Senor Schmutzig
Footballguy
I'm 54 years old, 6'2", 240 lb. I walk 4 miles daily and have been doing that for the past 5+ years. My diet is good, not great. I eat all of the right things (fruits, veggies, fiber, lean meats, etc.), but I also eat plenty of bad ones (red meat, carbs, sweets, etc). I don't smoke and drink moderately ie. 4-5 drinks/week.
My last blood panel I took a few months ago showed elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, but not crazy high. At the advice of my PCP (who also happens to be a cardiologist), I started taking a statin about 3 months ago.
While I can't say I never thought about the possibility of having a heart attack at some point, I certainly didn't think it was going to happen when I was 54.
I start every morning with the 4-mile walk. It usually takes 1 hour and 10 minutes. On Friday, I worked from home, so I set out as usual, around 6:30a. About 15 minutes in, I started feeling a slight pain in my upper left chest area. It wasn't too painful, maybe a 3 out of 10 on my pain scale. Noticeable but not concerning. I thought I may have slept wrong and irritated a muscle, so I didn't think about it too much. About 40 minutes through the walk, I stopped at a bench along the water to have a seat and do my daily Wordle. Once I started going again, I didn't feel the pain anymore. That was it, so I thought.
Saturday morning, I did the same thing. I woke up, although I slept in a little bit and didn't leave until around 7:30a or so. At about the same time along my walk, I noticed the pain flare up again. Same spot, same intensity. Same duration, for the most part. I thought it was strange, but after it went away at about the same time as the day before, I didn't think much about it.
Saturday evening, my wife and I headed over to our friend's wine bar. It was their grand opening, and since we have been helping them with the business side of things to get it started, we planned on working that night to help things run smoothly. My wife and I were there for about 6 hours and left around midnight. Probably around 11:45p, while I was sitting and waiting for my wife to finish up, I started getting those same chest pains again. Plus I was hot (it was pretty warm and humid in Miami for this time of year) and starting to get a little cranky because I was getting pretty tired. It was past my bedtime! We started walking to the car, and the pain continued. Again, it had a similar intensity, maybe closer to a 4/10. We hopped in the car and started driving home, and the pain subsided. It probably lasted 20 minutes or so total At this point, my concern level started rising a bit as it was the third time in two days. I sensed something wasn't right but as a typical guy, I was brushing it off somewhat, albeit with a slightly higher anxiety level attached to it.
After I got home, I went upstairs to the bedroom to change clothes and lay on the bed. A few minutes later, my wife came upstairs, and we talked about how the night had gone. For some reason, she asked if I was feeling alright, and I told her I was having some slight chest pains. Maybe she sensed something was off? Without hesitation, she said, "We are going to the ER". I hemmed and hawed for about a minute before deciding something wasn't right. I got dressed, and off we went. The local ER is only about 10 minutes from our house. I walked in upon arrival (it wasn't busy) and mentioned to the person at the desk I was having chest pains. Within 2-3 minutes, I was hooked up to an EKG in one of the examination rooms. Shortly after that, the technician told me I was having a heart attack. I was a little shocked but calm. It certainly wasn't what I thought happened when someone was having a heart attack. I wasn't in a crazy amount of pain or felt the need to clutch my chest like you see on TV or in movies.
Five minutes later, I was being prepped for surgery, and 4-5 people were swarming around, getting me ready and shaving my wrists, shaving my groin area, drawing blood, and asking health questions. The on-call cardiologist and his team were also called in (thank god it was the middle of the night and not a high-traffic time in Miami). It was quite a site to see the choreography of everyone working together. After about 10 minutes, they wheeled me into the operating room, where I was further prepped. About 10 minutes later, the surgeon showed up, explained what he would do, asked if I understood, ensured I agreed to the procedure, and off we went.
I ended up getting three stents inserted. Two were on the right side and one on the left. Thankfully, the widowmaker (left anterior descending) LAD artery was "only" 50% blocked; otherwise, I probably would not have made it to the operating table. The two on the right that received stents were 76% and 100% blocked. The doctor went up through my right wrist versus having to go up through the pelvic artery (hence the reason they had to shave there also) , and I was awake through the whole process. It probably took 45 to 60 minutes tops.
I spent all of Sunday in the hospital for recovery and was discharged earlier today (Monday). I feel like nothing happened despite two small needle holes on the inside of my elbows where the IVs were connected and one small hole, almost imperceptible, on my right wrist where the catheter and balloon were inserted. It's truly amazing to think about the technology that exists to eliminate all three blockages, insert the stents, and allow me to come home the day after what could have been a fatal problem.
Going forward, I'm going to have to change my diet considerably. The doctor mentioned that if I hadn't walked as much as I do, this would have happened earlier as it's most likely genetic that the arteries were clogged as much as they were at such a young age. As mentioned earlier, my diet isn't bad; however, I'm going to have to severely reduce red meat consumption, salt intake, high-sugar items, etc. That's going to be a tough one as my wife and I both love cooking, trying new restaurants and just enjoy food. It's one of our passions that we will just have to enjoy differently now. I'm going from having to take one prescription per night (that I frequently forgot about) to taking five. I'm adding a higher dosage of Lipitor, multiple blood thinners, anti-coagulants, and a beta-blocker.
I typed all of this out to remind my fellow FBG'ers that these things are possible at an early age, at ANY age, and that you need to take care of your body. Even if you think you are, when you are pre-disposed to something, whether you know it or not, you may have negative results that you aren't expecting. I'm thankful that I am here and am blessed that I can continue with my life. My father passed away the day before Thanksgiving last year (2024), and damn, that would have sucked to have followed him to the grave only two short months afterward. He was 79 and had numerous other health issues that I have been able to avoid, so hopefully, I'm good for now. It took 54 years for my arteries to get clogged as much as they were, so hopefully, these stents are suitable for at least another 54, lol. I was thinking earlier today that I have already experienced cancer (skin cancer) and a heart attack at a relatively young age but I have so much more life to live. I owe it to myself, my wife, my son, and my mom to ensure that I do everything possible to allow for a good life for at least 25-30 more years. I won't let all of my hard-earned retirement money go to waste!
After my father passed, I have been thinking about how I can FIRE earlier (Financial Independence, Retire Early) so this incident may move up that projected timeframe a bit.
Alright, that's it. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions, fire away!
My last blood panel I took a few months ago showed elevated cholesterol and triglycerides, but not crazy high. At the advice of my PCP (who also happens to be a cardiologist), I started taking a statin about 3 months ago.
While I can't say I never thought about the possibility of having a heart attack at some point, I certainly didn't think it was going to happen when I was 54.
I start every morning with the 4-mile walk. It usually takes 1 hour and 10 minutes. On Friday, I worked from home, so I set out as usual, around 6:30a. About 15 minutes in, I started feeling a slight pain in my upper left chest area. It wasn't too painful, maybe a 3 out of 10 on my pain scale. Noticeable but not concerning. I thought I may have slept wrong and irritated a muscle, so I didn't think about it too much. About 40 minutes through the walk, I stopped at a bench along the water to have a seat and do my daily Wordle. Once I started going again, I didn't feel the pain anymore. That was it, so I thought.
Saturday morning, I did the same thing. I woke up, although I slept in a little bit and didn't leave until around 7:30a or so. At about the same time along my walk, I noticed the pain flare up again. Same spot, same intensity. Same duration, for the most part. I thought it was strange, but after it went away at about the same time as the day before, I didn't think much about it.
Saturday evening, my wife and I headed over to our friend's wine bar. It was their grand opening, and since we have been helping them with the business side of things to get it started, we planned on working that night to help things run smoothly. My wife and I were there for about 6 hours and left around midnight. Probably around 11:45p, while I was sitting and waiting for my wife to finish up, I started getting those same chest pains again. Plus I was hot (it was pretty warm and humid in Miami for this time of year) and starting to get a little cranky because I was getting pretty tired. It was past my bedtime! We started walking to the car, and the pain continued. Again, it had a similar intensity, maybe closer to a 4/10. We hopped in the car and started driving home, and the pain subsided. It probably lasted 20 minutes or so total At this point, my concern level started rising a bit as it was the third time in two days. I sensed something wasn't right but as a typical guy, I was brushing it off somewhat, albeit with a slightly higher anxiety level attached to it.
After I got home, I went upstairs to the bedroom to change clothes and lay on the bed. A few minutes later, my wife came upstairs, and we talked about how the night had gone. For some reason, she asked if I was feeling alright, and I told her I was having some slight chest pains. Maybe she sensed something was off? Without hesitation, she said, "We are going to the ER". I hemmed and hawed for about a minute before deciding something wasn't right. I got dressed, and off we went. The local ER is only about 10 minutes from our house. I walked in upon arrival (it wasn't busy) and mentioned to the person at the desk I was having chest pains. Within 2-3 minutes, I was hooked up to an EKG in one of the examination rooms. Shortly after that, the technician told me I was having a heart attack. I was a little shocked but calm. It certainly wasn't what I thought happened when someone was having a heart attack. I wasn't in a crazy amount of pain or felt the need to clutch my chest like you see on TV or in movies.
Five minutes later, I was being prepped for surgery, and 4-5 people were swarming around, getting me ready and shaving my wrists, shaving my groin area, drawing blood, and asking health questions. The on-call cardiologist and his team were also called in (thank god it was the middle of the night and not a high-traffic time in Miami). It was quite a site to see the choreography of everyone working together. After about 10 minutes, they wheeled me into the operating room, where I was further prepped. About 10 minutes later, the surgeon showed up, explained what he would do, asked if I understood, ensured I agreed to the procedure, and off we went.
I ended up getting three stents inserted. Two were on the right side and one on the left. Thankfully, the widowmaker (left anterior descending) LAD artery was "only" 50% blocked; otherwise, I probably would not have made it to the operating table. The two on the right that received stents were 76% and 100% blocked. The doctor went up through my right wrist versus having to go up through the pelvic artery (hence the reason they had to shave there also) , and I was awake through the whole process. It probably took 45 to 60 minutes tops.
I spent all of Sunday in the hospital for recovery and was discharged earlier today (Monday). I feel like nothing happened despite two small needle holes on the inside of my elbows where the IVs were connected and one small hole, almost imperceptible, on my right wrist where the catheter and balloon were inserted. It's truly amazing to think about the technology that exists to eliminate all three blockages, insert the stents, and allow me to come home the day after what could have been a fatal problem.
Going forward, I'm going to have to change my diet considerably. The doctor mentioned that if I hadn't walked as much as I do, this would have happened earlier as it's most likely genetic that the arteries were clogged as much as they were at such a young age. As mentioned earlier, my diet isn't bad; however, I'm going to have to severely reduce red meat consumption, salt intake, high-sugar items, etc. That's going to be a tough one as my wife and I both love cooking, trying new restaurants and just enjoy food. It's one of our passions that we will just have to enjoy differently now. I'm going from having to take one prescription per night (that I frequently forgot about) to taking five. I'm adding a higher dosage of Lipitor, multiple blood thinners, anti-coagulants, and a beta-blocker.
I typed all of this out to remind my fellow FBG'ers that these things are possible at an early age, at ANY age, and that you need to take care of your body. Even if you think you are, when you are pre-disposed to something, whether you know it or not, you may have negative results that you aren't expecting. I'm thankful that I am here and am blessed that I can continue with my life. My father passed away the day before Thanksgiving last year (2024), and damn, that would have sucked to have followed him to the grave only two short months afterward. He was 79 and had numerous other health issues that I have been able to avoid, so hopefully, I'm good for now. It took 54 years for my arteries to get clogged as much as they were, so hopefully, these stents are suitable for at least another 54, lol. I was thinking earlier today that I have already experienced cancer (skin cancer) and a heart attack at a relatively young age but I have so much more life to live. I owe it to myself, my wife, my son, and my mom to ensure that I do everything possible to allow for a good life for at least 25-30 more years. I won't let all of my hard-earned retirement money go to waste!
After my father passed, I have been thinking about how I can FIRE earlier (Financial Independence, Retire Early) so this incident may move up that projected timeframe a bit.
Alright, that's it. Thanks for listening. If you have any questions, fire away!
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