Mended Hearts Open Forum

RIP Bob Oberfield!  A great man, great MH, great leader, great husband, great father, and my great friend. I will miss my Wednesday calls.

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Allen Quig
Casper WY
(307) 234-9734
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-21-2018 21:29
From: Marilyn Mitchell
Subject: RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME    

It's been three years now since I had quadruple bypass surgery and I want to share the experience.  It was a surprise and a shock and it came out of nowhere.  Yet I feel I'm the luckiest woman in the world.

     My timing couldn't have been better...It was that date I had chosen to have a benign cyst removed from an ovary, a relatively simple outpatient procedure which was to have allowed me to leave the hospital within four hours or so.

     In recovery after the surgical procedure and not fully conscious, I began tapping my chest signaling I was struggling for breath. A nearby nurse quickly notified an doctor who did an EKG. He called in a cardiologist who said: "You're not going anywhere. You're going upstairs and I'm scheduling an angiogram for the morning."

     Four hours turned into one week and a simple ovariectomy turned into a four-way heart bypass.  And after two weeks in a rehab facility,

I was released to at-home physical therapy. Several weeks later I was enrolled in a three-times-a-week cardio rehab program and, once completed, I began my own treadmill program at the local gym which continues today.

     I'll never know if I'd be here here today if I hadn't had that ovary out, but I do know that my life has vastly changed.  Now I'm much more appreciative and grateful beyond measure for every new day.

-Marilyn Mitchell

 Palm Desert, CA

Original Message------

RIP Bob Oberfield!  A great man, great MH, great leader, great husband, great father, and my great friend. I will miss my Wednesday calls.

------------------------------
Allen Quig
Casper WY
(307) 234-9734
------------------------------

​Hi,

I'm a newbie to Mended Hearts (since June).  Could someone tell me, and others like me who didn't know and hadn't heard of Bob Oberfield, a little bit of his history, the role he served with Mended Hearts and what made him great as a person and in connection with this organization?

Thanks,

Ira

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Ira Reid
Hoboken NJ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2018 08:08
From: Peter Stewart
Subject: RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME

I agree. Great Man!!

Peter

Original Message------

RIP Bob Oberfield!  A great man, great MH, great leader, great husband, great father, and my great friend. I will miss my Wednesday calls.

------------------------------
Allen Quig
Casper WY
(307) 234-9734
------------------------------

Hi Ira, 

I missed this in the discussion. Bob Oberfield was a long time member of Mended Hearts. He served as a board member, regional director, and chapter president. I met Bob years ago when I was a new volunteer. He was always passionate about the organization, but more importantly, passionate about life! He and his wife Shirley were always so sweet. We talked a lot about the Pittsburgh sports (he was originally from Pittsburgh and that's where I live). He called me often for years and we talked about kids, grandkids, sports, and his humor was amazing! He loved our kids and he always had good advice to give.

He was a pharmacist in his professional life and always kept a great sense of humor. 

I miss him so much.


------------------------------
Andrea Baer
Grapeville PA
(724) 396-7820
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-24-2018 13:57
From: Ira Reid
Subject: RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME

​Hi,

I'm a newbie to Mended Hearts (since June).  Could someone tell me, and others like me who didn't know and hadn't heard of Bob Oberfield, a little bit of his history, the role he served with Mended Hearts and what made him great as a person and in connection with this organization?

Thanks,

Ira

------------------------------
Ira Reid
Hoboken NJ

Original Message:
Sent: 08-23-2018 08:08
From: Peter Stewart
Subject: RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME

I agree. Great Man!!

Peter

Original Message------

RIP Bob Oberfield!  A great man, great MH, great leader, great husband, great father, and my great friend. I will miss my Wednesday calls.

------------------------------
Allen Quig
Casper WY
(307) 234-9734
------------------------------

Sent from my iPhone


Original Message------

Hi Ira, 

I missed this in the discussion. Bob Oberfield was a long time member of Mended Hearts. He served as a board member, regional director, and chapter president. I met Bob years ago when I was a new volunteer. He was always passionate about the organization, but more importantly, passionate about life! He and his wife Shirley were always so sweet. We talked a lot about the Pittsburgh sports (he was originally from Pittsburgh and that's where I live). He called me often for years and we talked about kids, grandkids, sports, and his humor was amazing! He loved our kids and he always had good advice to give.

He was a pharmacist in his professional life and always kept a great sense of humor. 

I miss him so much.


------------------------------
Andrea Baer
Grapeville PA
(724) 396-7820
------------------------------

Original Message------

Hi Ira, 

I missed this in the discussion. Bob Oberfield was a long time member of Mended Hearts. He served as a board member, regional director, and chapter president. I met Bob years ago when I was a new volunteer. He was always passionate about the organization, but more importantly, passionate about life! He and his wife Shirley were always so sweet. We talked a lot about the Pittsburgh sports (he was originally from Pittsburgh and that's where I live). He called me often for years and we talked about kids, grandkids, sports, and his humor was amazing! He loved our kids and he always had good advice to give.

He was a pharmacist in his professional life and always kept a great sense of humor. 

I miss him so much.


------------------------------
Andrea Baer
Grapeville PA
(724) 396-7820
------------------------------

Original Message------

RIP Bob Oberfield!  A great man, great MH, great leader, great husband, great father, and my great friend. I will miss my Wednesday calls.

------------------------------
Allen Quig
Casper WY
(307) 234-9734
------------------------------

Thank you for your responses about my Bob Oberfield inquiry.  I think one benefit of having undergone open heart surgery is that we gain a renewed appreciation for the joy of our existence on this earth, the knowledge that every moment since our surgery is a gift, a sense of deep gratitude for those who saved our lives and granted us a chance for more time with our loved ones, and an enhanced ability to empathize with our brothers and sisters who suffer, whether from heart disease or for some other reason.  It is what makes this forum such a wonderful place.  I obviously did not know Bob Oberfield when he was alive but, in a larger sense, I feel that I do know him through the courage, love and triumph of the human spirit that I see every day on this forum.  I feel fortunate to know you all as my brothers and sisters.

Ira   ​

------------------------------
Ira Reid
Hoboken NJ
------------------------------

Original Message:
Sent: 08-21-2018 21:29
From: Marilyn Mitchell
Subject: RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME

RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME    

It's been three years now since I had quadruple bypass surgery and I want to share the experience.  It was a surprise and a shock and it came out of nowhere.  Yet I feel I'm the luckiest woman in the world.

     My timing couldn't have been better...It was that date I had chosen to have a benign cyst removed from an ovary, a relatively simple outpatient procedure which was to have allowed me to leave the hospital within four hours or so.

     In recovery after the surgical procedure and not fully conscious, I began tapping my chest signaling I was struggling for breath. A nearby nurse quickly notified an doctor who did an EKG. He called in a cardiologist who said: "You're not going anywhere. You're going upstairs and I'm scheduling an angiogram for the morning."

     Four hours turned into one week and a simple ovariectomy turned into a four-way heart bypass.  And after two weeks in a rehab facility,

I was released to at-home physical therapy. Several weeks later I was enrolled in a three-times-a-week cardio rehab program and, once completed, I began my own treadmill program at the local gym which continues today.

     I'll never know if I'd be here here today if I hadn't had that ovary out, but I do know that my life has vastly changed.  Now I'm much more appreciative and grateful beyond measure for every new day.

-Marilyn Mitchell

 Palm Desert, CA