The following program
presents principles designed
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to promote good health
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and is not
intended to take the place
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of personalized
professional care.
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The opinions and ideas expressed
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are those of the speaker.
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Viewers are encouraged to
draw their own conclusions
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about the information presented.
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Despite knowing the
best health practices
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and employing them in our lives,
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sometimes facing
cardiovascular disease
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is unavoidable.
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Today we'll
hear from Bobby Davis
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on how our trials can
sometimes be a blessing.
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Thanks for joining us today
on the Ultimate Prescription.
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Thank you for joining us today.
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I'm Nick Evenson, your host
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and we have a special edition
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of the Ultimate
Prescription for you today.
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And we have Dr. James Marcum,
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speaker and director
of Heartwise Ministries,
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and special guest, Bobby Davis
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of Three Angels
Broadcasting Network.
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Bobby, welcome to the program.
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Thank you so much.
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And just tell us a little
bit about what's your role here?
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Well, I work as a producer
for the 3ABN Today program.
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I'm also the editor
for 3ABN World Magazine.
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And I do some voiceover work
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for the radio network
and also some video editing.
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So I wear a lot of
hats, including my cowboy hat.
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So you may be behind the scenes
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a little bit more than
in front of the camera,
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but everyone
certainly appreciate
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what you do here at 3ABN.
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Thank you so much.
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And, Dr. Marcum,
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if you're a new
viewer here with the program,
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Dr. Marcum, you're
a practicing physician
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with the
Chattanooga Heart Institute.
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Yeah, I'm a cardiologist
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with the
Chattanooga Heart Institute.
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And at one time I was
one of the younger ones
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but as the years go,
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I am one of the
older cardiologists now
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so I do a lot of hiring
and firing the young gentlemen.
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And what I really have
learned through the years
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is my specialist
in disease reversal.
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So I work with
people and teach them
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how to reverse disease.
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But I also like to
think that I point them
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to the ultimate physician
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who's the healer of all disease.
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Amen. Yeah.
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Now, Bobby, you've got a story
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that we want to share
with our viewers today
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and, Dr. Marcum, you can provide
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some interesting
insights as a cardiologist.
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And so let's...
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Where does the story start?
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How do we start
to tell about this?
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Well, I woke up
on a Friday morning
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with the pain in my shoulder
up here on top of my shoulder
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and one in the
middle of my back.
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My guess is it
probably ended up being
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pericarditis at the time,
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because I developed
that a few days later,
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but also had a tiny little
bit of tightness in my chest,
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I would say it was
1.5 on a scale of 10.
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And that
tightness did not go away.
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And so by the
second day, I was like,
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maybe I need to check this out.
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Yeah.
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So we talked in earlier programs
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about prolonged symptoms
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above the waist
needs to be checked.
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Now I have a curious question
before the week or two before,
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did you notice that
you weren't feeling good
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when you were doing things
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or when you were
exerting yourself?
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Did you have any problems
with walking and doing things?
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I was a little busy.
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Okay, so that could have been
a symptom of a chronic disease.
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But as we talked about sometimes
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a disease doesn't even show up
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till you have a
pain that won't go away,
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a heart attack
situation or unstable coronary.
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Yes.
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I didn't feel much pain besides
the knots in my shoulder.
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So you sort of ignored
it at first, didn't you?
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I did.
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Oh, it's not me,
nothing's wrong with me.
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I hear that all the time.
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But not for very long.
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And by the next day,
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I decided I
needed to check it out.
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And actually, it
was Sunday morning.
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And I thought, "Man,
I just need to check out
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this tightness in my chest."
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So you went to
the emergency room?
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I did.
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And what did they do there?
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Immediately they
put me in, I mean,
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I went right
into the medical room.
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There you go.
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They did blood tests.
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My tests of my
heart seemed to be okay,
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but as soon as
the result came back
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my troponin
enzyme levels were up
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and they said
you've had a heart attack.
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And the next thing I know,
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I'm being bundled up
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and pushed into an
ambulance and off to the nearest
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cardiac catheterization
lab in Carbondale.
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And that was
quite an experience.
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How were you feeling inside
when all this was going on?
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You know, curiously, I
was more or less at peace,
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but in the ambulance
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that the driver
and the attendant
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both sat in the front
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and I was by myself in the back.
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And for about
the 15 minute ride,
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I realized all
at once, you know,
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this may be the
last day of my life,
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I need to make some
things right with my maker.
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And I did, I said a
prayer and I asked God
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to reveal to me
anything that stood in the way
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of my relationship with Him.
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And several things came up,
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I confess those sins
and made peace with God
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and then one more thing
came up and it was a resentment
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that I had with somebody
and I wasn't letting go of it.
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It wasn't anything
that was done to me.
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But I was holding
on to this resentment.
00:05:05.87\00:05:07.84
And I realized, that's my fault,
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you know, when I
refuse to forgive somebody,
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I'm holding
something, and that's toxic
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and that keeps me away from God.
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And I made peace
with that by asking God
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to give me His
forgiveness for that person
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that I would pass it along.
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And at that point,
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something
dramatic happened to me,
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and we'll go into it a
little later but basically,
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I felt an
incredible peace come over me,
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like I've never
had in my entire life.
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And that peace
continues to this day,
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and we can talk
more about it later.
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Well, I think
that's pretty remarkable
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'cause most people
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don't have a
faith to begin with.
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They don't have
that relationship
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to begin with.
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And that's why we
want to encourage everyone
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to have that relationship
for these tough times in life.
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'Cause, you know, you had
that but so many people don't
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and I see them, Nick, Bobby,
and they're scared to death.
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And that makes the
condition that much worse.
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They're scared.
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You know, they don't have,
they don't know where to go,
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what to do.
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You knew what to
do so in the ambulance
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you had this experience.
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You get to the
catheterization lab.
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What happens after that?
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I've never seen people
work so fast in my entire life
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within a few
minutes, and I mean,
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maybe two minutes
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they had me
completely prepped and ready.
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And the doctor,
very kind doctor came in
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and explained the procedure,
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he catherized me
through my wrist.
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And I watched
the whole procedure
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on the huge
television monitor right there
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and learned some
things about cardiac cath
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that I didn't know, for one
I knew that they inject die,
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but I didn't realize
it's tiny little bits of dye.
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I thought they'd
fill this up with dye
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and could see everything
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but it's just
little burst of dye.
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And I think they
must have given me
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something else to sedate me.
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We do, we usually
give them medicine
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to sort take the edge off.
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That's right,
because what I thought took
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maybe 10 minutes probably
took a little longer than that,
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to really look at all
the different arteries
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and they found
three blocked arteries.
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One completely
blocked and the other two,
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just about completely.
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Okay.
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And he came in after
the procedure was over
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and held my hand with
both his hands and he says
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"Bobby, we found some
blockage in your heart.
00:07:27.88\00:07:30.88
I'm afraid we're going to
have to do a triple bypass
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on your heart in
order to help you."
00:07:34.42\00:07:37.92
And he was
incredibly kind, I mean,
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it just really touched my heart
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that this doctor
was so personable to me
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and not cold or
clinical about it.
00:07:45.39\00:07:48.76
He was very kind.
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And I was again at peace.
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I'm gonna stop the
story right there to sort of
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tie in some of the
things we talked about.
00:07:55.27\00:07:56.91
So whenever you have a symptom,
you can't ignore it, okay.
00:07:56.94\00:08:00.98
And the people that
have a relationship with God,
00:08:01.01\00:08:03.75
have that peace or
can have that peace
00:08:03.78\00:08:05.98
or should have that peace.
00:08:06.01\00:08:08.02
And that helps
the overall medical,
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the bad genetics that
we might be experienced.
00:08:09.95\00:08:12.32
So you had lots of blockages,
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they did not get there in a day.
00:08:14.36\00:08:16.59
And I talked to Nick,
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sometimes this blockage
is based on their genetics,
00:08:17.99\00:08:20.30
their stress in life,
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they slowly build up over time
until they express themselves.
00:08:21.70\00:08:26.74
So and then we talked
about the treatment, you know,
00:08:26.77\00:08:29.07
which sometimes
we can do stents,
00:08:29.10\00:08:31.31
sometimes we can do medicines,
00:08:31.34\00:08:33.31
but sometimes we do
need to go to bypass.
00:08:33.34\00:08:36.51
So now that you're in one place,
00:08:36.54\00:08:39.68
what's the next step
after they told you that?
00:08:39.71\00:08:42.22
Now we've given you
medicines to stabilize you,
00:08:42.25\00:08:44.69
you sort of
realize what's going on.
00:08:44.72\00:08:46.72
So now what's the next step?
00:08:46.76\00:08:48.59
Well, they hospitalized me
00:08:48.62\00:08:50.06
and immediately started heparin,
00:08:50.09\00:08:52.59
which is I
guess a blood thinner.
00:08:52.63\00:08:54.66
That is a blood thinner.
00:08:54.70\00:08:56.03
And that's
apparently a little tricky
00:08:56.06\00:08:57.73
to get just the right level,
not too much, not too little.
00:08:57.77\00:09:01.64
And that took
actually several days
00:09:01.67\00:09:04.01
to get me stabilized
00:09:04.04\00:09:05.37
while they were trying
to schedule surgery for me.
00:09:05.41\00:09:08.38
Now, I should tell you
00:09:08.41\00:09:09.74
that in the
process of all of this,
00:09:09.78\00:09:11.88
I'm single, I don't have a wife
or somebody to take care of me.
00:09:11.91\00:09:15.88
And I was
terrified at the prospect
00:09:15.92\00:09:18.39
of being by myself at home,
00:09:18.42\00:09:21.19
trying to get through
00:09:21.22\00:09:22.56
the postoperative
procedures and, you know,
00:09:22.59\00:09:24.83
how do I get in and out of bed
00:09:24.86\00:09:26.23
and shower and all those things.
00:09:26.26\00:09:28.46
So I was
determined if I could to move
00:09:28.50\00:09:31.20
to a different hospital.
00:09:31.23\00:09:32.57
And in fact, they
did allow me finally,
00:09:32.60\00:09:35.40
after I prayed about
it, they stabilized me,
00:09:35.44\00:09:39.14
they put me on
several other drugs
00:09:39.17\00:09:41.61
to keep me that way.
00:09:41.64\00:09:42.98
And they allowed me
00:09:43.01\00:09:44.45
to go to Atlanta
where my sister lives.
00:09:44.48\00:09:47.55
By then by God's grace I
had already found a doctor,
00:09:47.58\00:09:51.25
a very well known doctor
00:09:51.29\00:09:53.42
in one of the best
hospitals in the city,
00:09:53.46\00:09:56.12
and had an appointment with him.
00:09:56.16\00:09:58.29
So I went down
there and they warned me
00:09:58.33\00:10:00.86
that if you feel anything,
00:10:00.90\00:10:02.30
you better stop
at the nearest ER.
00:10:02.33\00:10:04.73
Right. So you didn't
drive yourself, did you?
00:10:04.77\00:10:06.63
No, no, no. Okay.
00:10:06.67\00:10:08.00
My brother-in-law, God love him.
00:10:08.04\00:10:09.37
He drove eight hours up
there and eight hours back
00:10:09.40\00:10:12.17
all in the same
day to pick me up.
00:10:12.21\00:10:14.14
And you made the
trip pretty stressed fine.
00:10:14.18\00:10:16.48
Just fine, just fine.
00:10:16.51\00:10:17.85
And again, was
not nervous at all.
00:10:17.88\00:10:19.55
I know that's a typical.
00:10:19.58\00:10:20.92
Yeah.
00:10:20.95\00:10:22.28
And what's
interesting is that, remember,
00:10:22.32\00:10:23.95
the disease was there all along,
00:10:23.99\00:10:26.12
and then it
triggered and it acted up,
00:10:26.15\00:10:28.39
and then your body
couldn't compensate
00:10:28.42\00:10:30.33
so you had a symptom.
00:10:30.36\00:10:32.19
And once they stabilized
that symptom, you were fine.
00:10:32.23\00:10:34.93
But you probably, you know,
00:10:34.96\00:10:36.30
if you would have done anything,
00:10:36.33\00:10:37.67
you would have done very well.
00:10:37.70\00:10:39.10
That's why they probably say
don't move, don't do anything,
00:10:39.13\00:10:41.17
anything, you recall it, Bob.
00:10:41.20\00:10:43.57
So I got to Atlanta
and met with my surgeon,
00:10:43.61\00:10:47.54
and I spent another three
days or so in the hospital there
00:10:47.58\00:10:51.61
trying to get me off of plavix,
00:10:51.65\00:10:54.58
which is the drug they had me on
00:10:54.62\00:10:56.72
and they switched
me back over to heparin
00:10:56.75\00:10:59.45
and there were other
things like the doctor is,
00:10:59.49\00:11:03.69
was in the high demand
and there was an emergency
00:11:03.73\00:11:06.49
that came up so my surgery
was delayed one more day.
00:11:06.53\00:11:10.10
But all along
the way I was treated
00:11:10.13\00:11:12.47
with so much good care
that it really impressed me.
00:11:12.50\00:11:16.20
So you move from...
00:11:16.24\00:11:17.57
Did you move...
00:11:17.61\00:11:18.94
Were you staying
at your sister's house
00:11:18.97\00:11:20.41
for a while before the...
00:11:20.44\00:11:21.78
And then they
scheduled the bypass
00:11:21.81\00:11:23.35
but you weren't
doing anything until that?
00:11:23.38\00:11:25.28
No.
00:11:25.31\00:11:26.65
I was taking it easy.
00:11:26.68\00:11:28.42
And do you want me to
go through the surgery?
00:11:28.45\00:11:31.49
Well, we are
gonna go after we have
00:11:31.52\00:11:33.52
a few more questions
here is to let everyone know.
00:11:33.56\00:11:36.56
So before all this happened,
00:11:36.59\00:11:38.39
you weren't taking
any medications, were you?
00:11:38.43\00:11:41.33
I was on some medications,
00:11:41.36\00:11:43.06
but I had been
really showing bad symptoms
00:11:43.10\00:11:46.53
with the statins
that they'd tried on me.
00:11:46.57\00:11:49.04
And in your family did
you ever have a history
00:11:49.07\00:11:51.51
of heart disease and
anyone in your family?
00:11:51.54\00:11:53.64
My father had
high blood pressure
00:11:53.68\00:11:56.68
and high cholesterol for a while
00:11:56.71\00:11:58.45
until he had a
very interesting stroke
00:11:58.48\00:12:02.18
that happened in his
medulla and all of a sudden
00:12:02.22\00:12:05.89
his blood pressure
went down dramatically
00:12:05.92\00:12:08.29
and he didn't
have any more problems
00:12:08.32\00:12:10.19
but that was my problem,
my heredity so to speak,
00:12:10.23\00:12:13.56
is high blood pressure
and I had suffered from that
00:12:13.60\00:12:16.16
for so many years
mostly from my lifestyle.
00:12:16.20\00:12:19.87
And I need to add the
fact that I'm diabetic also
00:12:19.90\00:12:23.10
Type II diabetic and
that I'm sure contributed.
00:12:23.14\00:12:25.97
So you had some stressors
on the cardiovascular system.
00:12:26.01\00:12:29.34
Had you ever had any
testing on your heart before,
00:12:29.38\00:12:31.78
a stress test or
anything like that?
00:12:31.81\00:12:34.48
No testing, so
now we've gone, Nick,
00:12:34.52\00:12:37.29
from a person that you felt
pretty well the month before
00:12:37.32\00:12:40.12
except maybe a
few symptoms now gone
00:12:40.16\00:12:42.46
from having an
angiogram, a diagnostic test.
00:12:42.49\00:12:46.36
So when a person
is having a symptom,
00:12:46.39\00:12:48.56
now is not I don't like to talk
about prevention and reversal.
00:12:48.60\00:12:53.50
Now's the time
to treat the symptom
00:12:53.54\00:12:55.60
'cause if you
don't treat the symptom
00:12:55.64\00:12:56.97
then you get
around to the cause.
00:12:57.01\00:12:59.04
So, Nick, why don't
you take us over to break
00:12:59.07\00:13:01.84
and then after break,
we'll talk about the surgery.
00:13:01.88\00:13:04.58
Yeah. Well, Bobby, thank
you for sharing this with us.
00:13:04.61\00:13:06.61
There's more to come
00:13:06.65\00:13:07.98
but we got to
take a quick break.
00:13:08.02\00:13:09.35
So after the break,
00:13:09.38\00:13:10.72
we're gonna learn more
about how this whole experience
00:13:10.75\00:13:12.25
has been a real
blessing in your life.
00:13:12.29\00:13:14.02
And we'll be
back in just a moment.
00:13:14.06\00:13:15.59