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I discovered this message this morning while visiting the JLC forum. It was in a discussion that Sonny and I were having with Darren Tews and Don Quigley.
Mr. Quigley posted that, “Sonny was hospitalized after a heart attack the other nite. His daughter indicated that he was in his doctor’s care and expected to recover.”
Any of you that have known Sonny for any length of time will also know that this isn’t his first problem. He has also suffered from several strokes. The last stroke left him unable to speak or spell very well, but after a few months he seemed to recover, and you couldn’t tell anything had happened.
Any time that I don’t hear from him for more than a few days I become concerned. Usually it turns out to be nothing. This time is different.
Sonny has helped many of you directly and indirectly with the passion of his writing here and on other forums. I know I am a different man because of his concern.
This is not meant to be a eulogy, but a request for a favor. Whether you believe so or not, the power of prayer is a curious thing. If Sonny means anything to you, perhaps you could say a few prayers for his continued health and improvement, at least you might keep him in your thoughts. Even those that don’t know him so well might pause and reflect about a man that simply deserves to spend this Christmas with his family.
Maybe this can be a true miracle of Christmas.
And if I know Sonny, he probably will be demanding to set up his laptop in the hospital room?! Get well soon, big guy! We are all pulling for you.
Replies
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Get well, Sonny. Pulling for you from Cape Breton.
*Pullin' for you here too, Sonny,Get well.
*Praying you have a quick and complete recovery Sonny.
*Sonny... we've got big plans for you ..the summer get-together needs a business moderator..Best wishes for you and yours this Christmas......Mike & Helen
*My thoughts are with you and your family. I'm sure that you'll have a speedy recovery and I look forward to your online contributions.Take care of yourself and do what the Doc's tell you to do!!
*Sonny, best wishes for a speedy recovery. Our prayers are with you and your family.Ken and Kathy
*My thoughts are with you Sonny.fv
*Hey Sonny,Just take it easy and do what the doc says and you'll be back in no time at all!!!The best to you and your family for the holidays!!
*Get well Sonny, we still have a lot to learn from you.
*Sonny:We're thinking of you out here in Micronesia. Get well soon.Jason Dries-Daffner
*I miss you on the web already Sonny! Make your absence as short as you can. In the meantime my prayers are with you.
*Well, I muddled thru and got home yesterday, thanks to a great doctor and I'm convinced, the prayers and good thoughts from my cyber friends and family. I humbly thank each one of you. My poor doctor anticipated spending about an hour cleaning out the old pipes but spent 3.5 hours instead. Said his back was killing him by the time he finished and said I knocked on the pearly gates twice but alas, it was not to be.I had blockages in two arteries, one 95% and another 100%. The doctor said he cleaned one quickly but the second one needed "chiseling and chiseling" as he said, to get cleaned 100%. So I'm now the proud owner of two "stents." In about a month I'll have a stress test, and the result of that will determine if I get a by pass or not to eliminate the other artery that has about a 50% blockage that's too calcified to clean out.Four days without Marlboros and still counting. Two heart attacks and two strokes tells me that Phillip Morris got enough money from me for the last 43 years. Once again, my thanks to each of you for your thoughts, prayers and emails.Hey, Peter, no begging or pleading was able to get my laptop to my hospital room. When Mama says no - it's NO! Boy, this keyboard feels goooooood!
*Sometimes the best presents are not found under the tree.
*Sonny, Glad to see you're back and gonna keep me honest, I've enjoyed our posts and I'm sorry I was off the net when your problem developed. Good thoughts for a full recovery. Frenchy Dampier
*Best of luck in your recovery Sonny. The Marlboro Jones will fade each day.Ed. Williams
*sonny.. internet withdrawl is harder than smokes..when i quit .. ( the last time) .. they were 75 cents in the machine
*Sonny, take care. Our prayers are with you.Happy 2001!
*Mike, I think you're right. This past spring barba and I went to Michigan to visit my bro. Since I don't have my laptop yet, I UPS'd my iMac and printer to him so I'd have it. The 3 days I was in the hospital, no urge for a smoke but I was going nuts not having access to the Internet. Since getting home Sunday, just touching the keyboard lowered my heart rate and I stopped having the shakes.
*Sonny; You Still Smoke!?!? A Guy with your smarts!?!? I thought sure from your posts that you and I not only had our business sense in common; but also having given up that weed many years ago.That over, good to have you back. Hope your recovery goes well.
*Sonny, glad you are ok. Hope recovery goes well. Our prayers are with you. Quit smoking (3 packs/day) 9 years ago. Single best thing I've done for myself in my life. It gets easier as time goes. DanT
*Sonny, glad to hear you're still typing. I think quitting smoking is tougher than any other drug or habit. When I see people smoking, I still think they're lucky. All the best from this end.Holly Eshelman
*A friend of mine just had quadruple bypass surgery and is now doing well. He smoked Winstons for 50 years and he is in pain but I told him I'd kick his "butt" if he thought of ever smoking again! Be well Sonny!fv
*Geez Sonny! I can't leave you un-supervised for a few days without you pulling some kind of crazy stunt like this! It was incredibly unnerving coming back to work today and reading all of this first thing in the morning. Well it’s good to see you back up and around but the smoking has got to go. I liked FredBs comment above about a guy with your smarts should have quit long ago is something to be considered. Think about it. As for your Internet addiction while that may be harder to quit on it isn’t going to kill ya. When you say, "In about a month I'll have a stress test," does that mean having me come down to visit ya???
*Hey Jerry, I can stand any stress test "except" you coming here. That would do me in!As for Fred's comment about smarts - we can't be smart about everything. Heck, I'd list my dumb stuff but I don't want to embarrass myself in public.
*Sonny, I'm happy to hear you're out of the woods! Take good care of yourself. Happy New Year!
*Well.......if we're gonna list dumb stuff here....I bought stock in eToys. Ed.
*Sonny: That's the first step: Admitting it is dumb to smoke.As for me I was up to multiple packs a day during a time I was putting in a lot of hours. One day I decided either the weed was in charge or I was. Plus, even then I was looking at the profit margin and couldn't stand wasting all that money :)So, like the good 12 Step Progams say I did it cold turkey. Took up other things. That was a lot of years ago and haven't regretted it one bit.It still isn't too late for you, you are never too long in the tooth for a life changing experience.But with ashes on the keyboard or not it is good to have you back.
*Sonny, I truly apologize for this late of a message, I haven't checked the business board in a while. I am glad to hear you are home and recovering. you don't know me but as stated by others here, I have learned alot from you and have used some of your wisdom to help advance myself as well. I hope you enjoy a complete recovery and live a long time if not to enjoy it for yourself then to teach beginners such as myself and others. Happy Holidays, Steve
*Thanks Steve.Fred, what has really aggravated me all these years is while I've prided myself on maintaining control over my life, to the degree one can, I haven't done so with the smoking addiction. Figure it's time to kick ass, so to speak and take control there also.So far, no slivers from sucking, teeth breaking, fingering, and otherwise manipulating tooth picks. Day 7 and still fighting it - hot flashes and all. Arrrgh!
*Just keep fighting. It's mind over matter. My Dad quit cigars years ago, when he went in to have a sliced tendon in his hand fixed....and ended up on the table with a collapsed lung. He didn't find out he nearly died till he woke up in recovery and was wondering why my Mom was pissed at him! We were all still little, and the summer after he quit the cigars....and quit smoking them on the summer vacation drive to the shore....suddenly all the kids "out-grew" our "car-sickness"! He never will admit the connection! My brother tried the patch, but said they were hard to light and tasted funny! So he's cold turkey too! Jeff
*Good for you Sonny!From the many friends and aquaintances that have successfully quit I think the only way is to do it cold turkey and by taking up something else in its' place. Most take up some athletic activity like walking, weightlifting, running, biking, etc. Then everytime it gets almost unbearable off they go.For some people, it also helps to have someone to vent to.Come to think of it I don't know anyone who is still smoke free at least a year later and who did it by taking the drug via aerosol or epidermal patch.As an encouragement please keep us up to speed on your progress. If you don't someone will post a question I'm sure :) :)
*Sonny, I too am sorry I missed your crisis until now, I will be in prayer for the Cig's. I quit 15 years ago when I found my then 3 year old daughter chewing on a butt from the ashtray. I used the nicorette gum, got hooked on that until the Dr. cut me off, 15 years and I still long for one after dinner...and, well ...you know. Keep trying though! its worth it in the long run. Us "newbies" need your imput!Steve.
*Sonny, I saw the thread with your name on it and just knew it was going to be another great instructional read. Rather than get it piecemeal, day-by-day, I waited until it had built up a little. I was right. It was an eye-opener. A little visceral, perhaps. I participated in a WWII forum, getting to know some of the participants a little through their posts and it is always hard to lose or think of losing someone you have in some ways built rapport with, even as tenuous as it is over the net. Compared to some of those guys, however, you and I are still in our prime years. So, up here in COLD NE Florida, our warm thoughts and prayers are with you and if it was the smoking that was the final straw then good for you for mastering that "camel".
*Glad to see ya still kicking....I never smoked but I sure know it's got control of people. I like the walking solution mentioned above. A susbstitute habit of health and we may be seeing your posts for decades....live cam shots and all on our built in iris connections.aj
*
I discovered this message this morning while visiting the JLC forum. It was in a discussion that Sonny and I were having with Darren Tews and Don Quigley.
Mr. Quigley posted that, "Sonny was hospitalized after a heart attack the other nite. His daughter indicated that he was in his doctor's care and expected to recover."
Any of you that have known Sonny for any length of time will also know that this isn't his first problem. He has also suffered from several strokes. The last stroke left him unable to speak or spell very well, but after a few months he seemed to recover, and you couldn't tell anything had happened.
Any time that I don't hear from him for more than a few days I become concerned. Usually it turns out to be nothing. This time is different.
Sonny has helped many of you directly and indirectly with the passion of his writing here and on other forums. I know I am a different man because of his concern.
This is not meant to be a eulogy, but a request for a favor. Whether you believe so or not, the power of prayer is a curious thing. If Sonny means anything to you, perhaps you could say a few prayers for his continued health and improvement, at least you might keep him in your thoughts. Even those that don't know him so well might pause and reflect about a man that simply deserves to spend this Christmas with his family.
Maybe this can be a true miracle of Christmas.
And if I know Sonny, he probably will be demanding to set up his laptop in the hospital room?! Get well soon, big guy! We are all pulling for you.