Working too hard can give you a Heart Attack Ack Ack Ack Ack Ack... My Heart Attack Story.

[Doodski]

That's so predictable and funny. When I did decide to call, I asked that they not use sirens and lights because I didn't want to disturb the neighborhood...

Haha. It's funny but dead serious stuff. I met the ambulance crew at the front door parking spot and advised them we won't be needing a bed. LoL...

You couldn't be more spot on. It would be a very difficult thing to go through alone. There is nothing on this earth I would trade for the love of my family and friends. The rest is just details.

That is going to make a huge improvement compared to the lonely, desolate and self sufficient type of wolf.

Of course! Can't let Adam have all the fun, even if he does handle everything so capably day in day out.

Can one Staff member handle the ASR website other than the test reviews?

 

[pseudoid]

I don't get choked up thinking about me going through all this, but I do when I think of them and how scared they were.

There was an interesting bit in a recent episode of a [nameless] TV series; where a war-veteran states she has come-to-terms with the fear of her own dying, yet she has now become terrified of the deaths of her loved ones.

I think such types of morbid thoughts can be used constructively and they sure beat that thing we call 'grief' (= born of guilt/remorse?), which quickly becomes destructive to both physical and mental health; the longer it persists.
As sad/destructive as the deaths of our loved ones can be, I think they allow us to come-to-terms with our own eminent demise.

Remember to often thank those who give you joy... before you no longer can.

Thank you.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Glad to see you came through this. As someone who has had his own heart issues, I'd urge you to not overlook two things. Apparently you do have weight under control which is great, so you have a big head start there. The other things I would urge are to make sure you're getting enough quality sleep. Adults need 6-7 hours daily to restore themselves and maintain healthy bodies, so that should never be neglected. And the other thing is to control stress through meditation. A simple 30 minute body scan meditation will do wonders for lowering cortisol levels, improving concentration, and promoting a relaxed but coping approach to daily challenges. Adopting both of those two practices will help you live longer and better. Here's hoping you make a full recovery. Best wishes.

 

[Salt]

Do exactly what the medical professionals tell you to do. We all want you to have a great recovery and a healthy life.

It was only yesterday I was reading news on the human trials of this:

The world’s most advanced long-term artificial heart is on the cusp of implantation

Using magnetic levitation technology, the world's first long-term artificial heart won't wear out, age or break. It's small enough for

createdigital.org.au

BiVACOR, Inc. – Replacing Hearts. Restoring Lives.

BiVACOR® Receives $13 Million to Support Clinical Trials for the Company’s Total Artificial Heart. Replacing Hearts. Restoring Lives. HEART FAILURE Heart Failure (HF) is a devastating disease

bivacor.com

A very cool brushless, mag lev, ttanium impeller design with the ability to dynamically adjust the flow, along with full digital control- they can even simulate the pulse (although it's not necessary). They are putting the pulse in basically because it would be weird not to have a pulse.

This is not a delight of prospect for someone awaiting heart-surgery (besides, it is a great engineering, of course)

 

[Salt]

I’m so very happy you were able to make this post and share such a good message. I wish you the very best of health going forward and a perhaps a new focus on your well being!

If I could add one comment (and apologies if I’m repeating) is to encourage all of you to get a calcium score at your next check up. You can find out exactly how much blockage you have, if any. Y

Calcium score? Blockage? What's the meaning of this?

 

[Jim Taylor]

Exactly. More so the latter.

U B 2 modest.

Jim

 

[pablolie]

Death isn't scary. We make it so, our civilization makes it "bad". You "lose" if cancer gets you, etc.

It's all nonsense. Conscious life is the total statistical anomaly in the universe. It's the universally shared fate of anything living that it eventually dies. Or... that it transforms. First Law of Thermodynamics... energy is never lost, it transforms. Add relativity and quantum stuff into it, which prove that more dimensions than the ones we directly experience exist, and just embrace the mystery. But... not quite yet, I hope.

My family tree seems to have pretty good cardiovascular genes. But cancer is our way out generally, and as men in our family often in our 60s.

 

[PatentLawyer]

Calcium score? Blockage? What's the meaning of this?

I recently had an executive physical at Princeton Longevity Center and had it done. You can read more about the test at the link below; perhaps a provider local to you offers it.

Calcium Score Test: This Has Nothing To Do With Your Teeth or Bones

Why you want to see a low score on a calcium score test.

my.clevelandclinic.org

 

[PHD]

Do you have a regular cardiologist? If not, I'd make that a priority.

How far are you from a hospital, and does it have a full Cath Lab?

I was referred to a cardiologist but never got a chance to set an appointment. I consulted with an online cardiologist and he told me that normal post-event bloodwork and EKG as well as normal blood pressure and lipids profile which I have, make these events unlikely to be heart-related. He did recommend an Angiogram just to be on the safe side since I'm over 50.

 

[Mikig]

Speaking of diet.
I have been following a very strict diet for a few years. It came on its own over time, but I have to say that I'm happy with it. breakfast Tea with milk and 10 biscuits, a scant spoonful of raw sugar. Lunch and dinner; a meal divided into two, therefore pasta for lunch, meat or fish for dinner, and vice versa. This allows me to take some whims off in the afternoon. Almost no alcohol present, maybe two fingers of wine a day and not even every day. I have eliminated soft drinks, I have never touched water in 40-odd years, but I have decided not to drink any more. Two coffees a day, after meals. Afternoon snack, a banana. Preferably I try not to eat pre-packaged foods for meals, I prefer only fresh foods. But above all I eat very small quantities of food per meal. No sauces, only extra virgin olive oil and rarely butter. I walk an average of 6 kilometers a day. I always sleep at least 8 hours a night. Of course my job allows me to get up a little later. Unfortunately I still have a work-related stress component, but I have learned over time to take space for myself. Last week for example I closed for two days and went to the beach. I've decided to stop being a hero, so when I start to feel tired and stress rising, I give up, throw in the towel and take a break. Then luck and genetics do the rest, but I have no control over it....

 

[Salt]

First: Your reaction to an odd situation was absolutely correct, @BDWoody, as the cardiologic intervention proofed.

Some facts:
- there are acute infarctions by plaque rupture that make sudden subjective symptoms, no former stenoses needed
- there are progressive stenoses of the coronaries that make diffuse symptoms by getting closer and closer, until to infarctiation (as seen in this case)
- no matter what origin an infarct is, a re-opening within 8 hours of the vessel saves heart muscles from dying, so: time is muscle

Some symptoms:
- the 'real' heart-attack, meaning plaque-rupture with acute severe symptoms, involves: acute chest pain, left arm pain (not to forget chin an tooth pain), cold sweat and fear of death (and maybe dyspnoe): easy to detect and should in any case be case for ER
- the more subtile heart-attack, "don't feel quite right" with some pressure on the chest but "does'nt hurt" and that "breathtaking" thing will be gone the next days ...
- 'bad stomach' or upper abdominal symptoms can be sign of right-hearted MI. There are studies that recovered that male's infarcts ar predominantly left-hearted and under physical stress (Fussballweltmeisterschaft 4 times more MI for example), as with female there is psychic stress predominant and infarcts predominatly right-hearted what makes them more difficult to discover.

Some hints:
- worst case is cardiac fibrillation due to MI, and that means sudden need for resuscitation (and cardioversion), and Nobody should fear to do any harm to the patient to do this! If someone is (near to) death, no one can do any harm anymore, except doing nothing! Just press the chest as strong as possible (some crackles should not stop this, that's only ribs) and forget (you even would not think about it) about giving breath. F=90-100/min, that serves also for sufficient ventilation. NO FEAR.

Some predictive notes:
- main reason for atherosclerosis is life stye, including nutrition's alteration of whatsoever and physical whatsoever, or, in short, drink and eat and move or not will do some determination

Some sidenotes:
- cardiac surgery and invasive cardiology are in a race for best practice for years. If it was for myself do'nt know how to decide (besides valve reconstruction, this would go for TAVI).

Some notes concerning radiology:
- there was Electron-Tomography a century ago to detect plaques
- GAF (Germa Airforce) uses Cardio-MRT to detect plaques
- Cardio-CT is now enforced to detect plaques
But this is all not predictive to determin risk for MI, and thus BS.

Some conclusion(s):
- Don't neglect severe symptoms
- Even respectable gears for home use (toys) may be misleading
- trust Yourself (unsiencely)

Recovery is in best progess, 'Call for humor' can't be missed. Same here.

Good luck.

 

[kemmler3D]

Thanks for sharing @BDWoody , it's a good reminder and guidance even (especially?) for those of us young enough to (foolishly) think we don't need to pay close attention to this kind of thing.

 

[pseudoid]

Hospitals (along with funerals, marriages, government buildings and police stations) have always given me the heebie-jeebies!

But I was awed by the complexity yet the efficiency with which a 21st Century 'hospital' operates; turning a potentially-lethal heart condition of 50 years ago into a drive-thru procedure.
Their SOTA is simply amazing!

 

[BDWoody]

I don´t want to contaminate the thread, but I passed a similiar situtation. Felt strange, went to the hospital at midnight (just 3 minutes by car), got some CT and woke up 3 days later after emergency surgery of an aortic dissection.

No contamination at all. So glad you got too the other side of that one, as Aortic dissection is seriously nasty business.

 

[Tom C]

A calcium score is a CT scan of the chest. For a calcium score, the extent of calcium deposits in the coronary arteries is analyzed, and compared to standardized tables that are matched for age and gender. The score predicts the probability that, if the doctors did a heart catheterization, they would see you have narrowings in the coronary arteries that put you at risk for a heart attack.
A heart cath is the gold standard for assessing coronary artery disease, meaning it is the best available test, and considered the final word on the matter. If you’ve had a heart cath, you don’t need a calcium score. Heart cath is a more complete and definitive test vs. calcium score. Calcium score is quicker and easier, but used for patients who are not having symptoms, or are having symptoms that could be caused by something other than coronary artery disease. If you are having active signs and symptoms of a heart attack in progress, what you need is a heart cath, which allows for both diagnosis and therapy in the same procedure.

 

[CapMan]

I have a Smart Scale which dishes the dirt to me every day on weight, body composition, water - it also includes two measures on cardiovascular health (Pulse Wave Velocity and Vascular Age). I wonder how predictive or helpful these are in the context of BDW’s post. I’m guessing not very, but I did at least manage to squeeze a tenuous comment about measurements in here.

Regarding mortality - I’m with the late great comedian Bob Monkhouse …

"I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my father. Not screaming and terrified like his passengers."

Take care of yourselves everyone !

 

[Kishore]

Thank you @BDWoody for being candid and open.. hope you make a smooth recovery.. amazed to see more instances in 50ish age group!!

 

[_thelaughingman]

@BDWoody thank you for sharing your health update and wish you a speedy recovery. More men need to start taking the initiative of being mindful of their health needs and not take the route of “it'll go away”. Glad you listened to your body and made the right choice.

 

[Curvature]

There's a new CPR method, quick to learn and apply, that we should all know: https://cpr.heart.org/en/cpr-course...oninact&source=ddr_e09a_apr24_eng3_2xconinact Just a few minutes to watch some videos, and a little more time if you want to download the material and dig deeper. Even better would be to sign up for a local CPR/AED class and spend a few hours to save a life.

Thankfully there's doctors on my wife's side of the family who have taken me through these steps.

I watched the videos and... the music, the metronome and the image are desynced and going at different rates. Maddening!

 

[pseudoid]

@BDWoody: For his selection of the title that brings up a few questions:
*Are you also thinking to "move out to the country"?
and/or
*Are you planning on trading up "for a Cadillac (ack, ack, ack, ack, ack)"?
I haven't even listened to that song lately but it has become a $%^# ear-worm for me, in the past few days!