I had a Heart Attack.
I was at home alone, eating a pizza and had just checked in to see how the summer gathering was doing at Dave’s. At first, I Thought it was heartburn but that quickly turned to a burning all across the top half of my chest. Shortly after that my shoulders became very painful then the pain skipped to my wrists. Profuse sweating. I’ve had some high blood pressure but nothing to warrant a heart attack. I probably struggled to get a grip for 30+ minutes before trying to text then call one of my daughters. She flew home and met the EMT’s in the driveway. They then made the 15 min. run to the local hospital but once transmitting imaging, I was loaded up and taken to University Hospital in Geauga where a cardio team was waiting. The ambulance ride was brutal. Horrible pain and struggling to breath. It felt like I was laying in a truck bed on a dirt road the whole time. As the team started on me it was determined I had 100% blockage of the right Coronary Artery. He went in at my right wrist and ran that wire equipment all the way to my heart by that vein. Once clearing the blockage, he put in 2 stints. By 2:00am I was in ICU recovery. The last 3 days have been a blur. No energy. No veins to collect blood in my forearm’s so they started drawing from the tops of my hand.
Family history of my Dad and Grandfather having heart or coronary heart disease should have warranted better monitoring on my part, but I didn’t… “Plenty of time to get on that”.
Scans they did today showed no trauma to the heart or surrounding tissue. Blood works looked good. Oxygen was good and I was released and sent home with follow up appointments 1 an 2 weeks out. Dr.'s said it was a long time building up. As I sit here writing this for you guys, I know I’m a lucky guy. This could have gone a lot worse. I still feel kinda beat but no pain. Still quite tired but nothing like I felt yesterday. Dr’s say the energy will return anywhere from 2-3 days to 2-3 weeks.
So as I weather the lectures from my daughters at home this evening, I again come to you with a warning to not neglect the things that are silent killers.
I was at home alone, eating a pizza and had just checked in to see how the summer gathering was doing at Dave’s. At first, I Thought it was heartburn but that quickly turned to a burning all across the top half of my chest. Shortly after that my shoulders became very painful then the pain skipped to my wrists. Profuse sweating. I’ve had some high blood pressure but nothing to warrant a heart attack. I probably struggled to get a grip for 30+ minutes before trying to text then call one of my daughters. She flew home and met the EMT’s in the driveway. They then made the 15 min. run to the local hospital but once transmitting imaging, I was loaded up and taken to University Hospital in Geauga where a cardio team was waiting. The ambulance ride was brutal. Horrible pain and struggling to breath. It felt like I was laying in a truck bed on a dirt road the whole time. As the team started on me it was determined I had 100% blockage of the right Coronary Artery. He went in at my right wrist and ran that wire equipment all the way to my heart by that vein. Once clearing the blockage, he put in 2 stints. By 2:00am I was in ICU recovery. The last 3 days have been a blur. No energy. No veins to collect blood in my forearm’s so they started drawing from the tops of my hand.
Family history of my Dad and Grandfather having heart or coronary heart disease should have warranted better monitoring on my part, but I didn’t… “Plenty of time to get on that”.
Scans they did today showed no trauma to the heart or surrounding tissue. Blood works looked good. Oxygen was good and I was released and sent home with follow up appointments 1 an 2 weeks out. Dr.'s said it was a long time building up. As I sit here writing this for you guys, I know I’m a lucky guy. This could have gone a lot worse. I still feel kinda beat but no pain. Still quite tired but nothing like I felt yesterday. Dr’s say the energy will return anywhere from 2-3 days to 2-3 weeks.
So as I weather the lectures from my daughters at home this evening, I again come to you with a warning to not neglect the things that are silent killers.
