The Ultimate Wake Up Call
Source: https://www.spandidos-publications.com/article_images/etm/5/6/ETM-05-06-1623-g00.jpg
Eight years ago, May 21, 2009, at approximately 10pm I suffered a heart attack. My how my life has changed over these past 8 years.
Here's a blog post I wrote 8 years ago, about the event:
Hello.
Last week, I had no idea what the following week would entail.
Had a heart attack.
Let that stew for a minute.
I had chest pains starting May 16th. Thought originally I pulled a chest muscle, because it only bothered me when I lifted something heavy, or strained my self reaching for something.
The pain would last for a minute or so, and was very infrequent.
Had it a bit more when I mowed the lawn on May 18th, but again blamed it on a pulled muscle.
May 21st at 10 pm, I had a more centralized chest pain, which I thought may be due to overeating. Jenn and I ate a big dinner that night, so I blamed the discomfort on that.
Friday I still had some of the older chest pain, so I discussed it with my physician, who I happen to work with. My physician felt that an EKG should be done just in case.
Our RN performed the 1st EKG. There was something amiss. She performed another EKG and saw something. She gave it to the physician.
Their actions saved my life.
My doctor called Dr. Jina at Hotel-Dieu Grace Hospital, and after discussion, I was ordered to the hospital, where I’ve been having fun since last Friday, May 22nd.
I had several EKGs, and angiogram, which discovered two blockages in the left anterior descending artery. One blockage was 60%, and the other was 90%.
Two drug-eluding stents were placed into the affected artery on Wednesday.
You know what hurts? My groin where they performed the two angio tests. I’ve had 3 procedures in my life, and they were all in the groin area.
Thus, Dr. Jina has ordered me off of work and driving for two weeks. Going to spend the next few days resting and sleeping (hard to sleep in a hospital when they keep waking you up to draw blood, take pills, take BPs.)
I’m always on the go, so two weeks of “no-go” is going to be a culture shift for me.
Mike 2.0 will be a lot different than the old Mike.
My daily reminder of what happened 8 years ago.
I take medications daily. It's a daily reminder of what happened. Some days I will reflect, while others it's just a routine, like brushing my teeth, or getting dressed.
Take care of your heart. Be happy. Focus on improving you. Don't beat yourself up so much for things you've done. Life is meant to be good, and enjoyable.
