No 420 - Saturday's Club Notes

The “Club Notes” for Saturday, the 25th of January, 2025.

By Dwain Duxson - An Ag Enthusiast

PS - There will be no Monday edition as we are packing up a house this weekend. Have a great Australia Day, everyone. Celebrate hard and be proud.

Andy - Straight from the heart

I have decided that everyone gets the paid version today. The reason being, is we have a long story, and it's very important that you read it. This is from my mate, Andy, who is the same age as me and did all the right things (well, nearly) by getting the bloods done every year, etc. That's great, but in essence, it doesn't tell you how your heart is going. The best I can put it is, "You need to go through the Machine". That's what you need to ask your doctor anyway. He or she will understand. Andy loves life, is super positive and is great at what he does. He was too young to go. Read on and have a great Australia Day weekend, and please forward it to people you think it might help.

Andy takes up the story here……

…..Your troponin level is 26….. The words hung in the air: what's Troponin? What's this mean?  

I've always been active, sport, outdoors, anything as long as I was moving. I've never been small but always been fit enough to do whatever I wanted. 12 monthly blood tests, and here I am Sunday night, 54, in Ballarat ED connected to an ECG machine, dubious heart pain, and now I've got Troponin in my blood…..   

Hearts release Troponin when distressed.  I'd arrived 40 minutes previously with a strange pain at the top of my chest, feeling like I couldn't burp. I felt the pain easing as I spoke to triage and considered going home as I didn't want to waste anyone's time; at the same time, it didn't feel right.   

I've had a close relationship with my heart. I worked in shearing teams in my 20's where a reputation for a big heart was the highest honour. I knew my heart still worked ok; in the previous days, I'd paved my backyard and cut, split and stacked wood. Physical work gave me no issue whatsoever.   

The next test showed the Troponin had risen to 56, and now I'd be getting a blood thinner on a drip."Should I be concerned?" I asked Sheena, the nurse, while quietly shitting myself about the answer. She answered, "This is like your check engine light has flashed on; we get people here with Troponin levels in the 10's of thousands. You've done the right thing coming in."  

I'd hear those words a lot over the next 5 days.   

The next morning was an angiogram through my wrist. The cardiologist came and explained the process, and I was given consent to sign; chance of stroke, 1 in 500 - hmmmm longshot at best; chance of death, no odds - a rank outsider, worth the bet. I signed.   

A confronting moment followed when being prepped for the angiogram; the nurses asked me to move my feet over as they needed a spot for the defibrillator that was going with me… "The what?!?!" Ok, this is serious.  

Angiograms are when a catheter is inserted into your wrist and into your heart via the arteries, and in conjunction with an X-ray, the cardiologist can have a look at what's going on in and around your heart.  

I was awake through the process and could see the same screen the cardiologist could see. I noticed the similarity to the fish finder I was using on a Murray the week prior. I couldn't make sense of what they were seeing (again, a lot like the fish finder) but I'm glad they did.   

Riley, the cardiologist, came to see me after. "It's good news and bad news; the bad news is your LAD (Left anterior descending) is blocked, and the good news is the artery next to it has stepped up and taken over supplying blood to that area. If that didn't happen, we probably wouldn't have been having this conversation".    

Did he just say what I thought he said… That I could have been dead? He added, "But being the LAD, it's touchy; we can't do anything about it here; you're off to Melbourne." 

It was a lot to unpack. I began to think about the previous 24 hours - One blocked artery nearly killed me, one bloody good artery had saved the whole job, I'd had little warning, and the pain I'd had was nothing like you see or hear about.   It was a simple little pain in my chest. No stabbing, No sharpness, No drama….. Nothing like the movies at all.  

I met Matt, Matt is about 40, thin, fit and calm. He explained I'd be treated on Friday after a day of new blood thinners and observations.  

I was taken for the angioplasty late in the day, my partner was told it'd be around an hour. I was given a pair of the fabled red socks, they denoted who'd had procedures done as you were given them for the walk into the Cad Lab for the procedure.  

The anaesthetist came and got me "Can you walk 25 metres?"  I replied, "Yes," and I walked alongside him in my gown, dragging monitor leads and drips. I asked if he wanted a race, "I reckon I could take you…." "No, no, you wouldn't", and I was on the table.  

Another local in the wrist. Lots of professional chit-chat in the room as we waited for the numbness.   The head nurse came for a chat, "We don't do that many LADs here; they generally don't get this far; they're the ones who drop dead where they stood; good decision to go into ED…."

I grew up with nurses, Mum was a nurse, three sisters too and I'd been bought up with the blunt, matter-of-fact tone tinged with black and white humour of people who dealt with life and death every day. I knew where she was coming from.  

The team worked calmly, smoothly and efficiently. I could feel the catheter making its way up my arm and across my chest until I couldn't feel it any more. I remember thinking that must be in my heart.   

It's amazing what your mind turns to in these situations. I've always carried a Swiss Army knife but didn't have it when I was admitted, the longest I'd ever been without one since I could remember. I probably wouldn't need it here, but I still thought that next time I'd remember it.   

I worried about my partner Sam sitting there waiting for me to get back. After 2 and a half hours heard Matt's voice, "All done, Andy, you should be ok. you're bloody lucky you went to ED"  

As I walked out two days later, Matt said, "You know your pain now. If you ever get that again, go straight to ED"  

I shared a room with Joel, an ambulance officer from the Mallee. Joel said there's no rhyme or reason with cardiac pain. She attends many patients and said, "No-ones pain is the same as anyone else, if it doesn't feel right, get it checked, particularly women who often get little pain but feel tired."   

So now I'm alive. I was bloody lucky. Lucky that I've done no long-term damage, lucky I sought help, and lucky that we have a medical system equipped with the people, expertise and equipment to help.  

But they can't do anything for you if you don't get it checked out. Watch the risk factors, and know your heart.   

If you've got pain that doesn't feel right, go to ED or call triple 0. I can tell you for a fact it could save your life. Reply to [email protected] or 0427 011 900

Who was the winner? Members draw - 6 months’ worth of meat from Our Cow. Congratulations.

Number of articles and images - 88 snippets of must-know information and news, including 22 funnies to get your Australia Day weekend off like a rocket. We also have 11 in our “Just Saying” section.

Number of Farmer replies - 4 in total.

End of message.

Dwain Duxson
0427 011 900

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Your replies:

Below are snippets from some of the replies you sent in. All quotes will remain nameless. See a few current ones below:

• I tend to agree with all that. Things are changing as people opt for real things instead of fairy tales - "The silent majority around the world is finally starting to get enough confidence to speak out after being intimidated for so long by a minority of activists. Australia Day is making a comeback, and the woke agenda that Australia has followed will be history if only we can get a leader willing to make a stand against their agenda, which has been breaking down Australian society for many years. Peter Dutton only has to pick the best ideas from the Trump administration, and he will walk into office with a vast majority, something that is required to prevent "woke" Greens and Teals, etc., from blocking any agenda to recover our values and this once great country".

• In reply to our story on self-insuring - The big lenders have us over a barrel when it comes to insuring things we have borrowed money for from them. They tell us it is the responsibility of the borrower to insure the property. Who made that law up? It is their money (which they remind us constantly) so they should insure it".

• In reply to our story from yesterday, which mentioned that to get tonnage in Grain Crop, you need to focus on the 3 main controlables. Weed, stored moisture and fertilisation - "Interesting comment re controllables. Pinion and a few other consulting businesses did a big study on the "best" Farmers. The big thing that stood out to me wasn't any of them 3. It was timing" - I said this - Very interesting. The skill to judge when or when not to do something. Or the skill around the timing of the above-mentioned 3 main focusses - He followed with this - "Correct".

• An interesting twist on self-insuring. So, really, before we do anything, we should seek out our accountant - "G'day Dwain, We have been looking at self-insuring Crops, particularly by putting the premiums into FMD each year. It's about 4 years to have a total wipeout around here, and we are relatively low risk. A claim could also be argued a natural disaster for FMD return. The problem with plant is that under current tax rules, any replacement over $20,000 must go on the depreciation schedule, the money coming in(either from insurance or FMD) firstly writes off the balance of the old asset and then is revenue, leaving a tax gap. After the COVID stimulus measures, most plant was written off, so any claim is fully assessable. The crop insurance or FMD is revenue regardless, but most of this goes to keep the business running anyway. Things that are revenue on both sides are fencing and fodder, so these will be less insured. In the end, we must insure what we can't afford to lose. It is important that everyone be aware of this tax implication; I don't think many will realise".

Random and associated Ag articles and images.

Cropping & Grain

Sheep, Wool & Lambs

Cattle & Beef

Agribusiness

Hay & Fodder

Machinery, Vehicles and Equipment

Ag People

Weather, Irrigation & Water

Rural Property

Rural Energy & Climate

Other Ag stuff

Just saying…

Funnies

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