Public Service Announcment-

[mixermarkb]

Phil- I’m posting this here because of the traffic this sub forum gets, feel free to move it or delete it since it isn’t Table Rock or even fishing related-

Guys, I’m 48 years old. 5’11” and 245 pounds, and thought I was in pretty decent shape. Never a smoker or drinker, a little fluffy, decent, if not perfect blood pressure and cholesterol numbers at my last physical, and a clean stress test from 2 years ago.  

Last Monday afternoon I had a heart attack. 

I wasn’t doing anything physically exerting, and here is why I’m posting, the symptoms were WAY, WAY, WAY more subtle than I expected from the way heart attacks are portrayed in Hollywood. 

About 4:30 Monday afternoon, I had some very mild discomfort in my chest, like a slight bit of soreness. Nothing at all worse than how I’d feel the morning after throwing a spook or an ARig for a day. No clutching at my chest pain, no sweats, just a little feeling that something wasn’t quite right. I went in to the bedroom, took a couple tums, and laid down and took a nap, and when I woke up, didn’t notice anything.

Later that night, the same mild discomfort came back, and seemed like it (maybe?) was radiating to my left shoulder. I couldn’t find a comfortable way to lay in bed, and my wife talked me into going to the ER just to be safe. They did an EKG, then put me back in the waiting room. After a 3 hour wait, I again felt fine, and having taken some more tums, I thought I must just be having some heartburn and told the nurses I was going to go on home, as I didn’t want to spend ER money on heartburn, even though I have insurance.

The next day, my wife looked at the EKG results on our MyMercy online, and thought that something didn’t sound right, and insisted that I go see my primary. She bullied the desk people at the doc’s office to fit me in, and my primary didn’t like the EKG either and ordered a stress test and bloodwork. 

I had the stress test on Wednesday, and couldn’t get my heart rate as fast as they wanted due to chest pains and shortness of breath. As I was leaving the stress test to go back to work, my primary called me and told me to go to the ER immediately, troponin (heart enzyme that is indicative of heart attack) levels in the bloodwork were off the charts. Mind you, I was feeling fine at this point, had recovered from the treadmill, and was having no chest pain. Thank God I listened to her and went instead of going back to work as I was tempted to, because it turns out I had 100 percent blockage in the right side of my heart. 
 

The cardiac docs at St. John’s Mercy were able to clear the blockage with a heart cath and 3 stints, but told us that had I been half an hour later coming to the ER, I’d have died.

So- I type all this to say, don’t be stubborn. If you have ANY pressure, tightness, pain or discomfort, get thyself to the ER or at the very least your primary care doc. Even very serious blockages can have extremely subtle warning signs!!!

I’m extremely blessed and lucky to be alive, and frankly wouldn’t be, if it wasn’t for the Irish redhead from the south I married bossing me around. Don’t think it can’t happen to you. 

[Ketchup]

Man Mark, glad things worked out. Always a scary thing as we age slowly. 
 

Buddy of mine had almost, like 99% exactly as you explained happen last fall. Same feeling and all, and same blockage. He is good now. Every time i feel a tick differently the first thing i think of is his issue and how subtle it was.   Great heads up. 

[m&m]

Mark, great advice. Glad you sought the help. 
Mike

[BilletHead]

     These PSA announcements this one and the skin cancer thread makes us all take a pause to think. Thank you Mark and glad your bride was on the ball to push you the way she did.

[dwiebenga]

Thank you Mark.  God speed on your recovery!

[fishinwrench]

Aches, pains, and varying degrees of discomfort are a constant, and have been for a number of years.   I might as well just live in the hospital waiting room. 

Hope you are feeling 22 again since they worked you over.  👍

[Quillback]

Thanks for the write up, I probably would've blown it off.  Glad to hear you got it fixed.

[Bill Babler]

Glad your doing well now. I’d be mad as Hell at the ER people. Just no scenes in that. 

I keep reading to go to the walk in clinics for better care. If they can’t fix you the send you to an ER that can. 

Good Luck. 

 

[huntest]

36 minutes ago, Bill Babler said:

Glad your doing well now. I’d be mad as Hell at the ER people. Just no scenes in that. 

I keep reading to go to the walk in clinics for better care. If they can’t fix you the send you to an ER that can. 

Good Luck. 

 

Try to live every day like it is your last one. No squabbles, harsh words, and other regrets. Very few leave this world knowing it is going to be their last day. Oh, and don't forget to be grateful for each new day. 🙏

[dtrs5kprs]

On 7/25/2022 at 2:55 AM, mixermarkb said:

Phil- I’m posting this here because of the traffic this sub forum gets, feel free to move it or delete it since it isn’t Table Rock or even fishing related-

Guys, I’m 48 years old. 5’11” and 245 pounds, and thought I was in pretty decent shape. Never a smoker or drinker, a little fluffy, decent, if not perfect blood pressure and cholesterol numbers at my last physical, and a clean stress test from 2 years ago.  

Last Monday afternoon I had a heart attack. 

I wasn’t doing anything physically exerting, and here is why I’m posting, the symptoms were WAY, WAY, WAY more subtle than I expected from the way heart attacks are portrayed in Hollywood. 

About 4:30 Monday afternoon, I had some very mild discomfort in my chest, like a slight bit of soreness. Nothing at all worse than how I’d feel the morning after throwing a spook or an ARig for a day. No clutching at my chest pain, no sweats, just a little feeling that something wasn’t quite right. I went in to the bedroom, took a couple tums, and laid down and took a nap, and when I woke up, didn’t notice anything.

Later that night, the same mild discomfort came back, and seemed like it (maybe?) was radiating to my left shoulder. I couldn’t find a comfortable way to lay in bed, and my wife talked me into going to the ER just to be safe. They did an EKG, then put me back in the waiting room. After a 3 hour wait, I again felt fine, and having taken some more tums, I thought I must just be having some heartburn and told the nurses I was going to go on home, as I didn’t want to spend ER money on heartburn, even though I have insurance.

The next day, my wife looked at the EKG results on our MyMercy online, and thought that something didn’t sound right, and insisted that I go see my primary. She bullied the desk people at the doc’s office to fit me in, and my primary didn’t like the EKG either and ordered a stress test and bloodwork. 

I had the stress test on Wednesday, and couldn’t get my heart rate as fast as they wanted due to chest pains and shortness of breath. As I was leaving the stress test to go back to work, my primary called me and told me to go to the ER immediately, troponin (heart enzyme that is indicative of heart attack) levels in the bloodwork were off the charts. Mind you, I was feeling fine at this point, had recovered from the treadmill, and was having no chest pain. Thank God I listened to her and went instead of going back to work as I was tempted to, because it turns out I had 100 percent blockage in the right side of my heart. 
 

The cardiac docs at St. John’s Mercy were able to clear the blockage with a heart cath and 3 stints, but told us that had I been half an hour later coming to the ER, I’d have died.

So- I type all this to say, don’t be stubborn. If you have ANY pressure, tightness, pain or discomfort, get thyself to the ER or at the very least your primary care doc. Even very serious blockages can have extremely subtle warning signs!!!

I’m extremely blessed and lucky to be alive, and frankly wouldn’t be, if it wasn’t for the Irish redhead from the south I married bossing me around. Don’t think it can’t happen to you. 

Prayers, brother. That's a close one.