Recovering from a heart attack.

I take a break from my usual advice, consulting, strategies, tactics, and research on the current excesses in our economic system that allows lying and stealing to be covered and allowed as “capitalism.” Stealing is not capitalism. The sanctity of the contract requires consent. Homeowners had no idea about the true nature of their transactions with entities posing as lenders. Thus there could be no consent.

OK. I said I was taking a break to discuss recovery from a heart attack.  As most of you are already aware, I had another one on June 2. It was a surprise to all concerned — including doctors who administered 30 minutes of CPR. Thank goodness it did not result in broken ribs, which is often the case. But it did leave me with a bruised chest, legs, arms, neck, shoulders and back. And it reminded me that death is Nature’s way of telling you to slow down.

After the major medical intervention, I woke up feeling extremely fragile, vulnerable, and confused. For one thing, seeing myself in a hospital room with my daughter standing over me along with my cardiologist was a surprise. For another, the news that I had suffered a “massive” heart attack and was lucky to be alive was something that I had difficulty processing. What were they talking about? The last thing I remembered is that I was going for a follow-up appointment to my primary care physician. It was now 2 days later.

My strength and stamina were virtually zero. Despite them saying I was a miracle man for surviving, I did not feel like a miracle. I was in pain from head to toe.

After 9 days, I was discharged and my daughter drove me home. I have lived with her since 2016 when doctors told me to stop going to court. At first, I required help doing virtually everything. My brother is a cardiologist in South Florida. He told me to get over the despair and depression that comes from such fragility and that I would noticeably improve daily. It was difficult to accept his optimism. As for what appeared to be memory loss, he said to think of it as a concussion. At first, you might not be able to remember your own name. It was never that bad for me but it was disconcerting.

Then there was Lasix, which every patient recovering from a heart attack is required to take, at least for a while. This essentially drains fluid out of the body to reduce the pressure in the heart. It also drains out all the electrolytes leaving the patient dizzy, disoriented and foggy. I learned that the intake of this or any other diuretic must be timed properly, monititored closely, and offset by well-timed rehydration.

I had to use a walker to get around the house until suddenly, I didn’t need it anymore. Each improvement step was a surprise and jolted me back to the reality that I would get better instead of the “all is lost” mentality plaguing me.

Most of all, many things that most survivors experience that are not described by the doctors. In our hypervigilant minds, this leaves us wondering whether the latest pain, symptom, or event is significant. I found that reading a book written by a psychologist who had done a phenomenal amount of research helped me “know” what was in store for me. The book is “Thriving with Heart Disease,” and the author is Wayne M. Sotile, Ph.D. It has great information for both patients and caretakers.

I am now entering the phase of cardiac rehab — 1 1/2 hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I wanted to rebel against this regimen. But I cannot deny that my mental, emotional and physical stamina needs building. This is the test. I will find out just how much better I will get and maybe a clue about how much longer I will live.

Speaking of which, about 100 people have now asked whether I saw the light or experienced what others have described as a death or near-death experience. My answer disappoints everyone. I recall nothing from the experience. I can neither confirm nor deny the existence of the afterlife.

I will continue to add to my body of work on this blog. There are literally thousands of articles — many of which are in-depth — about the alleged “mortgage meltdown.” I, of course, contend that the explosion in derivatives had nothing to do with the creation of loan accounts and everything to do with creating and selling unregulated securities — all in unmonitored securities accounts.

For their part, homeowners failed to receive compensation in their essential role of executing documents that memorialized transactions that never happened. Thus was born the “virtual loan transaction” (hereinafter VLT), which had no analog or support in statutory or common law, replacing the traditional transactions that created an asset on the books of the “lender” (and its successors upon sale of the unpaid loan account).

VLTs are neither enforceable nor legally subject to recognition. They’re legal nullities. And there is plenty of statutory and common law support for that proposition. The conveyance of a mortgage, either originally or to a successor, is always a legal nullity if it does not also transfer the unpaid loan account receivable owned by the seller (i.e., the underlying obligation).

I will continue to oppose the efforts of those who want to chalk the resulting slaughter of homeowners as judicial corruption. The premise is false, and while it might have some value in generating donations and in providing a vehicle for venting frustrations, it diverts energy from real tasks at hand: sharpening the language of the statutes and winning these cases one case at a time, as I have done for 16 years.

I will also complete the writing of my book on the crisis, including how-to information on the successful defense of foreclosure and some proactive measures that homeowners can take that will not be dismissed out of hand like the current attempts to bring wrongful foreclosure actions against false claimants with no claim.

And I will be developing an up-to-date forms library for pro se homeowners and their lawyers. That is already in the works.

And on a more selective basis, I will provide service and assistance to individual homeowners and a few attorneys left who are willing to believe that consumer defense can be accomplished successfully and profitably for lawyers.

That’s my current status. Thanks for reading.

Posted in Uncategorized |