Some of you who come here may also drop in over at WeaponsMan's blog, linked over there somewhere --------->.
The only information I have, is secondhand, from someone who got the info off the Book of Face.
Having duly listed such as gossip until further confirmation, what I read was that Hognose, Keeper of the Blog there, allegedly suffered a heart attack. Degree of seriousness unknown.
(And if that's not the case, my profound apologies, and continued well wishes for a speedy recovery to whatever the problem is.)
I suspect many of us (self included) are of such an age where that is always a possibility in life. (FTR, I've seen them as young as 35. Cheeseburgers do add up, boys and girls.)
Casting no aspersions nor blame on his Hoginess, not least of which because his fitness regimen, residing deep in the frozen wilds of New Hamster and vicinity, is probably better than mine, I offer the following no-charge health advisory:
Get your damned annual check-ups.
Take your meds.
Watch your diet.
Lose some fat.
Do your exercise.
Again, I am in no way stating nor implying Hog failed at any of those things.
But many of us do. Myself included.
Nothing is going to give you immortality. But doing the routine maintenance can let our inevitable physical decline from prime to grave be a prolonged and gentle glide, rather than a smoking crater into the ground from altitude.
And the parts last longer if you take care of them properly.
We lost people like Andrew Breitbart to failure to do basic things, listed above.
And I wish Hognose nothing but a speedy recovery, and hopes that this was a minor event, and not the kind that shaves years off one's life or future activities.
But as inevitable as each of our ends is, I don't want to lose anyone, (including some people that are mainly internet trolls) to stupid, preventable health issues.
I see what that failure of self-care leads to every day, and I hate that kind of waste with a passion you really don't understand.
It'd be a real shame if any of you missed the apocalypse because of treatable but ignored health issues, because come the day, those zombies aren't going to shoot themselves.
If you want to live and learn, you cannot do it in that order.
Take care of yourselves. Please.
UPDATE: Per online announcement from his brother Brendan, WeaponsMan, Kevin O'Brien, AKA Hognose, passed away this morning (before this post even went up) at Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston. Initially conscious after a Friday afternoon heart attack, he later suffered a complete and hour-long cardiac arrest. His heart was restarted, but he never regained consciousness.
He is survived by his father, brother, and hundreds to thousands of loyal and intelligent blog readers who counted his posts a daily joy, including myself for the last four years.
"May he be safe in Heaven half an hour before the devil knows he's dead!"
(As I type this, it seems to be awfully dusty in here at the moment, and I seem to feel like I swallowed a potato whole. Hopefully I'll see him on Fiddler's Green someday.)
Thanks for the update. I love reading both your blogs; he is sorely missed. If help is needed, I hope you'll put the word out.
ReplyDeleteDamnation, I didn't know him in person, but enjoyed reading his blog. My condolences to his family and friends.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad died from a sudden heart attack at age 70. He wasn't overweight and was retired for five years prior to the event. He hardly ever went to the doctor, was never admitted to any hospital and only slightly complained about 'not feeling quite well but I'm okay' the day prior to it occurring. One of my biggest regrets was not telling him that I hoped I was half the Dad to my kids as he was to me.
Yeah, it was a little dusty this morning for myself too. Too daggone soon.
ReplyDeleteDear Aesop,
ReplyDeleteI am also a regular reader of Hognose's WM blog and greatly saddened by his very recent passing.
Your advice for regular medical check ups is very good advice, especially for people who are now in their 50's. I am 54 and learnt this very recently.
I have had high blood pressure for about 12 months, which is unusual as I have been a recreational cyclist for most of my life so that has kept my blood pressure at a good level. I saw my local GP, who had me on BP tablets, which did not seem to be working, so she referred me to a cardiologist, who then referred me for a CT scan. During the CT scan they noticed something in my kidney, so they also did a more detailed scan of my kidneys.
I went back to the cardiologist who advised that I have some moderate narrowing of a couple of arteries, and that he recommends a angiogram, which may then lead to a stent or two being required, but a more critical issue is that the CT scan has shown that your right kidney has a tumour which is as big as a 1 litre carton of milk ( a bit over 2 US pints) and that it is 80% chance of cancer.
After a immediate referal to a specialist urologist/oncologist I had a radical nephrectomy (full kidney and tumour removal) two weeks ago. The oncologist is hopeful that he has removed all of the tumour so all going well the long term prognosis should be positive.
The oncologist made it very clear that as the tumour is so large if it was not found for another 12 months or so the outcome would have likely been much less positive.
It was having a regular annual check up with my local GP, who we have been seeing for some time, and who knows my medical history, that may have saved my life by referring me to a cardiologist for further investigation. Otherwise the tumour may not have been discovered until it was too late.
Regards,
Bush in Oz
PS : The CT scans are amazing, the tumour growing out of the right kidney looks like something out of Aliens and if I could attach a copy I would send through a link.