The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who
can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine
the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according
to what his deeds deserve.”
–Jeremiah 17:9-10
Jesus told us that what is in our heart ultimately works its
way out into our activities. The great wise man told us to
guard our heart because it is the spring well of our life.
Jeremiah wants us to know that God knows our heart. We want to
stress the importance of what goes into our hearts because it
really makes a difference in what goes on inside our heart.
Invite the Lord in to what you do, think, read, watch, and hear
and ask him to remove those things tht are not worthy of your
time and interest.
Righteous Father, please help me guard my heart and be wise
enough not to place things into it that would rob it of its
devotion to you. I want to be pure through and through.
Please search me and help me remove everything that would steal
my devotion from you and ruin my influence with others.
Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
Godly Guy, I am so proud of you. There are so many young people today that are uncaring and self-centered. I taught young people who were just interested in causing trouble and giving their teachers fits (as we call it in Alabama). It is refreshing to know that a 12 year old is calling on the name of the Lord. Your whole life is ahead of you. I’m glad you’re going to live it serving Jesus.
Laughter doeth good like a medicine.
Naaah, too easy.
Designated Optional Signature at Bottom of Post
GodlyGuy, if you must witness, open one thread and confine it to that thread. We are trying very hard to be tolerant, but if you keep opening a new thread each time you are moved to witness, you will unleash, and be the subject of, such wrath of truly Biblical proportions.
A word to the wise, eh?
TT
“Believe those who seek the truth.
Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide
I think I’m gonna go puke now.
–
Teeming Millions: http://fathom.org/teemingmillions
“Meat flaps, yellow!” - DrainBead, naked co-ed Twister chat
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com
PLEASE DON’T FEED THE TROLLS.
It only encourages them.
~ Complacency is far more dangerous than outrage ~
If He knows my heart, He knows my thoughts are definitely not those of a Christian at the moment!
Enough already.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge…others just gargle.
Well, now wait a minute. This might be useful. My cardiologist recommended a second opinion.
So GodlyGuy, if you run into the Big Guy and he does know my heart, will you ask him how many months after a minor heart attack with no complications, no underlying disease or tissue damage and a short (<2 min) arrest period I can ditch the nitroglycerine and just take a couple of aspirin each morning?
< d&r >
Jesus saves… Gretzky grabs the rebound… He Scores!
Jesus is coming! Are you going to spit, or swallow?
(Okay, okay, I’ll be good now.)
Damn! You’re hot today, tracer. 
Stop telling God what to do.
since when did this message board become a cesspool of religious prayer?
can we, for once, leave religion where it belongs - In the home and in temple/church etc.
i, frankly, don’t give a shit whether u believe in Jesus or not.
Question Authority
Hey, Manhattan. Straight answer to your question. Same symptoms, except for 5-10% tissue damage. Off nitro permanently two weeks after. Heading for ten years (as of March 23) of good health. The only lasting effects:[ul][li]Never physically very strong, I have lost about 5% of my pre-attack lift/carry ability, evidently permanently, and tire a bit more quickly.[]More frequent and more urgent need to urinate than before attack.[]A very slight tendency to bipolarity (i.e., manic-depressive syndrome if it were full-blown) with almost adolescent mood swings, which St. John’s Wort and stress management seem to have controlled.[/ul][/li]
Sue, if you’re reading this and have any background to add, there seems to be a tendency to clinical depression among post-cardiac patients, which I gather has been documented. Any ideas on physiological reasons here (the psychological one of a drastic reminder of one’s mortality does not need to be dwelt on)? I’ve guessed that it may be due to the anabolic products of removing and replacing the damaged tissue having a psychoactive effect; would that make sense? Any suggested prognosis and treatment, with the usual disclaimers?
Nice answer, Poly! Does this mean you are God?
Yer pal,
Satan
Nah, I wouldn’t steal the thunder of those who can pronounce unequivocably whose destiny is what! I just run His errands from time to time.
BTW, my good friend Chris told me, shortly after we became friends, of encountering a self-appointed evangelist who came up to him and said, “God loves you.” Chris said to me sarcastically, “How did he know that? You think God told him this morning, ‘Hey, if you see Chris, tell him that I love him’?” I answered him, “Those of us that did get that assignment tend to be a bit more subtle about it.” You should have seen his expression!
{stands…}
{claps…}
{sits…}
Well said Mr. Polycarp, sir.
† Jon †
Phillipians 4:13
Poly, I appreciate your concern, but I was just teasing the new guy a little. (“d&r” stands for “ducking and running,” as in to avoid the flying fruit.)
I was on the nitro a little longer, about 6 weeks, because the doctor was so unconfident about the cause of my arrest (and worried about a near-term recurrence) . The dosage, though, was tiny (I don’t remember the exact dosage. .5mg?). The aspirin thing I don’t like at all, because I already have a liver enzyme imbalance. I take 1 tablet not two, and the doc’s going to re-evaluate even that next time out.
Interestingly, my strength is up since it happened. That’s probably because I’ve lost some weight and started exercising a little. Much more to go on both fronts.
I haven’t noticed the urination thing, and I don’t recall the doc mentioning it as something that might happen. Interesting.
I’ve been on the lookout for the depression, and I don’t think it’s happened. I’ve been a little down lately, but there are identifiable causes for that, and the arrest was over two years ago.
Thanks again for caring. It’s yet more proof of the kind of person you are.
I fear not in a god, for as long as I hold true to the conviction that god is a myth, it holds no power over my soul.
Acts of Me 1:1
(Write your own bible and become immortal!)
Polycarp asks:
I don’t have a direct answer to your question, Polycarp. You’ve hit on the traditional psychologic explanantion, but I agree with your suspicion that there is more to it than that.
A lot of new facts are coming to light about the root causes of cardiovascular disease. Chronic infections, chronic low-grade inflammation, high insulin levels (even if sugars are maintained normally), & low folic acid levels are all implicated, although not nearly as widely accepted as diabetes, cholesterol, & blood pressure.
These other factors are only beginning to get any attention, and some of the medicines used to treat the heart directly, the “officially recognized” risks factors, may actually make some of these other factors worse. B-blockers, which clearly have a strong survival advantage in many post-MI(heart attack) patients are clearly known to cause depression. While this effect may be lessened by using so-called cardioselective B-blockers (Metoprolol, Atenolol), it is not entirely eliminated.
Depression is almost universal in post-bypass surgery patients. It is common in post-MI patients. A typical depression episode related to this lasts 3-4 months. For anything beyond that, I would want to consider other things.
Increasingly, docs are aware that all our precautions & safeguards are not without side effects themselves. Yes ICUs save lives when complications do arise. But they also create what’s called the cardiac cripple syndrome - people who did not even have a heart attack come to believe that if all these people are watching him so closely that something must be wrong… They become every bit as disabled as those with serious heart attacks that destroy large portions of the heart muscle because of fear. It’s very difficult to treat.
So there are several identified causes - Mortality issues, self-fulfilling fears of disability, medication side effects. I do believe, though, that our understanding of mind-body interactions is very rudimentary, and that there are chemical/neural activities going on of which we are unaware. This is where IMO, use of herbal remedies, acupuncture, or other alternative/complementary intervention may be more helpful than anything your doctor is likely to prescribe. I do not know much about these therapies, but DO know that St. John’s wort is widely used for mild depression. Do share with your doc the fact you are are taking herbal products; they are chemicals, and can have side effects or interactions with any other meds you are taking.
I’ve rambled a lot, and am not sure I’ve added anything substantive beyond my first sentence. 
So I think I’ll stop here & hope I’ve helped.
Sue from El Paso
Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted.
Polycarp wrote:
Well, I could make a guess:
People who exercise more tend to get depressed less.
People who have had heart attacks are usually told, quite rightly, to “take it easy”, and will thus avoid many of the physical exertions they used to engage in. These physical exertions may have unintentionally been some of the exercise they used to get.
Furthermore, a heck of a lot of post-heart-attack men use it as an excuse to avoid sex, and I can’t think of anything more depressing than a lousy sex life.
And I’m kinda surprised that my, ahem, first quip in this thread didn’t generate a whole lot more flak than the milder one I posted in the “Second Coming” thread.