New York Giants. I hate to trivialize the game but in my opinion it is as simple as this.

                                                       Tom Brady - New England Patriots

vs.

                                                    Eli Manning - New York Giants


It is as simple as that. One of these two great quarterbacks will be today's Superbowl MVP. That is my bold (i know big deal) prediction.

Today's Superbowl will be a bit of a track meet, shootout, air show, whatever you want to call it. These two great quarterbacks have a lot on the line. Eli, long in the shadow of the Great Peyton Manning can win his second Super Bowl, cementing his spot in The Hall of Fame. A lot of football fans have a hard time with that, never fully buying into Eli as a quarterback.

Tom Brady has a chance to win his unprecedented 4th Super Bowl Ring. Pretty impressive stuff.

I know sometimes all the hype of the big game can be followed with a bit of a stinker on the field...but I don't think that is the case today. I am looking for a great game.

and my prediction???     New England will win. Lots of scoring..... Final score....

New England Patriots    38       New York Giants  31.

Enjoy the game.