Stupid Heart
I done busted it but good. Yep, I had me a heart attack about two weeks ago or so. As many others have done before me and many others will do after me, I ignored the symptoms with what my mother has been overheard terming “Yankee stoicism” and went about my business…for about five days. This including riding my motorcycle North to visit family. It was there that I discovered that I couldn’t really walk more than five steps or so before I would become short-of-breath and my chest would start burning. By the way: if anyone out there has some strange chest constrictions in conjunction with an aching jaw and/or aching teeth (as I did), go to the hospital. I had no idea that jaw and teeth aches were heart-attack-related symptoms, but they are.
So I’m now the proud owner of two new pieces of chest jewelery, AKA: stents. Apparently one of my little arteries was 99% clogged and that was the one that led to the heart attack(s?). So I had a stent put in, but continued to have chest pain. After a profusion test (involves a lot of ink, 25 minutes of pictures, some Adenosine and radioactive markers and another 25 minutes of pictures) it was discovered that the bottom part of my heart was getting blood at rest but not under stress. So then a bigger artery that was 60-70% clogged got a stent and that seemed to do the trick. I was in the hospital for about a week before being discharged (apparently it’s a bit uncommon for them to have to go back in for a second stent, but I like being difficult).
No one’s really sure why the arteries are as clogged as they are as my cholesterol is not that bad, I don’t smoke (except for the rare pipe tobacco) and I’m not so fat that I can’t move (I do tend to exercise, albeit less frequently than I should). I enjoy the drink more than is healthy for me and I like me the salt, but that doesn’t really explain the clogging. So it’s probably a mix of genetics, diet and shit luck. Oh well. What can you do? That’s the way things go sometimes and, really, my own choices are probably what caused the heart attack so I can’t really whine and complain about my lot in life. It’s the way it is and I’m responsible for my own actions and choices, as I’ll continue to be as I make the necessary “lifestyle changes” to avoid croaking before I hit 40 (yeah, I’m way young for a heart attack as well, judging by the rest of the patients in my wing of the hospital).
So THIS time, I have a good excuse to have been infrequently updating the blog. I don’t know what my next excuse will be, but hopefully nothing that involves a hospital visit. I wanted to take a brief moment to thank all the nurses at the hospital for their work, patience and humor. I do my best not to be a difficult patient, because their work is hard enough already, but they were very attentive and very receptive to my odd brand of humor. Thanks also to my family and friends who were kind enough to take so much time out of their lives in order to spend time with me and assist me (as they continue to do) with both in-hospital decisions and post-hospital recovery efforts.
I’m officially a cranky old man now. I have lots of pills to take every day, at different times of the day, and I get to carry nitroglycerin tablets with me every where I go. So keep your damn kids out of my yard or I’m likely to clutch at my chest while yelling “‘Lizbeth! It’s the big one! I’m comin’ to ya!” Meh, they’d probably kick me while I was down.
Oh, and if you have symptoms that might be a heart attack, don’t try and be tough like me; go to the hospital. I was stupid-lucky and got off easy with my heart attack. You (or I, if it happens again) might not be so lucky.
