Fans hoped that after an extensive open heart surgery, WWE and WCW legend Vader could avoid the hospital for a lengthy period. However, just days after the massive operation, the 63-year old is already having issues.
On Thursdays, Vader updated his followers with a troubling message that had him heading back to the hospital. Citing severe pain and a case of pneumonia, Vader sought immediate medical attention.
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“Damn I have bad news I am bk in the hospital.pain is thru the roof and they say I have pneumonia.Cant breath.But I am still fighting,” he wrote.
Damn I have bad news Iam bk in the https://t.co/1oYCjG1pNF pain is thru the roof and they say I have pneumonia.Cant breath.But Iam still fighting VADER TIME
โ Big Van Vader (@itsvadertime) April 19, 2018
While Vader hasn’t updated his status, he has made several tweets since the one above, and we can only assume that things have stabilized.
Earlier this week, Vader shared a grisly photo of his scar from the massive surgery:
They had me but I KICKED out 2 The surgeon confessed he had A few to many that’s why the scar is off centerer I OWE THAT MAN MY LIFE THANK U JESUS pic.twitter.com/gH1zNcYWDr
โ Big Van Vader (@itsvadertime) April 16, 2018
Since rising from the operating table, Vader has launched an informal PSA campaign advocating routine check-ups of the heart. Vader says he has no symptoms but had five clogged ateriesโmaking his mortality a ticking time bomb.
Vader attributes his heart crisis to decades of poor dieting and urges anyone who will listen to eat more consciously.
Vader discussed his medical condition in an interview with Bill Apter prior to his surgery back in March.
“I literally have 10 blood vessels that are clogged, over 90 percent of my heart. I guess just to put it mildly I’m a walking time bomb. I went in for a routine visit… I was having chest pains. And I go into see him (his doctor), and he says you need to go into the hospital. I go ‘Oh god, when? In the next couple of weeks? I’ve got bookings and I’ve got this and that. He says ‘No, right now.’ So he basically gave me some injectable blood thinners right then.”
Vader noted that the blood thinners kept him from having a heart attack.
“Here’s the deal, I was afraid,” Vader said. “I said, ‘Hey, my heart feels great. I’m wrestling, I’m riding the bike 30 minutes hard. There’s no pain, I’m fine.’ Well guess what, I wasn’t fine. I had blockage, he said the type of blockage that you, over 90 percent in 10 arteries started 15 years ago. So let’s say you came in 10 years, even eight years ago and got checked out and found some blockage. We could’ve gone in there with a catheter, basically stuck a cable into my groin and worked it up through my stomach and cleaned that out.”
It’s been a tumultuous 2018 for the big man, but it looks like he’s finally on the up and up. While a return to the hospital is certainly alarming, hopefully, it’s only a minor bump in his road to recovery.
He says he wants to wrestle again, but that’s not really something any fan is clamoring for. Instead, we’ll hope he goes into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2019.