Randy Smith
By working in the sports media business practically my entire life, I have developed a great appreciation of teamwork. Great teamwork was never more prominent nor important than it was for the last two weeks for me. For those who may not have been informed, on Tuesday July 18th I underwent a quadruple bypass at Memorial Hospital. It was a procedure I never thought I would be a candidate for. There has never been a history of cardiac disease on either side of my family.
Only a couple of heart attacks, and they were caused by smoking, no other relative of mine to my knowledge has ever had heart surgery. After my personal physician Dr. Mark Heinsohn ordered tests, boy was I shocked when Dr. Vinay Madan informed me that I had at least three blockages and would need a heart bypass operation. Yes, I was shocked but at the same time I was comforted by Dr. Madan's words as he assured me that my heart was still healthy and I would be fine.
On surgery day, all three of my other doctors attended to me. Dr. Bill Warren and his assistant Mike Logia and surgeon Dr. James Zellner. After nearly five hours in surgery my life was placed in the hands of the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. Nurses Amy, Chris,Travis and Matt cared for me and an anesthetist named Todd came by twice to check on me. Of course there were many other nurses and technicians that I could not possibly name but I hope they all know how thankful I am for their care.
While there were no significant setbacks there were a few memorable events involving my heart surgery. Here's a top ten list:
10. As I prepared for my heart cath, the nurse handed me one of those typically immodest hospital gowns, and said take your clothes off. I asked, "Buck naked?"
9. My Tennessee pajamas were a big hit when I managed to get in a real room. Alabama fans were a bit perturbed however.
8. I was awakened by an x-ray tech named Kimberley one morning at sunup who told me to, " Get up you're not on vacation. This ain't the Hilton."She's right. It wasn't.
7. You can get a whole different perspective on pain drugs when you have major surgery. I did until I started seeing the late coach Adolph Rupp sitting in my room smoking a cigar.
6.Older men without heart surgery often must get up each night to go to the bathroom several times. But when you add meds which make you go more often to relieve fluid, it's about every two hours or more.
5. I don't recall if it was the medications I was on or not, but I had a Lewis Grizzard quote for anything someone said to me. My favorite was," When I get down off this ceiling, I'm gonna wipe that smile right off your face."
4. I was able to sell and autograph copies of my book, Seasons of Change.One of them to long-time friend Cindy Sexton who came by to visit.
3. When my umpiring buddy Al Slater came by for a visit, it was like a Major League Baseball rules seminar in my room. Enjoyed every minute of it.
2. As I was lying on a bed with nothing on but a smile and a half-sheet, my nurse said, " I know who you are. You're the sports guy on TV!" I replied, " Yes ma'am but I look a lot different with my clothes on."
1. The last words I heard before my surgery were these....." Mr. Smith...........the bar is open."
Of course I always believe that my God has a plan for every situation. Why would He put the life of a sportscaster, coach and umpire in the hands of two of the best softball players to ever play in the area. Or why would he choose four of my wife's former students to be among my caregivers?
Not that everything was smooth and perfect......There was always the lab tech who would appear in my room to draw blood every morning at 4:00 a.m. Granted, you never can sleep well in the hospital but it's usually because of the vampires taking your blood before the sun comes up. I was probably very rude to Sean, the lab assistant but at least I didn't do as my brother-in-law did when he once refused to allow a lab tech to draw blood and threw him out of the room.
It was an experience I'm glad to have behind me and I don't plan to have any more surgeries. And as unpleasant as it was, it was made more than simply bearable by the folks at Memorial and my family and friends. I have the world's greatest caregiver in my wife Shelia, my supportive and helpful family, and my wonderful friends, who are welcome to come see me anytime. But you'd better hurry. I've been out every day since coming home.
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer. His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for 30 years. He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga television for more than a quarter-century. In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith. They have five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.
He can be reached at rsmithsports@epbfi.com