Books by Eric Douglas

Thriller fiction | Non-fiction: Adventure with a Purpose

  • Home
  • Mike Scott Thrillers
    • Held Hostage: Search for the Juncal
    • Water Crisis: Day Zero
    • Turks and Chaos: Hostile Waters
    • The 3rd Key: Sharks in the Water
    • Oil and Water: Crash in Curacao
    • Return to Cayman: Paradise Held Hostage
    • Heart of the Maya: Murder for the Gods
    • Wreck of the Huron: Cuban Secrets
    • Guardians’ Keep: Mystery below the Adriatic
    • Flooding Hollywood: Fanatics at the Dam
    • Cayman Cowboys: Reefs Under Pressure
  • Withrow Key
    • Lyin’ Fish
    • Tales from Withrow Key
  • Thriller Audiobooks
    • Cayman Cowboys: Reefs Under Pressure
    • Oil and Water: Crash in Curacao
    • Return to Cayman: Paradise Held Hostage
    • Turks and Chaos: Hostile Waters
    • Lyin’ Fish
  • Agent AJ West
  • About the Author
    • Scuba diving thrillers!
    • Six Questions with Eric Douglas
    • Publicity and Interviews
  • Nonfiction
    • For Cheap Lobster
    • Heart Survivor: Recovery After Heart Surgery
    • Oral History
      • Batter Up!
      • Memories of the Valley
      • WV Voices of War / Common Valor
      • Capturing Memories: How to Record Oral Histories
    • Dive-abled: The Leo Morales Story
    • Keep on, Keepin’ On: A Breast Cancer Story
    • WV Voices of War / Common Valor
    • Russia: The New Age
    • Scuba Diving Safety
  • Free Short Fiction
  • Collections
    • Mike Scott Box Set 3 (Books 7-10)
    • Mike Scott Box-Set 4-6
    • Mike Scott Box-Set 1-3
    • Tales from Withrow Key
    • Sea Turtle Rescue and Other Stories
    • River Town
  • Contact
You are here: Home / Heart Blog / When one door closes…

When one door closes…

June 1, 2016 By Eric Douglas

cardiac rehabThis week, I’ve completed my cardiac rehab and I feel ready for the next phase of my life.

As a reminder, in January I failed a stress test miserably and bought myself a stay at CAMC Memorial for open-heart surgery to repair five coronary artery blockages. It was a scary, frightening time. But even before I got out of the hospital, I knew I was going to write about the process. My first column, written from my hospital bed and published the day I was released from the hospital (to the amusement of my surgeon), was “Don’t Make the Same Mistakes I Did.”

My hope in writing about my recovery is that some of you might read my story and make some changes in your own lives, or at least go see your doctor. (A number of people have written to me to tell me that they did just that.) I also thought some of you might read my story and have a better understanding of what would happen if you got the same diagnosis I did, making the process not so scary.

A few people have asked me if I feel better than I ever have before. I doubt I will ever feel as good as I did in my 20s so that’s not going to happen, but I can safely say that I feel better now than I did before I went into the hospital and probably better than I’ve felt in at least a year. It’s amazing how we can accept slight decreases in our health, justifying them away without realizing there was an underlying cause.

Now that I am done with cardiac rehab, I’m not about to slow down. I’m planning to diversify my home exercise some more, adding in some more swimming and biking, but I am not about to slack off. Any time I think I don’t feel like exercising or if I want to eat something I shouldn’t, I just rub the scar in the center of my chest and I get motivated and back on track. My goal is to be able to return to scuba diving status in the very near future.

I have to send out a big thanks to everyone who took care of me, from my cardiologist to the hospital staff and then everyone at cardiac rehab. You’ve put me on the right track and I won’t let you down.

Filed Under: Heart Blog

Get three free, exclusive short stories!

When you sign up, you can download three free Mike Scott short stories. These three stories are only available to members of the mailing list. Don’t worry, we won’t spam you or sell your email address. We hate that, too.

Thank you!

You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

.

How I got into diving!

https://youtu.be/gKhw-4tORAM

Real Thugs: A Cult of Murder — Small groups of travelers have disappeared all over the mid-Atlantic without a trace. When bodies turn up with what appear to be ritual markings, FBI Agent AJ West is on the hunt for what might be a serial killer. Or something even more sinister. It’s a race against […]

View Book

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 ·