1. (read me first) An accident waiting to happen

I don't believe any of us is truly ready for abrupt massive change unless it's a change we have planned and emotionally prepared for, such as relocating, starting a new job or getting married. A medical calamity is like none of those, and with the obvious exception of a fatality-causing event such as a massive heart attack or aneurysm, I can't imagine a more abrupt or impactful massive change than the one I experienced in the early morning of June 8, 2016. I was two months shy of my 64th birthday, was (or so I believed) in excellent physical condition, having been a runner, a workout junkie and a frequent backpacker for my entire adult life. outwardly, I appeared to be a vision of health.

Inwardly, though, I was something of a train wreck. I had battled high blood pressure for years and for four decades had been a newspaper journalist with daily deadlines, an inherently stressful gig if one is passionate about doing it well, which I was.

Unbeknownst to me, this combination of HBP and job stress had turned my carotid artery into a replica of Seattle rush hour traffic. Nothing was moving, because the roadway was blocked. I learned later that my carotid artery was 98 percent occluded. I was a stroke or heart attack under construction. Worse, I had no way of knowing it because I hadn't been astute enough to recognize my risk factors and had not scheduled a Lifeline screening that would have revealed my carotid blockage. Not exactly the brightest bulb in the box here. I certainly hope others can learn from my experience and employ the forethought necessary to avoid repeating it.