Corrie.S.P.
English, Grade 9
Lesson 15
10/24/2022
Assignment: Write 500 words on this topic: “Discuss some of the good things that came as a result of his heart attack.”
Jim Lehrer had a heart attack at the age of 49. He woke up very early with pains, his wife said that they should call the hospital but he did not want to. He did not want to go to the hospital because both his parents had died in the hospital shortly after they arrived there. He went through the day with off and on pain. When it finally got worse, he and his wife called a doctor and he and his wife drove to the hospital. All the way there he smoked. At the hospital he had a heart attack and it shook him up for a while. He talked with his doctor and made lists of what he would quit doing and things that made him stress. He went home but was not recovering well. He needed an open-heart surgery. While in the hospital one of his friends brought him two milky-way candy bars to eat. He did not think the surgery would be successful but it was. He survived and started on the road to recovery.
Before his attack he had a terrible diet. He ate french fries almost every day, he had a pastrami sandwich with mayonnaise every day for lunch. He at constant greasy foods. He describes his diet as what would appeal to a pimply faced 15-year-old teen. But, because of his heart attack he had to cut all those things out of his diet. He did not like vegetables, fruit, or fish. His wife made him the new foods he had to eat which he described as “Boring”. Oatmeal, peas, and the like. But, because of his surgery and attack he stopped eating those things and changed his life for the better. His only light in the darkness was that he could eat bread because it was good for his heart. He hoped that fast food would become good for his body.
Smoking. He was a terrible smoker. He had smoked for 30 years or more. His wife hated it, his daughters told him to stop doing it, but he could not stop. At home he smoked a pipe but everywhere else he smoked a storm. He hid packs of cigarettes everywhere. In the office, under the car seats. He had stashes everywhere. As I mentioned before, he had smoked the entire way to the hospital the night of his heart attack. In the aftermath of the attack and surgery that followed, he quite smoking instantly. Whenever he wanted a smoke, he thought of the heart surgery and knew what could happen if he did. He thought he had discovered a sure-fire way to fix smoking problems. You should have a heart attack he says jestingly in his book.
In conclusion, before his heart attack and bypass operation, James Lehrer had a terrible diet and a bad smoking problem. Having the attack helped him realized how those things were affecting his life and they also helped him quit what he could not before.
Corrie.S.P.
Miraculus Homeschool 