Listen to your body

[Heymatt]

I'm in the HVAC trade for 30 years now. This year the heat has been much harder on me than usual. Figure, eh just getting older, suck it up and keep going. Couple of weeks ago started getting some random chest pains, right side, out to the shoulder and up the right side of my neck. It would last a couple of minutes, like an asthma issue and be gone.
No rhyme or consistency, it would happen with very limited exercise but not with heavy exercise. Kinda weird, gonna see my primary the next week for my annual check up.
Bring it up with the doc and the tone in the room changed fast!
Got me set up with a cardiologist the next week. Told to take it easy no exertion whatsoever!
Go see the cardiologist on Friday last week, listens to the symptoms and sets me up for a nuclear stress test on Monday.
Go do the stress test and fail miserably! Five minutes on the treadmill and I'm dying, gotta tap out. Asthma kicking in chest pains, quads burning. I don't reach target heart rate, so they chemically boost me to get there. Lots of side eye looks from the techs and PA monitoring me. They take the last round of barium pics and send me on my way.
Four hours later, I get a call from the cardiologist.
Stop whatever you're doing and go to the emergency room now!
You're already on the list and they're expecting you. Tomorrow morning you're going in for cardiac catheterization.
Mrs Heymatt is in full panic mode! I'm like, he's just being cautious, probably not a big deal.
Head over to the ER and they're on me like a NASCAR pit crew!
Monitored all night long every 30 min for vitals blood draws, IV, meds. I'm thinking this is a little more serious than I thought!
Tues morning in for surgery, 90% blocked on one of the three major arteries at the heart!
One big ole stent and two hours later they wheel me out.
Get told normally we'd send you home today, but, not you.
Another overnight stay. Finally get sprung Wed after all the tests come back ok.
Home resting, light exercise walking only, no driving, no lifting, diet restrictions, no caffeine or alcohol.
Guess it could be worse. Caught it before it was major heart attack.
Got a new best friend, my cardiologist!

 

[soFlaNative]

Good thing you did when you did.
All the Best with rehab and recovery.

 

[Rudi]

Good news out of bad. I try to listen to my body, but my hearing loss makes it harder.

 

[H Richard]

Been there done that, Had a Cath and 2 stents put in on Thanksgivings morning 2000. Have tried to behave myself ever since. Keeping up the exercise is a key part.

 

[pmanton]

Outstanding. You can now look forward to many more years.
My wife has 8 stents and she can outwork me about 10-1.

 

[Onomea]

Heymatt, glad you caught it in time. As we get older, all of us need to keep an eye on ye olde ticker.

 

[smitholdtimer]

Good for you, Heymatt

Haymatt, am I correct in that you had one 90% blockage? You and I were both very lucky, I had two 85%'ers & a 90% during Covid but fortunately, came through it OK. They used a vein from my right leg for the bypasses they performed. Please request to attend the usual rehab if your Cardiologist doesn't already have you enrolled and good luck with your recovery.

 

[moosedog]

I'm glad that you caught it early. You have a new lease on life, and it does make you reevaluate the big picture.
When I retired back in 2009, I started hitting the gym on a regular basis and felt that I just didn't have the energy that I should. My regular doctor who was a very good doctor and a friend of my wife's, asked me the normal questions about pain, etc which I didn't have. In fact I had just got done hiking Isle Royal with the Boy Scouts. I asked her for a stress test, and she ok'd it after some prodding on my part. I passed the test ok, but then my blood pressure stayed elevated too long, which indicates a blockage.
Next day I had two stents put in my Widow Maker and immediately felt 20 years younger. My regular doctor stopped by to see me after the operation and started getting teary eyed and apologized for doubting me. I told her not to feel bad and we have remained friends. It is truly amazing what modern medicine can do.
In short, yes, always stay in tune with your body.

 

[Breakaway500]

I stopped listening to my body a long time ago. It always says sit down..take your shoes off and have a drink.
The brain says get your layz butt up and do something!

However..lately I have been listening the the bod a lot more..

Glad you caught this issue in time.

 

[Rotorhead1026]

Usually such symptoms start on the left side. Guess you're just wired backwards, OP.

Seriously, glad you're doing well.

 

[lihpster]

I listen to my body. Unfortunately, it usually says, "Dude! You don't know what you're doing, do you?"

 

[Heymatt]

Stress test area and Cath Lab prep area is in the same area. Funny part was the same staff was on duty when they wheeled me in for surgery prep! They wanted to know why I was back? You all saw my test results, why do you think I'm back? We all had a good chuckle!

 

[ColbyBruce]

Since this is a gun forum…

You sure dodged a bullet, didn't you!!

My youngest brother did not heed the warning signs and has been gone fourteen years now.

Best wishes to you and thank you for the reminder to look after ourselves.

 

[kamloops67]

Glad you listened and caught it in time
Do the guys at work say you're on "Matt leave", now ? ;-)

 

[taz666]

Same here. I was feeling a "sense of doom" ... hard to explain. Went in to the local clinic and they advised me to get a stress test. I told them to set it up ... went in for it .. left to go home and by the time I got there (10 miles) the wife was waiting with coat on. Took me down to Madison and I was in surgery for a double before I could process what was going on.


6 months later both graphs closed up ... scar tissue or ??? Doc said he doesn't see that happen much. So ... on borrowed time so to speak. My heart is strong they say ... just that the plumbing is going south. Extra arteries started branching off the WM side around the blockage ... probably what kept me going so long.

 

[Bald1]

No caffeine or alcohol??????? Phfffft I'd find a new doctor

 

[Doug M.]

My dad died of a heart attack. My older brother darned near did. I don't know if he had any bypasses or stents; I was not sensitive to the issue then. My younger (9 years older brother) was having a lot of trouble on short walks and thought a conservative approach would be fine. I told him I'd had a stenting and it worked well, and encouraged him to to consider aggressive treatment. He ended up have a quad bypass a couple months before my double. (This was all part of kidney transplant screening.) I was being assessed for another stent by a transplant cardiologist - sharp dude all the way around and I respected him. Through the sedation haze I heard him say, in a tone similar to mine, something to the effect of "that's not a stent; it's a bypass". before I was completely conscious I had a referral and appointment to the Chief of Cardiac surgery. I was a bit anxious and made it worse by checking out some YouTube videos. Don't do that. The necessary work is pretty scary.

My pump was good - always worked out hard until I was told not to. Plumbing was not good; seems genetic. Had the surgery on Tuesday, was not really conscious until Thursday. Not near as bad as I had feared and they took darned good care of me. Was it great? Nope. Was it awful? Nope. Fortunately due to my kidney stuff my residual dignity was already pretty much gone. My affection for dark humor (like answering phone calls from medical folks with "lab rat and pin cushion") caused some confusion. A detective asked if I could have a soul put in while they had my chest cracked. FYVM, Brent.

Due to that and other stuff I have lost a lot conditioning, but overall it was a net positive. Here's a hot tip: if the cardiology folks get their bloomers in a bunch, shut up and listen. They almost certainly have a good reason for that.

 

[Golddollar]

6 months later both graphs closed up ... scar tissue or ??? Doc said he doesn't see that happen much. So ... on borrowed time so to speak. My heart is strong they say ... just that the plumbing is going south. Extra arteries started branching off the WM side around the blockage ... probably what kept me going so long.

Those are called collaterals, and yes, they probably did keep you going. The development of collaterals is well documented in medical literature. I supposedly had a 90% blockage in my right coronary artery but never felt a thing out of whack. Two attempts at stenting failed. This was back in 2016. Finally my old cardiologist concluded that since I never had any symptoms a third attempt at stenting probably wouldn't do any better than conservative treatment. The blood flow has been in spec since 2016 and my current cardiologist is convinced that my body built collaterals around the blockage.

 

[Golddollar]

My body seems to say "Turn off the alarm and go back to sleep."

 

[oldbrownhat]

My gf has been having some minor health issues and has now started to refer "her engine warning light going on" after her car recently had the same warning signal! Like the OP, she is lucky to have got a really on-the-ball medical practitioner when she got her initial appointment, and who is ensuring she gets the proper tests in good time. The medical system being what it is, she has found that often you have to be proactive and advocate for yourself.

Up here in the PNW, we are well away from the heat waves, but "stuff can still get ya."

 

[llowry61]

Glad you listened and went in to be checked out. Many folks don't and the outcomes can be severe.

Follow the rehab recommendations. Live long and prosper.

 

[Heymatt]

First follow up visit was today. Actually had two stents put in. One in the LAD or "widow maker" and one on the diagonal.
Looks like I dodged the Big One!

 

[30-30remchester]

If my body could talk it would for certain be cussing me out for the abuse, I put it through. Many people hear voices in the head. The voice I hear from my brain are speaking in Spanish of all things. I don't speak Spanish.

 

[JohnRippert]

I had something very similar happen last year. Up half the night with chest tightness that felt like heartburn but did not respond to antacid. Next morning get tunnel vision while taking my shower. Decided to go ahead and call a ambulance. Dispatcher tells me to chew up 3 of the low dose aspirin I have around. Two nice young ladies show up and hook me up. Yup, you are having a 'cardiac event' says one. Load me into the ambulance, push some blood thinner in through the IV and off we go. They wheel me straight into the cath lab on arrival and less than a hour after I called 911 I have a stent installed into the lower anterior descending artery, which is the one they call the widowmaker. Does not look like any permanent damage and I will find out next month when I get a nuclear stress test done how things are going. All other tests they have run look like no other blockages.

Yes, I do know how lucky I was. I personally believe if I had not retired a few months before the attack I would have died. So, as Heymatt said, listen to your body.

Pic from the day after the stent was installed. I went with the toga look because it turned out I was flashing the staff when I took my first walk.

 

[Heymatt]

John, good luck with your rehab!