Tue, 24 Oct 2000, 09:02 AM The Big Valve Job

Maybe this column would be better written a couple of weeks from now, after the fact, but I've never been one to delay and have always kept deadlines as inviolate.

You see, I'm coming up on an adventure some of you may have experienced. If so, you can probably relate to what I'm saying.

No, I'm not going around Daytona with Bobby Allison, or taking a circuit of The Brickyard with Bobby Unser. I'm not even watching Kenny Bernstein's first 300-mile run from the press box named in my honor. I've been there, done that.

This has little to do with racing, which seems to be shoved into the background the past few days.

This is heart surgery, to replace a faulty aortic valve, which I'm scheduled to undergo Thursday. Yep, a new valve, or as drag racer friend Don Robertson of Gainesville Raceway puts it, "Oh, you're going in for a valve job."

Hospitals are certainly not our favorite spots, even to visit, but a dear friend Jerry Young once reminded me, "They turn out some pretty good people".

So, rather than wait for a symptom, like a heart attack, a spell of dizziness or something else that would damage the ticker, I'm going to have it taken care of while everything, as Don "Snake" Prudhomme would say, "is still cool".

As Richard Petty would probably say, "He's one of those cats going in for one of them heart surgery things. You know what mean?"

What am I thinking about as I face open heart surgery? My anxiety is probably akin to a rookie driver before the Daytona 500 or Indianapolis 500. However, they have an advantage, they can help dictate the outcome, while my fate rests with a much more powerful force: My God and my savior, Jesus Christ.

I'm just along for the ride, Dr. Jeffery Snyder, my surgeon, and his crew will be at the throttle and my faith will see me through. With such a team, I see nothing but success, despite any cautions which may be thrown along the way.

Granted, this offering isn't being done at one sitting. I put some thoughts down, make a pit stop, change something and try to put into this computer staring back at me what's whirring through my mind.

For instance, just Sunday, I was at friend Roger Gustin's Super Chevy Show at Gainesville.

And long-time friend Pastor Terry Grieninger of Racers For Christ was in the tower when I visited.

"Would you step outside?" he asked.

Those who know me realize I usually am only to ready to oblige such a request, whatever the reason. But Grieninger, of Pastor Ken Owen's RFC ministry simply put his arm about me and offered a beautiful prayer as we bowed our heads.

I have so many stories and future columns to compile, I want to be back at it as soon as possible, after this event. Yes, FastNews bossman and friend Rick Green is giving me this opportunity and I want to continue.

The idea of no driving for quite a while is prickly. Maybe my dear wife Marilyn or college-busy son Teague will chauffeur me as soon as I can go to a race. Never mind once at a race. There's always an ambulance and a staff of EMTs or para-medics right close by.

Big Daddy Don Garlits comes to Gainesville frequently, maybe I can call on him. Too bad Linda Vaughn lives out west. Could you see us pulling up in a convertible at a short track or a drag race?

But back to the present, I'm thinking I'll be in surgery not even as long as it would take to watch a major league baseball game. You know, something around three and a half hours plus.

And unlike a major league ball game, I'll be asleep pretty quickly, not having to wait three or four innings.

That's it. That's why you may see a slight interruption in my byline.

Wish me well and if you believe as I do, mention it to the Lord. Before you know it, I'll be back on track. That's when I plan to echo Rockingham friend Steve Earwood's trademark response to a how're you doing? Simply "Never Better".

And meanwhile, to my loved ones and all those friends in and out of racing and my comrades in the Marine Corps League, I'll be back as soon as the green flag flies, Semper Fi. OK?

--Norm Froscher