Jadem6 stumbled... but hasn't fallen. Yet.

That's not good news...I hope for the best for him

I, too have been in touch w JD for quite a few years, although never had the chance to meet, living 1/2 way across the country. Believe it or not, he is looking forward to getting a new heart and a better quality of life down the road. Me, I'd be scared witless ;~) There's also another thread about J.D. posted a few days ago here. Maybe our friendly moderator will merge them.

Thanks Greg, you know I love you. This is very kind of you to post.

I posted this response on the other thread too, but noticed this one now so I will post it here to.

These are strange, exciting and yet humbling times for me. When they placed my name on the transplant list six months ago, I had a very hard time with the concept that one phone call could be the start of a very new journey. Now my name is moving up on the list, and it should be within the next six months, and possibly today! Imagine getting a phone call, “Yes sir, your heart is on its way” as if it was an amp being delivered.

This past twelve years have been quite a long road, living with a chronic illness is not recommended. There have been three or four distinct times when my wife, Julie and I were sure I was on my last month of life. These often included hospital stays, and sometimes a procedure. These periods would be followed by endless months of recovery and learning to live with yet another setback.

Through this time, Audiogon has been a major factor in keeping me interested in life. I know it sounds lame, but it is true. When you are limited so severely, little things like music become major focuses. See I can “do music” and from this came a very special group of friends. Most of my active Audiogon days were in the late ‘90’s and early 21st century, consequently many of my friends are less active than before. That does not mean Audiogon has not remained a huge part of my life. I still check in a couple times a day to see what’s being talked about. I often follow threads as they progress, and at times have tried to offer a few thoughts.

When I started building cables for sale, I tried to stop the forums because I have not wanted to find myself in a situation where people would question my thoughts because I might have other motives. This has been painful, for I do enjoy the interaction, but I think it is most important to not confuse the topic. On occasion a thread that I might have thoughts on will come along, and it is safe to talk without risk of …

Anyway, Audiogon has remained a big piece of my life since my heart attack twelve years ago. Sadly, this last year has not been so good. If you can imagine, listening to music has become “too much work” for me and my system has sat many nights silent. Just getting up and finding music, putting it into the cd player and going back to sit down can be too much. How silly is that! If I reach above my head (for a cd) or bend over (to find a cd) I can and do pass out. I once passed out and hit my head on the corner of my amp, knocking the amp off its isolation cones, and leaving me a bloody mess laying unconscious on the floor.

Cool huh! I have been quite light headed lately, and must be very careful to get down if I’m going to pass out, thus I don’t fall too far.

This does not mean I go without music completely. I started having a hard time sleeping as I lay thinking of what will happen if… Finally I tried headphones in bed (like High School) which was good, so I got some better ones and a cheap (relative to our hobby) cd player with an internal headphone amp. I listen to one disk every night, and have found a different way to enjoy our great hobby. As I do with my system, I am able to escape my mind and benefit from the therapy of music. Funny thing about this bedroom system, I have a pair of $500 Dennon headphones, $500 Shanling Audio cd player with a $2000 power conditioner and two $1000 power cords. How stupid is that! But hey, it sounds very good, and I have discovered detail and room information lost in my big system.

So anyway, I continue to enjoy music, just differently for now. I look forward to a day when I can again have the energy to call John Fox and play with him at his house like we used to do. I miss that very much my friend. I look forward to a time when I am able to travel, perhaps meet some of my Audiogon friends at a show or in their homes.

My list of want to do’s includes a family vacation rafting down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. I did this in High School and have always hoped to take my family, with our disabled son on the same trip. I have a plan to do this with a local friend and his family. Next on my list is a skiing vacation with my two oldest kida. We just started being able to ski the same extreme drops I loved when this all happened. Now I come to find my kids hardly remember me not restricted by my health. How sad to know my kids do not remember the active outdoors physically fit man I think of in my head. I hope to create some new memories for them soon. Third on my list is Julie and I going to New Zealand. I have a very dear local sailing friend who now lives in Auckland six months out of the year. His daughter has five kids and a husband from New Zealand, so he now splits his time between his daughters here and there. This of course gives me an excuse to meet one of my longest Audiogon friends, Redkiwi. He and I exchange ideas and family information periodically, and he is one man I deeply hope to meet in person.

These are my goals, as for professionally, I doubt I will go back to architecture, despite the fact that I was very successful and love to design. I think it has been too long, but I might be surprised by how I feel. One thing that suffers from low blood flow is my brain power. I simply could not formulate, retain and enact a design at this time. It would simply exhaust me, and most likely cause a physical reaction. I might try and make Jade Audio more than a hobby and sharing of my discovery with friends, but I would hate to make this a profit center at the lose of feeling I was sharing the hobby and “playing audio.”

I wrote a book (unpublished) a few years back, I loved the process, and might consider sharing my story in that way. I might simply volunteer at the High School’s architectural program. This is something I did for a few years before it too became too much. I miss that, I love working with kids, and helping them discover the creative side of themselves. I helped quite a few discover where they fit, and they have gone on to pursue careers in architecture.

Hell maybe I’ll win the lotto, and simply ride off into the sunset. Problem is I hear you need to buy a ticket to win, and I quite doing that years ago.

OK, back to this thread, I hope we can share this process together, and perhaps I am able to share some of the life lessons I am learning in the same way I shared my audio findings over the years. Just know the people at Audiogon have been vital to my survival over the past years, and I thank you for your love and friendship.

jd

I'll second Swampwalker's desire to have the moderators merge these threads, so we can all be on the same page.
Thanks for your great intentions Greg, we are all family here, hoping and praying for the best for JD and his family.

God Bless,
John

My ( Our ) thoughts and prayers are with JD & family 24/7.
I had one conversation with JD not long ago, I had no idea.
Your Friend,
Dave