[Pun]

Anyone who has read my Facebook posts today already knows this story, so I'll try to summarize the first part quickly. After being at home tonight, though, I've had a lot more time to think, and I want to get some more thoughts out there just for the hell of it, but I don't want to post it to Facebook.

Basically, over the last month or so, I've been having chest pains off and on, mainly when I over exert myself. Because my dad's side of the family has a history of heart disease and high cholesterol (dad had a quadruple bypass, and two uncles died of a heart attack....all before age 50), my doctor sent me for a chemical stress test today. As it turns out, the pictures showed some scarring on my heart. What caused the scarring you ask? (Maybe not, but for the sake of this post, I'm going to assume you did.) Well, the cardiologist theorized that sometime in the past month, I had a minor heart attack.

Looking back now, I think I know when it happened. When I first started having the pains, they were very minor, and they were localized right below my sternum. Since I've always had bad acid reflux, the doctor treated it as an ulcer in my esophagus and put me on a bland diet and prescribed Nexium. Literally the night of the doctor's appointment, I ate a Dole frozen strawberry bar (essentially crushed up strawberries) and almost immediately got a horrible burning sensation in my chest. It got so bad, it caused me to throw up. After throwing up, however, I felt fine, so I thought nothing of it. I got online to research foods, and it turns out that the acid in strawberries can really aggravate an ulcer. I chalked it up to that.

Fast forward to a month later, and now I'm being told I had a heart attack. You know, because of my family history, I thought I had prepared myself for something like this. I know it was "minor" (can "minor" and "heart attack" really go together?) but now I realize you can't really prepare yourself for the news that your heart is damaged. I spent a little more time tonight playing with the kids.

So, now on Thursday I have to see another specialist to see how bad the damage is and see where we go from here. Hopefully it's nothing awful, but I'm not getting my hopes up at this point.

Thanks for letting me vent tonight, but the first person to take me in the 2012 Dead Pool gets an IP ban.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

I told you this earlier but it's good that you're still relatively young and maybe something was caught in time.

[The Canadian Content]

No short jokes this time. I'm sure you'll get a handle on this and take care of it. Whether it's drugs or diet, there's a solution.

Also, the dead pool is for famous people. Just saying.

[Lou]

I haven't talked to him in about 20 years, but my old buddy Bo Kimble used to tell me that playing basketball was good for stuff like this. You should try it.

[Deleted]

Keep in mind that cholesterol level takes size into consideration. Just stick to 1oz steaks and you should be fine.

[Habs]

my dad's best friend had a major heart attack at 32 on the tennis court. Now, at around 70, he's been fine since then. Regular check ups, supervised physical activity , and a good diet can go a long way.

[Deleted]

Nov 16, 2011 14:33:52 GMT -5 Habs said:

supervised physical activity can go a long way.

Pun will fit in just fine with the recess crowd.

[The Jewish Cunthead]

Nov 17, 2011 9:07:39 GMT -5 @gatorbait said:

Nov 16, 2011 14:33:52 GMT -5 Habs said:

supervised physical activity can go a long way.

Pun will fit in just fine with the recess crowd.

So will... never mind.

[Pun]

Getting ready to head out for my heart cath procedure this morning. I understand why they call it "minimally invasive", but having a tube stuck in my femoral artery and run up to my heart hardly seems "minimally invasive" to me.

Hope they give me some good drugs since they have to keep me awake.

[Deleted]

YAY DRUGS!!!

[Pun]

For those that don't check Facebook or haven't seen my update:

First for the bad news, they did find that one of my arteries is 100% blocked. The good news, however (if there is one), is that my body, in an attempt to heal itself I guess, actually grew several smaller arteries around the blockage. It won't go away completely, but I have been put on a blood thinner that is supposed to assist in blood flow, and a high dose beta blocker that is supposed to regulate my heartbeat, thus taking away the pain I have. I will have another appointment with the cardiologist in 2 to 4 weeks. If the pain has not gone away, they will explore the possibility of a stent or even a bypass (something that has unfortunately become a very real possibility now). He did say that a stent or bypass is pretty much a given just because of my family history, but he felt confident the meds could hold that off for years and years.

[Doug]

That sounds rough. I hope things work out for the best for yah Pun.

[Road Warrior Shark]

Been reading the updates Pun, haven't commented yet because its a subject that still bothers me. I am truly glad to hear they caught that relatively early. Kudos to you for getting it checked out. It's a huge step. If my dad had done so... he waited until the blockage was too far gone. went in, they did the cath procedure, and were in the process of telling him that they were going to do a (double, I think... those days are kind of a blur now) bypass THAT SAME DAY when he keeled over from a heart attack, at the Austin Heart Hospital of all places.

Take care of yourself man. After my dad died, both of my uncles went in for screenings, and the younger one (My dad was the middle boy) got a diagnosis similar to yours. Blockage, arterial growth around it, on meds immediately. He's doing great and says he feels so much better.

[Sportsguy]

Good luck man, glad you caught it early

[Attitude Adjuster]

If it makes you feel any better, both my Dad and his Dad died of heart attacks early in life (my Dad at 52, his Dad at 26), and I'm still alive. I take Lovastatin daily, and it dropped my cholesterol from around 230s to 160. Eating well and exercise also help. But the way the doctor explained it to me, I can eat perfectly and be an Olympic athlete, and my family history would still prevent me from having proper cholesterol levels.

[Pun]

Yeah, AA. That's essentially what they told me, too. I'm taking Crestor, and in the first 3 months it dropped from the 300's to the 190's. I had some blood taken at my last doctor visit, so I'm waiting to see if it's come down any further. Have another appointment on the 20th, so I'm assuming we'll talk about it more then.

[Deleted]

Since when did they start prescribing toothpaste for high cholesterol?

[Attitude Adjuster]

190s is awesome Pun. Anything under 200 is acceptable. Watch your LDLs and HDLs, also. Those are your "good" and "bad" numbers. Get the good one up, the bad one down.