Early last summer I had some odd chest pain. I dutifully went and had a nuclear stress test which was entirely normal. In August I herniated a lumbar disc, so I was pretty much "locked down" without exercise for several months. I should mention that I have a nice set of cardiac risk factors, perhaps the most significant of which is a strong family history. My father, grandfather, and probably great-grandfather all died of coronary artery disease in their late 50?s (I am 56). When started having exertional pain a few weeks ago, I decided to go for a cath. The cath was last Tuesday, with a plan to be back at work Wednesday. The result did not fit with my plan. I had a 90+% LAD lesion that was not amenable to stenting, and they didn't want to let me go home. Surgery was Wednesday and went fairly smoothly. I came home Sunday, and I am progressing pretty well. The overall lack of energy and debility is surprising to me. Not much pain at this point, just no energy. Starting to walk around more, and as you see, I am beginning to get back to the computer.
Meanwhile, my 92 year old mother-in-law wanted to get in on the action. Saturday morning she called my wife to report that she had been up all night with chest pain but ?didn't want to bother any one?. So by Saturday night, we were both in the hospital, her with a stent and me with a bypass. She has recuperated pretty well, too. Thank God for my wife and kids.
I wasn?t sure whether to share this or not, but decided to go ahead. I doubt I have been missed here much; after all, I have been only been gone for about a week. Many don?t even read here that often, let alone post. On the other hand for the hard core group of ACBA (that would be ?AC Board Addicts?; you know who you are) a week is a long time to be away. I also hesitated to post because I don?t have any unique insights; I assure you, if they hit me, I will share them. I can tell you that I do feel very lucky to have had superior medical care and a family to push me to obtain it (and enable me to recuperate from it). When I think about how close I came to a very different outcome, I am reminded that I have so much to be grateful for. As one friend put it, ?truly, with your genetics you cheated death?. I suspect that I have survived the lesion that killed three generations of ancestors before me. That is very humbling, and these are the reasons why I decided to describe my situation.
The jury is still out on how this will impact my future personal behavior. Of course my plan is to eat better and exercise more. Hopefully I will learn to appreciate life a bit more, too. I have had the pleasure of spending some fun times and enjoying meals with some of you. There has even been some discussion of shared ?challenges? (some of us should expand our physical activity beyond bending an elbow, and some need to pursue other means of achieving our ideal body weight beyond becoming 6? taller). When we get together in the future, don?t hide from me; I promise I will not barrage you with the need to change your life style. I do reserve the right to good naturedly mention it now and then; and hope that you will do the same for me during my inevitable slides backward.
It is good to be here.
