I went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth on whether or not to post this. But I am. I want to first say I am not posting this for sympathy, to have well wishes, to have "thoughts and prayers" posts because frankly I HATE THOSE! Those of you who know me at least from these boards, know that I am not one to engage in this kind of stuff. I am posting this merely...."as a friend". This is my public service announcement to you.
I want to let you all know to “trust your judgement”. You know your body. You know your family’s history. Weird thing is that past week I started working out with more chest exercises, not heavy, put push ups, light weights in prepping to try to start getting in shape. So I expected to feel sore muscles and tightness that occurs when you start out a routine like this. This was like any other day. I was visiting customers, and thank god being a Thursday night I decided to come home instead of staying at a hotel. After dinner, I went down to start follow up emails and relaxing and something felt weird. A compression in my chest. It wasn’t an acute pain, just a pressure. It just felt “off”, not normal. I just sat down for 15 minutes to see if it passed and it didn’t. I also started to get nervous, that is when I decided to go to the ER. I could have easily blew this off due to just starting an exercise routine, but this was different. I have lifted enough in my life to know the difference between that pain and this discomfort. This was different.
So....this is my public service to all of you. Going to the doctors or hospital is a real “pain in the ass”. I hate it. It is an inconvenience. Especially a hospital. You wait. And wait. And wait. You know you are going to be there for a few hours, or more, while they putz around and run tests and it could be nothing more than indigestion. But again, you know your body, and your history (family) and in my case heart disease runs in my family.
So….I go. And wouldn’t you know it, the chest pressure subsides. I feel normal. So they run a quick EKG on me, and do some blood pressure (high) and blood work (pretty normal) and well that was that. But the ER doctor said; “your call, but you are here, you came here for a reason, you expressed family history, why not stay the night and be admitted, they will run further tests, and in the morning if everything is OK, then you go home.” So I reluctantly agreed and I was admitted. Again, major inconvenience. I am stuck in a hospital room. But I remember a former coworker at a previous company had something like this happen, went home, went to sleep and never woke up. So…I stayed. And then they ran the tests again. Slight change, very slight change, but a change nonetheless. I had an astute cardiologist talking to the attending physician and I overheard him saying “he is young, he has a history, I don’t like this”. So…..instead of the usual stress test, they decided to do a heart catherization.
Well….it was during that they saw two arteries with 90% blockage in the front of the heart. This area is known as the “widow maker”. Meaning, these are the massive, catastrophic heart attacks that most don’t survive. So during the procedure they were able to stent these blockages and open them up completely. Again, just a real pain in the butt, another night in the hospital, tethered to IV, away from family. But think about the alternative, that “inconvenience” could be a lot worse, including no longer being able to provide for your family.
So……the moral of the story is, don’t be stubborn. I am not saying be hypochondriac and react to everything, but you know your body and you know your family history, and if there ever is that time, don’t wait. Even if you have an appointment upcoming, a kids soccer game or birthday party, get it checked out. Because better to miss one appointment or kids event than to never ever have a chance to go to another. So be healthy and safe and remember to do what is best long term for your family.
That's it.
I want to let you all know to “trust your judgement”. You know your body. You know your family’s history. Weird thing is that past week I started working out with more chest exercises, not heavy, put push ups, light weights in prepping to try to start getting in shape. So I expected to feel sore muscles and tightness that occurs when you start out a routine like this. This was like any other day. I was visiting customers, and thank god being a Thursday night I decided to come home instead of staying at a hotel. After dinner, I went down to start follow up emails and relaxing and something felt weird. A compression in my chest. It wasn’t an acute pain, just a pressure. It just felt “off”, not normal. I just sat down for 15 minutes to see if it passed and it didn’t. I also started to get nervous, that is when I decided to go to the ER. I could have easily blew this off due to just starting an exercise routine, but this was different. I have lifted enough in my life to know the difference between that pain and this discomfort. This was different.
So....this is my public service to all of you. Going to the doctors or hospital is a real “pain in the ass”. I hate it. It is an inconvenience. Especially a hospital. You wait. And wait. And wait. You know you are going to be there for a few hours, or more, while they putz around and run tests and it could be nothing more than indigestion. But again, you know your body, and your history (family) and in my case heart disease runs in my family.
So….I go. And wouldn’t you know it, the chest pressure subsides. I feel normal. So they run a quick EKG on me, and do some blood pressure (high) and blood work (pretty normal) and well that was that. But the ER doctor said; “your call, but you are here, you came here for a reason, you expressed family history, why not stay the night and be admitted, they will run further tests, and in the morning if everything is OK, then you go home.” So I reluctantly agreed and I was admitted. Again, major inconvenience. I am stuck in a hospital room. But I remember a former coworker at a previous company had something like this happen, went home, went to sleep and never woke up. So…I stayed. And then they ran the tests again. Slight change, very slight change, but a change nonetheless. I had an astute cardiologist talking to the attending physician and I overheard him saying “he is young, he has a history, I don’t like this”. So…..instead of the usual stress test, they decided to do a heart catherization.
Well….it was during that they saw two arteries with 90% blockage in the front of the heart. This area is known as the “widow maker”. Meaning, these are the massive, catastrophic heart attacks that most don’t survive. So during the procedure they were able to stent these blockages and open them up completely. Again, just a real pain in the butt, another night in the hospital, tethered to IV, away from family. But think about the alternative, that “inconvenience” could be a lot worse, including no longer being able to provide for your family.
So……the moral of the story is, don’t be stubborn. I am not saying be hypochondriac and react to everything, but you know your body and you know your family history, and if there ever is that time, don’t wait. Even if you have an appointment upcoming, a kids soccer game or birthday party, get it checked out. Because better to miss one appointment or kids event than to never ever have a chance to go to another. So be healthy and safe and remember to do what is best long term for your family.
That's it.
