1/20/2010
Dang! I had a heart attack!
Actually it was more of a heart-annoyance then a heart-attack.
We went to upstate NY to my wife's family for Christmas, so every day
ended up eating massive amounts of Italian cooking.
Plus, we stayed in a hundred-year old house (it tilted!) and had the
worse allergy attack in years. Sure I got a fungus.
So- after a week (and 10 pounds) I started getting a feeling of a
'lead balloon' stuck in my throat, which I sometimes get after too much
heavy food.
Went home (2 day trip), and on the 31-st went for my morning 12 mile
bike riide, did a few other things, and we had family New Years party,
ate more junk food, and my lead balloon felt a little bigger. New
Year's day, went for my bike ride. and later decided to call the
on-call doctor rather then wait until next Monday to go see my
doc. What decided me, tho, was that a couple times I would start
sweating for no reason. The doc said I really should go to ER and
get evaluated, just in case.
Oh well, nothing else going on, so why not?
So they hooked me up, everything seemed ok, until the blood tests came
back, and some enzyme count said I was having a heart problem, so up
the stairs I went to the cardiac floor.
Since it wasn't a real emergency, I sat there for 4 days until Monday
morning when everyone came in and off to the cath lab I went.
Found some blockages, put in 3 stents, but one had a problem, so a
couple more to stabilize it (otherwise would have required open heart
by-pass surgery to fix it) . Oh yeah- 4 days of blood thiners,
beta-blockers (?) and high dose statin. Even a nitro-patch which
gave a heck of a head ache for couple days. Anyway- all
fixed up I guess. But then I caught a really nice sinus-lung
infection of some kind. Soon as I got out and to my doctor, who was
shocked, all my checkups were excellent, got some anti-biotcs and
stuff, so now it's clearing up, but still feel tired- which
may be the other meds.
Next is cardiac rehab lab- they'll check to make sure my heart is
behaving before I start working out again. I have gone on a
couple of shorter bike rides, and take doggie for walks,
everything seems ok. More news this Friday.
1/27/2010
Well- Thurs/Friday I was having a 'lead balloon' feeling again.
Slightly lower- mid chest- with a slight burning feeling, so I
figured maybe this time it really was heart burn- except it never went
away. So just in case- called in Thurs middle of the night,
they said try a nitro tablet, since for me the lead balloon feeling is
suspect. Couldn't tell it did anything, anwayway they said head
back to ER. Blood test said I was ok, but off to cath lab I
went, and foiund out they put in another stent. Apparently
they were saving one for a rainy day. (Because of the problem vessel,
and all the dye, they decided to stop- and do the last one some other
day. I missed that part.). Anyway- I guess they got it all
now. In Friday, out Sat, went to church Sun, back to work
Mon. Feel pretty good. Occasional nap is good. Not near as
tail-dragging as before. Try for rehab again next Mon.
I've had the lead balloon feeling often in my life- always figured it
was just a heavy breakfast or something, it would go away after a few
min. But now I wonder if it was my heart trying to tell me
something.
5/27/2010
Well- almost 6 months. Still having some PVC's or palpatations
problem. Just finished Cardiac-Rehab, and now starting to get back on
my biking routine.
Here is the blog I started trying to keep up with all the different
meds and stuff- boring. Heartblog.
Oh yeah. 6 trips to hospital, and I now have 10 stents.
So what have I learned?
Everyone clogs. Different rates maybe, depending on genetics and
lifestyle. So if you're lucky, by the time you are 100% clogged
you are 100 years old and don't care. If you are active, 60 or 70
% clog will affect you early on in life, and you can do something about
it before it's too late. Losing your breath after climbing
stairs? Can't go as far or fast as you used to? Get checked. Lots
of symptoms- but sweating seems to be the kicker.
Anyway- the heart does get irritated and spazy after someone goes
poking wires and squirting dye into it, so meds are needed to calm it
down. Heart spazms or PVC's or PAC's or whatever, cause you to go
into panic mode- so more meds to calm you down. Does your
heart a favor.
6/6/2011
WooHoo. Year and a half. Down to 25 megs Metropolol, 80
megs Statin, still taking Effient and aspirin. Occaisional
'episode'- but feeling pretty good lately- except that I feel
like I have a kink in my hose. Once in a while feel like a 'squeeze'
and get a little light-headed for sec- but doesn't seem to affect me
much- doing my bike rides and occasional workout. Time for
new check up. Heartblog Chapter2
