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Surviving the Widowmaker (1 Viewer)

Judge Smails

Footballguy
I’m now in this club. 2 nights ago I took my Lab for a 45 minute walk then went and did a 30 minute Peleton class (bike is in our house). Good sweat as usual. Felt great. Showered. Still felt great. Went down to get dinner as Mrs Smails had some roasted chicken and salad ready. Took the plate upstairs to watch the President’s Cup. All good.

As soon as I sat down that all changed. Chest hurt and I started sweating profusely. Thought maybe it was just indigestion (I did burp twice) and maybe still running hot from the Peleton ride.  Pain/constriction continued and I walked outside to see if I could cool off. It was cold outside and didn’t matter - still pouring sweat. Walked back in the house and told my wife we have to go to the ED now. We live 4 minutes away from the hospital so drove (usually not advisable).  Walked into ED and when said chest pain they took me right away and surrounded me with the Code STEMI rapid response team. A nurse started putting patches on me for an EKG , got reading and said “####”. Knew that wasn’t good. They went so fast with one person getting a chest X-ray while another shaved my chest and groin. They wheeled me quickly to the operating room in the cath lab. Very scared look on my wife and kids (30, 27, 25) faces as I rolled by. My granddaughter was also there. My mind was racing as I prayed to be able to see them again.

I was awake the whole time even though they had fentanyl and other stuff going in me. They went through my groin area to guide the balloon and insert a stent. Surgeon said all of my arteries were “pristine” and clear except one. LAD. The Widowmaker. 100% blocked. As soon as she put in the stent the pain instantly went away. Spent a day and a half in the ICU/CCU recovering. Discharged this morning and now resting at home. 

Supposedly the result was a “minor” heart attack even though the fatality rate can be 40-60% when the LAD is 100% blocked. Only thing that saved me was time. I went quickly after I suspected something was very wrong. Minutes to get to the hospital. Minutes to get me in for surgery. Nurses were telling me door to balloon time is critical and “time is tissue”. 

I’m 57. Unknown family history as my Dad had a very poor lifestyle and died of complications of diabetes at 59. Didn’t know if he had heart issues. I’m in pretty decent shape. Could lose a few but eat well, exercise 4-5 days a week, religious about getting physicals and blood work, done, etc. Cholesterol was under 200 though LDL needs to be lower. Blood pressure was great until I had sciatica a few years ago but it’s not bad and in the hospital was 120/77 most of the time. My diet isn’t always great but don’t eat fast food and a lot of nights at home are chicken and salad with veggies. Harder to eat well on the road but mostly order fish. But there are steaks etc for board dinners etc. I do enjoy food food.  I do like eggs, bacon etc. Don’t ever use table salt and don’t eat a lot of frozen foods loaded with salt.  

Other than a lower LDL I’m not sure what I could have done to foresee this. My doctor was against artery scans.  Said waste of time/money and doctors today confirmed that you could be 20% blocked today and 100% blocked tomorrow.  Piece of plaque breaks off, blood forms and clots, artery closes like that.  

I have a stressful job leading a sales organization for a publicly traded company but honestly I think I manage stress really well. Compartmentalize it and I just do my absolute best. But maybe not as well as I think I do. Will be evaluating.

Although my life will change they say I can be as good as new. Clean arteries and the one that was problematic is open with the stent. The stent is permanent and I will need to be on blood thinners and other meds, some for life.

I read about this all the time. Usually somebody in their 50’s on a basketball court, in the gym, running a marathon, participating in an Ironman, whatever.  They just keel over. Many don’t get a second chance. I’m so lucky and blessed to get one. Will make the most of it and will be the model patient. The outpouring of love from my family and friends has been phenomenal. I want to be around for them. 

I know the feeling now and won’t hesitate. I think I may have had a similar attack 2 months ago, again after riding the Peleton.  Symptoms subsided after 10 minutes or so and I chalked it up to acid reflux but now I know it wasn’t. Lesson learned - if in doubt call 911 immediately. EMT’s have paddles, meds etc if needed and can buy time. Also they will have the code STEMI team ready by the time you get there. 

Hope none of you have this. I’m blessed and fortunate to have more days with my FBG amigos. 


 

 
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I had my first ambulance ride about 2 months ago from my work after a 14 hour day when I started feeling severe stomach pain. It wasn’t as bad as I thought, but better to be safe as you said. Glad you made it out okay 

 
Jesus christ.   Its crazy how someone can be in really good shape and have something like that happening.  59 is way too young.   Glad you're ok.   Those pelotons are dangerous.  

 
Had one of those myself almost 3 years ago now.  Was experiencing occasional short (5-10 seconds) bouts of tightness in my chest, reminded me of trying to catch your breath when running/playing sports. I knew something wasn't quite right but didn't think enough of it until one morning as I was walking into the building where I work.  I got in the habit of using the steps since it was only 3 flights up, but this time, by the time I got to my desk I was sweating and having a hard time catching my breath.  One of my co-workers asked me if I was okay, and I thought I was and just needed to catch my breath, but she was convinced I was having a heart attack.  Fortunately, I work in a medical facility and someone was nearby to take by blood pressure. 200-something over 100-something. They put a stent in and put me on blood pressure meds, and so far I've felt better than I had in years.

When they told me that particular blockage was called a widowmaker, I couldn't wrap my mind around how close to dying I had just been. If I ever have money to spend on a tattoo, I'm going to do something with the scar on my wrist where they went in with the scope to do the procedure.  I was able to get a copy of one of the MRI images of the blockage, I want to incorporate that into it somehow.

GL with your ongoing recovery.

 
Can't believe you tried to get out of letting me get the next round of drinks....

But seriously, so scary and so glad you took it seriously and saved yourself. Thanks for sharing.... Crazy.

 
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So happy that the ending worked out for you. My dad had the same deal when he was 54. He also survived And is leading a normal, retired life at 65. Never drank,  never smoked and was a professional fighter in his younger days so needless to say, he was in better shape than most people his age. 
Given your lifestyle, maybe it’s the stress of work but probably a decent chance that it’s hereditary. I am now 45 and the most stressful thing in my life is wondering if I can out run genetics.

 
Glad you're okay!  Great decision to go to the ER and not put it off.
Yeah.... Very glad you didn't die, judge. Also thankful you shared your story- I'm sure most of us are the suck-it-up and try to manage it ourselves types- reading this is such a profoundly useful reminder to not take any chances.

All the best to you and your family this holiday season, judge...lots to be thankful for!

 
Wow, truly scary. So glad you took care of yourself and went to the hospital. I’m sure this holiday season will be especially sweet for your family.

 
Glad to hear everything worked out. I work for an air medical company, and we transport STEMI patients nearly every day. Time is absolutely the biggest factor in outcomes, so being a few minutes from a cath lab certainly had a great impact on your recovery. For what it's worth, we have very many former patients who had a similar situation and have been coming back to say 'hi' for years... some 20 years plus. And they had much longer door to balloon times than you. 

 
I'll add my story. I'm 47 with a serious family history of stroke and heart disease.

This past summer, had gone up to the lake for the weekend. Spent the whole time on the boat, and there's plenty of drinking. But it wasn't a ton, based on my history. Felt fine all weekend. Ate a lot of food.

So we come back home on Sunday morning, and I go mow the lawn, which isn't much physical exertion. Not super-hot or anything. I finish up and come inside and feel like I've got a bad stomach ache. Just isn't going away. I go to lay down. Family decides to order take-out, and I figure I'll be fine by the time it shows up. But I'm laying there and it's not getting any better. I finally decide to take a shower, thinking that would somehow help.

Well, it didn't. I get in the shower and I don't know if it's the heat or what, but I immediately feel much worse. Light-headed. Thought I was going to puke. I stagger out of the bathroom and my hands and arms start going numb. I yell at my wife to call 911. It gets serious in a matter of seconds. I'm laying naked on my bed, and my whole body basically seizes up. My hands lock into tight fists, so do my feet. My whole face goes numb. Can't open my eyes. Can't speak. Wife and son pretty much going crazy at this point.

I'm assuming I'm having a major stroke and am about to die. Seems like it took help a long time to arrive. A couple police officers show up first. They offer no assistance. They're talking to EMS, who's en route. I'm writing around - naked - on the bed screaming in the most agony I've ever been in my whole life. 10 out of 10 pain in my entire body.

The paramedics show up and start telling me slow down my breathing and take as deep of breaths as I possibly can. Within minutes, things start to get better. My feet release, then my hands, eyes and mouth. I can open my eyes and start to talk again.

At this point, my wife offers up, "Can we at least cover him up with a towel or something?"

10 minutes after that, I'm basically totally fine. They tell me I was dehydrated. I'm like, that's it? No way. So I end up refusing the 10K ambulance ride and say I'll bring plenty of fluids and we'll go in if something changes.

Other than exploding diarrhea for a few days, I was fine. But it scared the ever-loving out of me. Absolutely thought 100 percent I was going to die. My son's out on the lawn bawling, neighbors out on the streets, the whole deal.

I happen to be lucky enough to be pretty close to the Mayo Clinic and have been a longtime patient there, so I figured I'd at least get a thorough checkup and make sure I wasn't dying. Got an appointment about a month later and they did the whole battery of tests on me. Everything came back normal. They said, "Yeah, you were probably just dehydrated and then at some point hyperventilated and your whole body shut down."

So that was fun.

 
Glad you’re OK. Not glad for the anxiety from reading all these posts. 

Thanks for sharing the symptoms. 
 

I’m in pretty good shape but need to eat better. This is one of those wake up calls for me. 

Sorry, thread kinda freaking me out!!! :eek:

 
I'll add my story. I'm 47 with a serious family history of stroke and heart disease.

This past summer, had gone up to the lake for the weekend. Spent the whole time on the boat, and there's plenty of drinking. But it wasn't a ton, based on my history. Felt fine all weekend. Ate a lot of food.

So we come back home on Sunday morning, and I go mow the lawn, which isn't much physical exertion. Not super-hot or anything. I finish up and come inside and feel like I've got a bad stomach ache. Just isn't going away. I go to lay down. Family decides to order take-out, and I figure I'll be fine by the time it shows up. But I'm laying there and it's not getting any better. I finally decide to take a shower, thinking that would somehow help.

Well, it didn't. I get in the shower and I don't know if it's the heat or what, but I immediately feel much worse. Light-headed. Thought I was going to puke. I stagger out of the bathroom and my hands and arms start going numb. I yell at my wife to call 911. It gets serious in a matter of seconds. I'm laying naked on my bed, and my whole body basically seizes up. My hands lock into tight fists, so do my feet. My whole face goes numb. Can't open my eyes. Can't speak. Wife and son pretty much going crazy at this point.

I'm assuming I'm having a major stroke and am about to die. Seems like it took help a long time to arrive. A couple police officers show up first. They offer no assistance. They're talking to EMS, who's en route. I'm writing around - naked - on the bed screaming in the most agony I've ever been in my whole life. 10 out of 10 pain in my entire body.

The paramedics show up and start telling me slow down my breathing and take as deep of breaths as I possibly can. Within minutes, things start to get better. My feet release, then my hands, eyes and mouth. I can open my eyes and start to talk again.

At this point, my wife offers up, "Can we at least cover him up with a towel or something?"

10 minutes after that, I'm basically totally fine. They tell me I was dehydrated. I'm like, that's it? No way. So I end up refusing the 10K ambulance ride and say I'll bring plenty of fluids and we'll go in if something changes.

Other than exploding diarrhea for a few days, I was fine. But it scared the ever-loving out of me. Absolutely thought 100 percent I was going to die. My son's out on the lawn bawling, neighbors out on the streets, the whole deal.

I happen to be lucky enough to be pretty close to the Mayo Clinic and have been a longtime patient there, so I figured I'd at least get a thorough checkup and make sure I wasn't dying. Got an appointment about a month later and they did the whole battery of tests on me. Everything came back normal. They said, "Yeah, you were probably just dehydrated and then at some point hyperventilated and your whole body shut down."

So that was fun.
What. The. Hell.

Naked and dehydrated- the BeTheMatch bio.

 

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