(Note: I wrote the following on April 27, 2025 on Linkedin, and I wanted to post it here on my blog as well to document it.}
Today is two weeks. Two weeks from when I had my heart attack on April 13th.
Tomorrow, I turn 52.
Needless to say, the last two weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions.
I am thankful to be alive and view it as a wake up call. A second chance.
At first, I didn't think I had a heart attack. I was in shock and denial. Thought the doctors were wrong. When they put me in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), it started to sink in. I felt like I was getting mixed messages from the doctors and nurses. No one was actually telling me how serious it was but they weren't giving me a lot of consoling guidance either. It was scary.
Sunday Morning
That Sunday, 4/13, I got up. Worked out like normal (200 pushups). I stained some shelves. I ate breakfast. We were supposed to take our daughter to the airport that morning as she was flying to Amsterdam for the week. Prior to getting ready, I was going to take the trash to the dump. After I carried the trash to the car, my shoulders and the back of my arms were sore and my arms were suddenly very weak. I couldn't lift them very high. I had a slight pain across my chest, but nothing major. I thought it was from my workout, but I knew something was different. Something wasn't right, just not sure what. I went into the house to get some water from the kitchen sink and I bent over the sink. When I went to put water in a glass, my hands were shaking. That's when my wife called 911 and an ambulance came to the house.
911
The EKG they did came back normal. My vitals were all good. We were confused and didn't know what to do. The EMTs recommended I go to the hospital, but we weren't convinced. We had plans and my EKG was normal. Still didn't know I had a heart attack.
My wife and I almost didn't go to the hospital. I went and laid down in bed. My wife was thinking about taking my daughter to the airport. However, after I laid down in bed, I just knew something was wrong and the feeling in my arms, my breathing, wasn't going away. That's when we went to the hospital.
In the emergency room, that's when they told me I had a heart attack. We were in shock and denial.
ICU
After I got in the ICU, they wouldn't let me eat anything until after I went into the cath lab the next day. So I didn't eat anything for 24 hours. I was starving. I was hooked up to EKG machine, blood pressure taken every 15 minutes, 2 IVs, taking my blood several times. Needless to say, I didn't sleep that good that night.
Sidenote - I work out every day, so I've always had low blood pressure, good pulse, etc.
CATH LAB
The next morning, they took me to the cath lab. They said one of three things was going to happen. (1) they would go in and clean out the artery; (2) they would put in a stent; or (3) they would find out they need to do open heart surgery. That's when I prayed really hard that they could fix it without open heart surgery.
The cath lab was cold (about 61 degrees). They strap you in on a board about the size of stretcher. They give you local anesthesia. They don't knock you out. I was awake during the entire procedure. For me, they went through my right wrist area up to my heart. There is a big TV screen next to the stretcher. The 2 surgeons looking at the screen, talking through what they are seeing and the procedures they are taking to fix it. They said it was a tough one. That didn't sound good. I was on pins and needles waiting to see if they could fix it. Then the "rock star" surgeon said it was a tough one, but he thought they could fix it. Apparently, the location of the blockage (in the widow maker artery) was in a tough spot. But they did several things and eventually put a stent in. I could see the screen the whole time. I saw the before and after pictures of my heart - the blockage turned into a free flowing artery again.
With the blockage, my heart had created what they called "collateral" - tiny branches of arteries ("back roads") for blood to circulate. They said this reduced the damage to my heart.
After the cath lab, I stayed in the hospital over night. I actually slept some that night.
TROPONIN LEVEL 7
I later learned from the doctors, that when you have a heart attack, a protein called troponin is released from your heart into the bloodstream. The doctors told me the normal range for troponin is zero or negative. They said my level over the time I got into the ER until the middle of the night (4/13) in the ICU slowly increased from zero to 7. Then about 2 am in the morning, my level had went back down to .009.
The next day they did an echo cardio gram (ultra sound of my heart) before I went home. I also made a few laps around the ICU before I went home. I went home on 4/15 (tax day).
HOME
The next day at home (4/16), I walked 20 minutes. However, I did feel some "gurgling" in my lungs around my heart, and they put me on a water pill. I took it for 3 days, but the very next day after 1 pill, I no longer felt any gurgling.
On 4/17, I walked 30 minutes.
On 4/18, I walked 40 minutes and have been walking 40 minutes every day since.
TODAY
Today, it has been 2 weeks without doing any weight training or pushups. I'm starting to get "ancy" as I am reaching my max days I can handle without working out (14).
WHAT'S NEXT
I have a cardiac evaluation scheduled this week before I start cardiac rehab. I hope to get cleared to lift weights, do pushups.
I have a nasty bruise on my right arm where they entered to go to my heart. Waiting for that to heal. Otherwise, I am feeling pretty good or normal. I am on 4 medications at the moment.
I have a follow-up appointment with my cardiac surgeon in 2 weeks. I also have a consultation to do a sleep study. I have had sleep issues for years where I would wake up in the middle of the night (around 2 am) and my brain would kick-on and I couldn't go back to sleep.
ADDITIONAL INSIGHTS
Another fact you may want to know, about 6 weeks prior to my heart attack, I injured my ribs when I was carrying a desk out to the garage and jammed the desk into my side. It took my breath away. The night of my injury, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn't breathe normally for a few minutes. We thought it was just a panic attack. It didn't last too long and then I went back to sleep. In hindsight, it could have been a mini heart attack. It took about 5 weeks for that to heal (right before my heart attack).
I could keep going, but I simply wanted to write this to document what happened and hopefully educate others on the signs to look for so you can avoid this. I pray this is helpful and this doesn't happen to you.
A heart attack is something you think happens to other people, not you. When I turned 50, I started thinking about "the end," mortality, etc. This just exacerbates it, but also frees me to live one day at a time and live it to the fullest. As a Christian, I am not afraid of death as death is on my side. To live is Christ, to die is gain. However, God has given me a beautiful life - a wonderful wife and two daughters. I am blessed. I don't want to leave them. I want to be here as long as I can be here. I want to fulfill God's purpose for my life. I don't want my wife to have to navigate things without me. We've been married 32 years. We got married when were 19. We started dating when were 16 years old. We have seen each other grow older and change throughout the years. We have been through alot together. Can't believe we are in our 50s. Life is short. Eternity is forever.
Thank You
I want to thank everyone who has reached out and commented on my posts about my heart attack. Thank you for your kind words, thoughts and prayers.
I pray blessings, peace and the supernatural power of Jesus Christ moves in your life.