When I think of someone having a heart attack it is always that image of someone grabbing their chest and falling to the ground, it’s never merely a pain near the left armpit and extending to the fingers, which is what it was for me. I didn’t really think this was ever going to happen to me.
Two weeks ago on Tuesday, February 14, 2023, I woke up at about 11:30 pm with that pain in my left armpit and arm. I got up thinking it may have been arthritis or some muscle or nerve pain from the day's activity. My blood pressure and total cholesterol are low, I am fit, exercise regularly, eat healthily and I have never had a heart issue or seen a cardiologist. I took an aspirin which didn’t affect the pain and then it hit me- heart attack. About midnight I awoke my wife Vicki. We talked about my symptoms and decided she would drive me to the Los Alamitos Health Center Emergency Room five minutes from our home rather than call 911. I checked in to the ER around 12:30 am telling an ER staff member that I had pain in my left armpit and left arm, and said I was concerned these were possible heart attack symptoms. My wife accompanied me.
After hours in an overcrowded emergency room, a normal EKG, stress test, and ultrasound suggested I was probably fine. Yet my elevated cardiac enzymes convinced the cardiologist to order an angiogram.
Suddenly about 1:30 pm on Wednesday I was wheeled out of my ER room and into (and presumably admitted to) a hospital room. The angiogram nurse came by at about 3:30 pm and explained the test and said I would stay in the recovery room at least 2 hours after the procedure, although the total time was unknown due to possible stents. The cardiologist performed the angiogram and as I gained consciousness told me I had a 90% blockage of my right coronary artery and a 50-60% blockage to my left coronary artery. That is the moment when my life changed. As I looked at the screen showing the blocked artery and the newly opened artery after the tent, I realized how close I had come to catastrophe. For the first time in my life, I truly felt vulnerable.
Heart problems remain the No. 1 health threat to American adults. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in the United States, accounting for about 1 in every 4 deaths each year. My heart disease was a wake-up call that I needed to make some changes in my life. I now know through an experience that allows no doubt that my health is only as good as the health of my heart. Diet, lifestyle, age, and hereditary factors can all impact my performance and my quality of life, and eternal vigilance on factors I can control- diet, exercise, sleep, and stress- is now my destiny.
The cardiologist saw me at 9:30 am on Thursday and said he now felt I should get a stent in the next few weeks to unblock the left side artery but said I was cleared to go home, which I was finally able to do about 3:30 pm.
The experience also taught also taught me the importance of having an advocate. Throughout the process, Vicki asked questions, tracked information, and helped me navigate an unfamiliar and sometimes confusing medical system.
I am now focused on heart disease as my maternal grandfather died of coronary artery disease and my mom had triple bypass surgery before dying of the same disease at age 89. Whether Covid contributed, I will never know. What I do know is that my family history clearly placed me at risk. But most important to me is not the heart attack. It is the realization that life can change in a single day. I entered the hospital believing I was healthy and would leave with reassurance. Instead, I left with a stint, a new appreciation for my wife, a deeper awareness of my own mortality, and gratitude for every day I have been given since.
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