Fun huh.....

[CWLONGSHOT]

Hey guys,

I have been absent for this week, if you hadn't noticed. I spent the week in the hospital. Tuesday I had a heart attack while at work. Just 42 FREAKIN' years old and I was having a heart attack!!!!

 

I am a guy after all, so of coarse I didn't want to admit or succumb to the facts and didn't do anything at the first signs. Overall crappy feeling with tightness in the chest and sore arms, like you worked out hard the day before, but hadn't. That passed with about 2 hrs of just a bit of a crappy feeling. (Hi blood pressure). Just aft lunch, the feeling was back with a vengeance followed by nausea. I found a nurse and my BP 180/100 and off to the ER I went.

Once there, my BP only shot up a bit, but my left arm alone now was "dead feeling" and my chest now officially hurt. Blood work, EKG all showed OK... Another BP said different, 195/114 !

 

Doc, comes in about 10 that night and says, CW, you had a mild heart attack.

Rush me over to ICU followed by more blood and IV NITRO.... WOW... instant head ache and blood thinners!! More EKG's, more needles, IV's and X-Rays, then more blood.. OH and rest. Yea right, rest, how do you do that with a pounding head and a nurse poking and proding you every couple minutes? Spend the night there... "resting".

 

In the AM I'm off to another hospital for a procedure. They go in thru your groin, into the femoral artery. Up to your heart valves, where they inject a die to "see" how things are working and where the blockage is. Then fix it while they are in there, no additional, surgery. (If they do there job right) They found a blood clot almost completely blocking one artery and about 60% in another. There are only three and that one is the important one, it was clear. Of coarse they are all important, but if that clear one was blocked that would have likely killed me. Its the major one that feeds the heart. (I've only just had a crash coarse here and don't know names and how stuff works.) They put in one stent, where the complete blockage was. That other, will be dealt with, with diet, drugs and exercise.

 

I laid in the hospital for two days while they checked and adjusted my meds and watched my incision. After all it was in my femoral artery, if I started to bleed badly, I could be dead before they called for a code blue!! Its a major artery. I survived and got home early, last night.

 

I'm OK and will have to adjust to a new way of life, but will survive. Just thought my cyber buds would like to know.

 

CW

[mvusse]

Wow, that sucks!

 

Glad to hear your mostly okay now, though. I'm mostly in denial, since I'm "only" 38, but I know I don't eat right, and don't nearly get the exercise I need any more. Every once in a while I come across a story or post like this to remind me I really do need to see a doctor to get checked out one of these decades. Just to see how badly I've messed up my body and what to expect if I don't change my habits.

[aemsee]

Wow, that was a close one. Someone was watching out for you. So how are you going to like being a vegan? Is this a family thing? 4 of my Dad's brothers died of heart disease stuff. Scary.

[BLHTAZ]

Dude..Sorry to hear about you experience, but definitley glad you are back on your feet. :thumbsup:

 

I am going on 44 and had a similar experience about 4 months ago...pain in the chest, left arm tingling and loss of feeling in the fingers, pain in the arm/shoulder, light headed etc, etc... Fortunatley mine was not heart related after going through all of the tests in the Cardiac Care unit like you described. After more testing (MRI's) outside the hospital, it was found to be two herniated discs in my neck (C5-6 7 C6-7) pinching nerves that run in those areas.

 

Anyway...don't mean to get off on a tangent about me. CW...please take the treatment and exercise stuff seriously. I have lost two members of my family to heart attacks and one good friend that died at 34 years old of a Heart attack. He was 6'4", weighed about 400lbs and knew he had high risk heart trouble, but did not take it seriously and fell out dead on the floor of his living room while playing with his 3 year old daughter one night.

 

Sorry to be a bit grim, but this stuff really hits home with me :cheers:

[ejndssn]

glad to here that you are back :cheers: and recovering you will most like be eating a lot of fish :brows: and scartch the fried stuff too btw you may want to change that beer mug for a wine glass :rotf: or drink plenty of grape juice. take care of your self

[BLHTAZ]

OH...BTW...the procedure you went through with the groin incision is called a Heart Catheterization. The lady that does my screen printing just went through that about 8 months ago too. I also have another Jeep friend that is in his early 50's, has had 4 heart attacks in the last two years and has been through two Catheterizations.

[bigd44889]

good luck man

iv'e beed there i was as close to a heart atack as u can get just didn't have any damage to heart

mine was 7 years ago i was 30 life won't change that much

good luck :cheers:

[brdhntr]

i feel your pain. i had 2 heart attacks (severe) at age 32 and who knows how many more before that. i have a rather rare heart disease. i now doctor at mayo clinic. i am scheduled for an angiogram there on thursday (i've had three angio's and 4 full heart cath's). it's alot different there though. it doesn't take you out much and there's less worry of bleeding. i participate in a study procedure and they put a stitch or two in the artery when on their way out. there's a little tugging on the inside for a couple days but no huge bruise and you are up moving in 1/2 hour. if they do it at 7 am, i'm back at my hotel by 5pm or sooner.

 

i, too have been on a nitro drip. don't worry about the headaches, you get used to nitro and it's not a problem (if they put you on any nitrate that is). i feel for you, i know exactly what you've gone through all too well.

 

feel free to send me a pm if you want to talk war stories. i may be able to give you a heads up on side effects of some of the meds they put you on. take it easy for a while and recover slowly. don't rush things or it'll set you back. now that you know what a heart attack feels like, your in a better position for the future. if you feel any signs again, you'll know to get in asap.

 

as for me, i still have alot of heart trouble (that's why i'm disabled fulltime) but i am heart attack free for 5 years now. i'll find out on thursday if they can slow the progress of my disease at all. it's really progressing rapidly. we'll see what i find out on thursday.

 

hang in there man. remember to enjoy life and don't sweat the small stuff. ;)

[DirtyComanche]

Yikes... As I sit here eating my double chocolate muffin (okay, it's really more like a giant cupcake) for lunch.

 

 

Best of luck bud, I'm sure you'll pull through it all.

[1990 Pioneer 4x4]

That sucks! I’ll bet it makes you appreciate life a bit more. I’ve been through life threatening injuries and never will fully recover… I do appreciate what I have a lot more after each injury.

[CWLONGSHOT]

Thanks alot for all the well wishes guys. It helps.

 

I cannot spend much time on the puter as I have to sit upright to do so. That puts pressure on the incision in my groin.. :eek: not good. So I only check in 2-3 times a day. (When the boss is not watching.)

 

Yes big changes for me.... CW

[Drahcir495]

:eek: Crap man, you are to young for something like that to happen. I am really glad that you’re recovering. Do whatever it takes to stick around to see me get my Comanche painted -I figure it will be done by 2049 :clapping: .

 

I am sincerely glad you’re OK - Rich

[deziped]

Sorry to hear of your illness, but certainly glad your a survivor and doing well. A little advice, listen to that dietician and your doctor for extended longevity. Coronary artery disease can be slowed to a crawl with the proper effort. I had a stent in 92 & I'm still hanging around. Other friends who had stents around the same time and made NO effort to change their live style (eating, exercise, etc.) are long gone. Hope your recovery is speedy, and don't rush it.

[brdhntr]

OH...BTW...the procedure you went through with the groin incision is called a Heart Catheterization. The lady that does my screen printing just went through that about 8 months ago too. I also have another Jeep friend that is in his early 50's, has had 4 heart attacks in the last two years and has been through two Catheterizations.

 

 

since i've had so many, i thought i'd clarify this. an angiogram is a less indepth heart cath. an angiogram is a pretty quick check for blockages in the arteries. a heart cath is usually much more indepth. they do more examining of the heart itself and the arteries as well as further into the arteries. often times people refer to both as heart caths, and that is technically correct. but the ones i have had and my daughter are far different from one another. so when someone says the had an angiogram, they had a quick check for blockages in the arteries. if they say they had a heart cath, the procedure was longer and they checked more out. think of it as an overhaul vs a rebuild. ;)

 

at least this is my experience with them at mayo. for me, they do heart caths and they suck. i have to be fully alert and am on no drugs. when i get a angio, they let me have some sedatives. thursday i have an angio and my doc has promissed it would just be a quick angio and i can be sedated, yipppeee. :banana:

 

either way they go in the same way and usually with the same equiptment.

 

i will say, after hearing you say you have to keep an eye on the "site", i am glad i participate in the study at mayo. i'm scheduled at 7 am, will eat lunch there, and be back to the hotel by 3 pm or so. spend the night to make sure there's no problem, and i'll be driving the 5 hours back home on friday. i'll be going alone this trip. the wife and kids are staying behind.

 

yep, this is pretty routine for me (that sucks to say). i'll get as much as i can done before i leave, but i'll be back at it monday or tuesday with light stuff. i'll be working on the jeep 2 weeks from now. i'll probably spend some time "resting" driving the tractor to move snow at the club.

 

i've been through 2 the way you did, i don't miss it. it does take time to recover and heal. rest, relax, and plan your future. you only go around once, make it count!

[90MJext]

hope you have a speedy recovery

[CWLONGSHOT]

Thank you very very much for all the well wishes!!! I do very much appreciate them.

 

I knew there was a number of "Cardiac club" members here but I had no idea!!!

 

Yea, the new diet.. Not a huge adjustment really. Overall, I didn't eat awful, just too much. I definitely excessed on bad stuff too often. Say I'd have frozen waffles for breakfast. I'd think nothing of a half a stick + of butter for 6 waffles. Or half a doz eggs and couple o'pieces of toast, again with too much butter. Biscuts and sausage gravy.. yup not often but when I saw it on the menu it was on my plate. Lunch I was 90% good, I don't like any of the fast food places. Dinner almost as good, plenty of veggies and fairly good meats. (Lotsa venison and Striped bass)

 

I am quite active although I never go to the gym. I walk up to 10 miles daily ALWAYS 5-6. ALWAYS hauling, lifting or carring something. Just like you guys, I work on my Jeeps on the week ends, pulling motors and swapping trannys or suspensions. Its been abit slower this past fall with my back issues, but I'm still out there. Now, I know I'm a bigger guy a bit heavy, but not what the average person would consider fat. My docs say I should be 180#.. Do you have any idea of how anorexic I would look @ 180#??? :eek: :nuts: I could see 210-220#... Yesterday at the Hospital, I was 71.75" and 111Kg (244lbs). I have a fairly athletic build with a 55" chest and a 38" waist. Over the past two months I have actually lost 20 pounds. (I was 263 on the button November 3, 2008@ the docs for my check up) About Nov 1st last year, I quite soda 100% and cut the beer in half. This was a suprise for sure....

 

My cholesterol was not awful but a bit on the high side of regular, pretty much the same for my sugar. Although I do have some placking, my heart attack was from a blood clot and I don't know where it came from. But I'll find out!!

 

I'm getting tired, so its back to my chair for the day...

 

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate the suggestions, experiences and of coarse the well wishes!!

 

CW

[brdhntr]

hang in there. the diet helps, but remember to let yourself eat what you want now and then. giving up the soda is great. i allow 1 a day of diet caffeine free. i don't always have 1, but i let myself be open to it. i carry a gallon jug of water everywhere i go so i don't need to pick up a soda.

 

you'll be back in action in no time. for now, relax and enjoy the fact that the doc's told you to take it easy. ;)

[TNT]

I'm glad to hear you are doing ok.

 

I was 40 years old when they put a stent in my widowmaker(the same one as you had done I believe). I started to feel funny a couple of days later and found out I was getting a clot in my stent. After two days in the hospital on tons of blood thinners I was released.

 

I also had two heart oblations done to fix the Supraventricular Tachycardia (SVT) I also had. It is a type of heart rhythm abnormalitie. The first one was when I was 38 years old and the other the day after the did my stent. The first oblation made my SVT's worse, the second one fixed them.

 

I have had five cardiac catheterizations done over the years. My cholesterol has always been good and about only cause I have found was not doing a good enough job with tooth care. Keep your teeth very clean because they can cause problems.

 

I have some other blockage in my heart and have went on a regiment of taking two 500mg Slo-Niacin(slow release) at bedtime. My blockage was 70% but they didn't fix it because the risk of having a heart attack is higher then trying other things to help out. Taking the two 500mg Slo-Niacin at bedtime has reduced my blockage to 45% in 4 months.

 

So I they have me take one 81mg aspirin, a multivitamin and one 75mg Plavix in the morning. At night I just take the two Slo-Niacin right before bed.

 

They had me start taking one Slo-Niacin at night for a week and 2 after that. I had some side effects from the Niacin like hot flashes and not sleeping as well, but they went away after about two weeks.

 

That combined with proper diet and exercise is how I handle it.

 

My bad back makes exercise too hard do like I should and the pain medications kill my metabolism slow down which makes weight loss hard.

 

Always ask your heart doctor before taking new medications or vitamins.

 

Have fun removing the pressure bandage.

 

Welcome to the Cardio-Club. ;)

 

I hope everything goes well. :thumbsup:

[mm's mj]

I'm just a newbie to the forum, but wanted to extend my best wishes for a full recovery and success with the lifestyle changes you'll need to keep on keeping on.

[HOrnbrod]

Best wishes for a quick and total recovery CW. But don't ever give up catching those monster rockfish though - great therapy. :D 'Course I know you won't. :cheers:

[Red 1989 MJ]

Good luck !!!!

 

:smart:

 

you have to take care of yourself

 

 

 

Hey guys,

I have been absent for this week, if you hadn't noticed. I spent the week in the hospital. Tuesday I had a heart attack while at work. Just 42 FREAKIN' years old and I was having a heart attack!!!!

 

I am a guy after all, so of coarse I didn't want to admit or succumb to the facts and didn't do anything at the first signs. Overall crappy feeling with tightness in the chest and sore arms, like you worked out hard the day before, but hadn't. That passed with about 2 hrs of just a bit of a crappy feeling. (Hi blood pressure). Just aft lunch, the feeling was back with a vengeance followed by nausea. I found a nurse and my BP 180/100 and off to the ER I went.

Once there, my BP only shot up a bit, but my left arm alone now was "dead feeling" and my chest now officially hurt. Blood work, EKG all showed OK... Another BP said different, 195/114 !

 

Doc, comes in about 10 that night and says, CW, you had a mild heart attack.

Rush me over to ICU followed by more blood and IV NITRO.... WOW... instant head ache and blood thinners!! More EKG's, more needles, IV's and X-Rays, then more blood.. OH and rest. Yea right, rest, how do you do that with a pounding head and a nurse poking and proding you every couple minutes? Spend the night there... "resting".

 

In the AM I'm off to another hospital for a procedure. They go in thru your groin, into the femoral artery. Up to your heart valves, where they inject a die to "see" how things are working and where the blockage is. Then fix it while they are in there, no additional, surgery. (If they do there job right) They found a blood clot almost completely blocking one artery and about 60% in another. There are only three and that one is the important one, it was clear. Of coarse they are all important, but if that clear one was blocked that would have likely killed me. Its the major one that feeds the heart. (I've only just had a crash coarse here and don't know names and how stuff works.) They put in one stent, where the complete blockage was. That other, will be dealt with, with diet, drugs and exercise.

 

I laid in the hospital for two days while they checked and adjusted my meds and watched my incision. After all it was in my femoral artery, if I started to bleed badly, I could be dead before they called for a code blue!! Its a major artery. I survived and got home early, last night.

 

I'm OK and will have to adjust to a new way of life, but will survive. Just thought my cyber buds would like to know.

 

CW

[UNL1MTD]

I hope your recovery goes smooth. Best wishes throughout the process.

[mjeff87]

CW....just saw the post. Take good care buddy!

 

Try some FRUIT in your beer for once, it's good for ya (sorry, couldn't resist :cheers: )

 

Hope you have a speedy recovery.

 

Jeff

[BLHTAZ]

Try some FRUIT in your beer for once, it's good for ya (sorry, couldn't resist :cheers: )

Jeff

:rotf: :jump: :rotf:

 

Don't know why I didn't think of that one... :clapping:

[jtdesigns]

Dude!!! You better be chilling out! Just take it easy, heal up, and start to do some low impact aerobics. Maybe you and Jeepco could go swimming!!! :waving: :D Just kiddin (y'all) But for real swimming is good to get the ol' beater pumping without killing your joints..