Well Spud, it ain't always age. I've had two previous heart operations including a quad by-pass in '97. In '99 I developed an unrepairable aortic aneurysm making any surgery difficult and very risky. Unfortunately, this year I had to have the mitral valve replaced and I was fortunate to have it done robotically in a minimally invasive procedure, still a 4 hour operation. It was a complete crapshoot as to whether or not I'd make it through the surgery as the retro flow of a heart/lung machine plumbed in at the groin puts extra pressure on the aorta. So when I woke up and felt a bit of pain.....well, I knew I was alive!

Spaw