I had a Heart Attack

[timboellner]

I got home Sunday afternoon from an 11 mile,pretty chilly bike ride.
I had severe pain between my shoulders in the middle of my back.
It got worse as I stood up and walked around.
My throat hurt.

We called 911 and got the bumpy ambo-ride to Greater Baltimore Medical Center. They did an EKG and it looked normal. When I got there they drew blood and did more ekg's. As the hours passed my results kept getting worse.

They admitted me and scheduled me for a stress test early Monday morning.
As late night,early morning grew near, doctors told me the I could not take the stress test because I would need a cardiac catheterization to find out directly what was going on. This was serious and I was scared shipless.

I was ambulanced to John Hopkin's Hospital in Baltimore city.
This is one of the best hospitals in the nation. They scheduled me for the cardiac cat. for that afternoon. My test results blood/ekg's got progressively worse as I waited. I was given Nitroglcerin 3 times which helped a lot with the chest pains.
The catheterization was kinda cool. I was awake in a twilight sort of mellow buzz condition. They fed little "tubes" in through the artery in my WRIST.
As the got their probes closer to my blockages I could feel more pain.
I remember hearing the cardiologist saying "Ok inflate the balloon. WOW that really hurt for a few moments until he said"deflate"
In an instant my pain was gone. For close to 2 hours they worked on me,
fishing around my entire plumbing system looking for more blockages.
They opened 2 arteries in my heart that were more than 95 percent blocked.

I spent the next afternoon getting blood thinners and who knows what else being pumped into me through IV tubes. I felt good again. I did have one panic attack which made my heart race to about 132 beats per minute, and my blood pressure did get pretty low at one point. Down to 85 over 50.
I guess it's all worse when you can see monitors showing every heart beat, blood pressure reading, pulse, respiration etc. You can freak yourself out.

Anybody that knows me already understands how easily I panic on a good day.

As time went on the doc's said everything was looking good for me to go home. I will be taking a bunch of different medications now for some time.

I've been a heavy cigarette smoker for 32 years, and have now quit....
Either quit or die. The chemicals in cigarette smoke can make the stents
dissentegrate.
This sure won't be easy for me, but I feel better and really don't want to leave my wife and 2 teenage boys behind.

If you smoke quit.....I know you've heard it before..
If you have pains, like mine that didn't resemble classic signs of a heart attack go get looked at immediately. It can save your life..

I'm glad to be back, and as an "older" guy to you others like me..
Please take care of yourself and never take tomorrow for granted..
TiM

 

[motorbiker]

Wow ! Glad you made it to a good hospital and are OK ! Get well soon ! ! !

Steve

 

["the prussian" Shop Dogs]

Hope your feeling better , sounds like you got top rate care.
Quiting cig's is rough but sounds like you have right motivations. Good luck.

 

[2door]

Tim,
I'm glad you're doing good. Hang in there and take care of yourself.
You've given me reason to examine my own lifestyle. You don't give these things much thought, at least I don't, until it happens to someone you know. I hate doctors and I haven't had a thorough physical for about four years. Maybe it's time.
Keep us informed of how you're doing, please, and do what they tell you to do. Thanks for the heads up.
Tom

 

[deacon]

I had a heart attack about ten years ago. The thing I remember most about the cath lab is how cold it was in there. My wife drove me to the hospital and I was in full blown blockage of an artery by the time i got there They did one ekg told me I was having a new heart attack. I had no idea I had an old one. They took me to the cathlab opened the artery installed a stint and told me I had to have two more by passed cause one was in the left main. and both were 90% blocked.

Being the total jerk I am, I refused. I had people lined up begging me to have the bypass. I still refused. Doc said you could well be dead by in a week, if you don't take care of those blocked arteries. I still refused and Im alive ten year later. I am in better health generally now than every, more or less. What did I do differently, I QUIT SMOKING CIGARETTES ..

My sister did all the things they told her, bypass and all that, but she didn't quit smoking. She died two years ago. If you smoke cigarettes please quit NOW.

 

[bairdco]

sounds like you had a heck of a wake up call, happy to hear you came through it ok.

on a lighter note, did the doctor say it was all caused by riding your glorified moped?

 

[camlifter]

i quit smoking useing the chantix, worked great, made it very ez, i tried many times before and couldn't do it on my own. 2 years ago i had stints put in my legs because of PAD, i smoked for 30 years. still don't have the wind of my youth but i don't sound like an asmatic anymore.

 

[silverbear]

Here I was just thinking about getting together with you and Tinsmith for a ride one day soon. I'm glad you paid attention to your body signals and got some help. We men too often don't want to say anything believing somehow that is what "manly" means. Ignoring our bodies isn't manly, but stupid. You were smart.
In the end this will all be good, because you are OK, got a message and paid attention. Quitting smoking will have lots of positive benefits. I smoked from 14 to my mid forties and wouldn't be writing this note if I hadn't finally, reluctantly, dragging my feet, quit.
Last week I went for a bike ride down the mountain and the half link on my engine drive chain came apart. No way to fix it there, so I walked the bike a couple miles back up the mountain, not easy for a 66 year old man, especially being partially crippled. It was my little marathon and it didn't take much to get my heart pumping good and the breath to go short. So I paced myself, paying attention to my pulse and lungs, going a hundred yards or so at a time and then looking off into the forest of trees still without spring leaves. I watched a little brook of runoff rain water and listened to it's voice as it ran down the mountain. The Ojibwa word for that is "bimijiiwon" and means "talking water". A town in northern Minnesota was named for that, Bemidgi, Minnesota where the Mississippi River begins as a spring coming up out of the earth... just a little bit of talking water that becomes the mighty voice of old man river further south.
So I took my time, grateful for being able to walk up that mountain pushing my old cruiser and for still being alive. I got home after dark, weary, but well enough and slept soundly from all that exertion.
Some would see your experience as something negative. I see it as a good thing, a wake up call to change some things about how you're living. If it ends up helping you live a long and quality life then it was a gift. I'm still planning on that bike ride, my friend, but it may not be until fall when you are well mended and whole again. Wishing you well in all ways,
Silverbear

 

[eastwood]

great thread.im gonna try and quit smoking.

 

[fasteddy]

The greatest thing my parents did was stop me smoking when I was eleven. Stole a pack of Philip Morris out of our Bowling Alley and as I reached for what ever brand, in my mind I heard Johnny from the commercials on the radio say "Call For Phillip Morris". The deed was done.

Later in the day I was late for a church dinner and Dad was helping me and emptied my pockets. Out came Mr Morris. The hot question was were did you get these.
Passed the hat to every kid and town and Dad just shook his head and said we'll see you when you get home. Supper didn't taste to good I don't mind telling you.

When I got home the fan hit hard. They were laying a hardwood floor in my bedroom and that folks was bad timing on my part. A lovely birch floor at that. Took a week to be comfortable sitting.

Years latter I was working in Florida and an older gentleman came in and I had to ask if he was Philip Morris's, Johnny. Yep, it was him. I told him the story and he had tears running down his cheeks from laughing and the next day brought me a poster that he had signed. Said in his long career that was the funniest thing he ever heard of.

Long after my Dad passed on from 60 years of smoking I thought to ask Mom just how they knew that thier #1 son was the culprit. Seems in our little northern Ontario town they were the only ones who sold Phillip Morris and only to about a half dozen people and I sure wasn't one of them.

TiM get well soon. I'm as glad as you and your family are that you didn't brush it off and not go to the hospital. Thank Heaven for modern medicine and Doctors also.

My 40 year old son quit his 30 year smoking habit 6 months ago. He thought I didn't know when it started. I only hope he and you are able to stay off them.

Let us know how you are doing as you go along.

Steve.

 

[leftywoody]

Thanks for the play by play and am very glad it turned out good for you . I have a co-worker that had a heart attack a few years ago, and he is a few years older than me . He smoked but not any more . He was repaired and now can sometimes runs circles around the rest of us .

 

[kerf]

That was some ordeal, glad to hear you're ok. I guess a bunch of us are in your boat but just don't know it. I need to lose weight before I find the reaper
looking down at me.

 

[2door]

I believe Tim's story will make a lot of us take a closer look at ourselves and reevaluate how we live and what might be going on inside us. I've had this on my mind all day;everytime I've had a smoke I think about what I read here this morning. I think of my wife, my daughter, sister and brother and what I mean to them. It's amazing to me how you can ignore so many facts and go on doing what you know might some day come back to bite you in the butt. (no pun intended)
I made an appointment with the doc today; going in for a physical the first of next month, April.
Thanks again, Tim, for the wake up call. Sorry you had to go through what you did but maybe some of us dinosaurs will benefit from your experience.
Tom

 

[timboellner]

I want to thank all of you for your kind words of understanding and sympathy.

While it is true that I've not had the pleasure to hang out in person with you, I feel as if we are all brothers somehow.

It has been said that you should consider yourself blessed if you can find one true good friend in this world.

I feel as if maybe I have made at least a couple of good friends here. I am thankful to you for taking the time to listen to anything I have ever posted here.

What happened to me could happen to any one of you when you least expect it. I am a busy active guy who gets plenty of exercise every day. I am not overweight. I don't drink or do drugs. I am hardly ever sick and didn't even know something could possibly be wrong with me.

Please do yourself a favor. I hate doctors too. Find one you like and get yourself a physical and blood work done. Even go so far as getting that oh-so-fun finger test.
I know this is not generally a young crowd for the most part.

We will all remember BAMABIKEGUY. He answered some of my posts too.
He might still be here if maybe, just maybe he had been forewarned and
took some precautionary action before he found out the hard way.

For the love of your family, friends, and everyone you know please take care of yourself and never think you are invincible because you aren't.

I may not know you in person but I care enough to tell you that each and everyday you are here is a blessing. Good day or bad day consider yourself a lucky man. I hope you can appreciate your life as much as I have appreciated
all the things I have going for me in mine.

Above all remember that true wealth is not measured in dollars.

Very truly yours,
TiM Boellner ( my friends call me boner)

 

[leftywoody]

I have an appointment tomorrow with my doctor for routine bloodwork and a dexascan . A year and a half ago I had a dexascan and it showed that I had osteoparosis . I was shocked and did not know how that could be. As I did some research to find out why, I discovered that eating spinach regularly can block the absorbtion of calcium . This was one of the many healthy foods i had eaten since I quit smoking 3.5 years ago . And I had been eating it almost every day . I quit eating that healthy crap about a year ago and hope that this test I have tomorrow will show improvement . I still eat other healthy meat and veggies and aside from chronic back pain , do pretty good . I guess as long as any of you are going to really get checked out , get a dexascan too . It's not just a women's disease and very little is written about men being aware of it .

 

[Venice Motor Bikes]

It's good to hear that you're doing well!
I quit smoking somewhere around 10 years ago... I decided that I didn't want to smoke any more & I just stopped. These days I have no desire to smoke, (even in a room full of people smoking & drinking.)

 

[fasteddy]

TiM, lost a life long pal a short time ago because he was NOT having the colon scope done to HIM.
His family wishes he had it done, not to mention all his pals who miss him too.
I'd kill for not doing it, if it wasn't too late.

I've had it and it really is nothing. You lie on your side and you wake up and go home.
If you don't and should have, you won't wake up and go home.

Last exam I had a couple of years ago it was found that I'm a donut away from being a full blown diabetic. Now they check ever 3 months. I still miss donuts but....

Steve.

 

[Goat Herder]

Really glad to here you are OK . I think these days smoking and drinking are about the two worst things. I do nether at all any more. I pay attention to my diet and exercise. I actually peddle a lot on a bike with no motor on it but me..I love my motorized too. I should get a check up tho. I hate drug pushers I mean doctors lol. Have not been to a doctor or even a dentist in about 30 years.

I think the biggest thing is preventative medicine. Life style choices.

 

[Rockenstein]

Good for you on Kicking the habit Tim and it's also good to hear that your not another below ground victim of Big T. Godspeed on the healing process, I'm sure you'll be amazed at how quickly your body recovers from them nasty things they call cigarettes.

 

[Tinsmith]

Tim, Just found out out about your situation from SB. Glad it's going to work out. Quit smoking about 10 years ago on doctors "suggestion". Hopkins is a great facility. Got cut on there at Bayview about 9 years ago and it improved my life greatly. Still hoping to get together soon. Dan