This is a copy and paste of a Facebook post I put up last night. I expect most here are of an age to know what I am talking about but this will serve as a PSA for those that still think they are invincible. I have not felt that way in some time but I remember the feeling well.
Friends, listen to your bodies when they tell you things. I just got home this afternoon after spending a couple days in the hospital after getting a stent installed to open a 100% blockage in one of the main arteries in the heart.
For a couple days late last week I felt some tightness and discomfort in the upper chest. Felt like heartburn but the antacid did not get rid of it like normal. Then Saturday morning when I was in the shower my vision started to dim. Did not have any balance issues and it was gone by the time I finished. I had one of the caretakers at the house seeing after Mom so I called 911 and got the ambulance on the way. Once they hooked me up they said i was having a "coronary event". I called my sister in Colorado and got her to working on coverage for Mom and getting a flight into Houston.
Things moved quick when I got to the hospital. The cardiologist and his team were waiting to wheel me into the Cath Lab and they went in through the wrist, found the blockage and installed the stent. From the time I called 911 to when they wheeled me into the ICU after the procedure was a little over a hour. I got lucky. It was caught early and there was no damage to the heart. I will have to add a couple more meds to my list and continue the changes I had already started in my eating habits and lifestyle.
So, listen to your body when it talks to you and err on the side of caution. If I had blown it off as nothing much it would have been a major heart attack and who knows what might have happened. There definitely would have been damage to the heart.
To end this on a lighter note. I decided instead of hanging my butt out in the breeze and scaring the nice nurses and other patients in my ward that I would bring back the toga party of my youth. What do ya think?
Friends, listen to your bodies when they tell you things. I just got home this afternoon after spending a couple days in the hospital after getting a stent installed to open a 100% blockage in one of the main arteries in the heart.
For a couple days late last week I felt some tightness and discomfort in the upper chest. Felt like heartburn but the antacid did not get rid of it like normal. Then Saturday morning when I was in the shower my vision started to dim. Did not have any balance issues and it was gone by the time I finished. I had one of the caretakers at the house seeing after Mom so I called 911 and got the ambulance on the way. Once they hooked me up they said i was having a "coronary event". I called my sister in Colorado and got her to working on coverage for Mom and getting a flight into Houston.
Things moved quick when I got to the hospital. The cardiologist and his team were waiting to wheel me into the Cath Lab and they went in through the wrist, found the blockage and installed the stent. From the time I called 911 to when they wheeled me into the ICU after the procedure was a little over a hour. I got lucky. It was caught early and there was no damage to the heart. I will have to add a couple more meds to my list and continue the changes I had already started in my eating habits and lifestyle.
So, listen to your body when it talks to you and err on the side of caution. If I had blown it off as nothing much it would have been a major heart attack and who knows what might have happened. There definitely would have been damage to the heart.
To end this on a lighter note. I decided instead of hanging my butt out in the breeze and scaring the nice nurses and other patients in my ward that I would bring back the toga party of my youth. What do ya think?
