I was rushed to the hospital friday night with severe chest pain. According to the doctor, I had a total blockage of the left descending something (also called "The Widowmaker" by cardiologists) and was at deaths door for several hours. This is known as an "Acute Myocardial Infarction" or heart attack.
They did a ballon angioplasty and implanted a coated stent to restore function and basically saved my life. I now have 100% flow again but the damage has been done. My heart muscle is severely weakened.
I have been on my bike since age 3 or 4 and never expected anything this sudden and deadly due to being much more active than most 50yr old men.
It happened anyway. Now I have to make some seriously sh*&^ty lifestyle changes or I will die. Simple as that.
I blows my mind to be sitting here typing three days later like it was a hangnail!
I got the film of the procedure and when they opened the artery, it was like my heart size instantly doubled from the newly visible bloodflow that had been blocked. The doctor guesses I have been walking around with this artery anywhere from 75 to 90% blocked for at least ten or fifteen years and it was just a matter of time. According to the doc, I should have died and he can't believe how I never noticed the slightest symptoms before it happened.
I just want to tell all of you guys out there to get yourselves checked out even if you KNOW you have nothing to worry about. You might be wrong like I was and your family will thank you for preventing something so devastating from happening to you.
By the way, it hurt more than anything I ever felt or imagined, including amputating the tips of two fingers. They hit me with a horse size morphine shot and it didn't even make a dent in the train on my chest. You should avoid this experience if at all possible guys. Trust me on this.
Hospital food is nasty too.
They did a ballon angioplasty and implanted a coated stent to restore function and basically saved my life. I now have 100% flow again but the damage has been done. My heart muscle is severely weakened.
I have been on my bike since age 3 or 4 and never expected anything this sudden and deadly due to being much more active than most 50yr old men.
It happened anyway. Now I have to make some seriously sh*&^ty lifestyle changes or I will die. Simple as that.
I blows my mind to be sitting here typing three days later like it was a hangnail!
I got the film of the procedure and when they opened the artery, it was like my heart size instantly doubled from the newly visible bloodflow that had been blocked. The doctor guesses I have been walking around with this artery anywhere from 75 to 90% blocked for at least ten or fifteen years and it was just a matter of time. According to the doc, I should have died and he can't believe how I never noticed the slightest symptoms before it happened.
I just want to tell all of you guys out there to get yourselves checked out even if you KNOW you have nothing to worry about. You might be wrong like I was and your family will thank you for preventing something so devastating from happening to you.
By the way, it hurt more than anything I ever felt or imagined, including amputating the tips of two fingers. They hit me with a horse size morphine shot and it didn't even make a dent in the train on my chest. You should avoid this experience if at all possible guys. Trust me on this.
Hospital food is nasty too.
