(09-14-2017, 10:59 AM)jason Wrote: Glad you're alright man. That kind of stuff scares me as I'm constantly dealing with aches and pains. God forbid it happens to me I hope I can tell the difference.

(09-14-2017, 10:48 AM)bfine32 Wrote: I took the day after the 4th of July off to catch up on some yard work. While push-mowing my slopped back yard in the in the blazing heat, I experienced a burning sensation in my chest. I finished the backyard and went inside; as I didn’t feel like doing the front yard. After a few minutes of rest the burning sensation went away and I went about my business.

My next off day was Saturday July 8th, So I decided to go out in the mid-day heat and mow my flat front yard. After about 2 strips the burning sensation returned, being a stud, I fought through the pain and finished the front yard. I went inside to rest and allow the pain to subside; unfortunately, this time it did not. The burning pain turned into a constricting feeling and my left arm began to hurt.

My wife immediately said “let’s go to the hospital” of course I objected and reminded her that I am bulletproof. She did talk me into taking an aspirin. After about 30 more minutes of chest pain and her insistence I said OK, we can ride up to the ER and if it is still hurting when we get there I’ll go inside. It lessened; however, did not fully go away so I lived up to my word.

Once inside my pain was all but gone, but as soon as you say, “chest pain” in an ER folks waste no time. They got me in, took and EKG, a chest x-ray, drew a bunch of blood, gave me a shot of blood thinner in my stomach, and put a nitro patch on my chest (those cause severe headaches). After a while the ER doctor came in and said everything looks fine on the EKG and x-ray. He did say that the only way to rule out a heart attack, is to take multiple blood samples over a few hours and look for changes in enzymes.

Of course, being a Saturday, the early reports came back clean, I now felt fine, and the fact that they don’t serve beer in a hospital; I wanted to leave. The ER doctor and the wife finally talked me into staying overnight.

The next morning I felt great and was getting my clothes ready to be discharged. The cardiologist came in asked me how I felt. I said I feel great and apologized for wasting folk’s time. He just smiled at me and said: “You had a heart attack”. They did a Cardio Cath the following morning and found a 90% blockage in the main artery (RCA for medical folks) that pumps my blood my heart.

I am VERY lucky. The damage was miniscule and they were able to stent the artery to restore 100% blood flow. I share this with you all so that each of you to take care of yourselves and not ignore the signs. I lead a very active lifestyle and thought chest pains were just part of getting old; it was my heart trying to tell me to “take care of me”.

I know I am alive today, not because of me, but because of the Lord, my wife, and that stubborn ER Doctor who wouldn’t let me leave. Because there is no doubt that if I had left that ER and went home I would have been right back at it the next day and this time the attack may have (most likely) been massive.

(09-14-2017, 10:48 AM)bfine32 Wrote: I took the day after the 4th of July off to catch up on some yard work. While push-mowing my slopped back yard in the in the blazing heat, I experienced a burning sensation in my chest. I finished the backyard and went inside; as I didn’t feel like doing the front yard. After a few minutes of rest the burning sensation went away and I went about my business.

My next off day was Saturday July 8th, So I decided to go out in the mid-day heat and mow my flat front yard. After about 2 strips the burning sensation returned, being a stud, I fought through the pain and finished the front yard. I went inside to rest and allow the pain to subside; unfortunately, this time it did not. The burning pain turned into a constricting feeling and my left arm began to hurt.

My wife immediately said “let’s go to the hospital” of course I objected and reminded her that I am bulletproof. She did talk me into taking an aspirin. After about 30 more minutes of chest pain and her insistence I said OK, we can ride up to the ER and if it is still hurting when we get there I’ll go inside. It lessened; however, did not fully go away so I lived up to my word.

Once inside my pain was all but gone, but as soon as you say, “chest pain” in an ER folks waste no time. They got me in, took and EKG, a chest x-ray, drew a bunch of blood, gave me a shot of blood thinner in my stomach, and put a nitro patch on my chest (those cause severe headaches). After a while the ER doctor came in and said everything looks fine on the EKG and x-ray. He did say that the only way to rule out a heart attack, is to take multiple blood samples over a few hours and look for changes in enzymes.

Of course, being a Saturday, the early reports came back clean, I now felt fine, and the fact that they don’t serve beer in a hospital; I wanted to leave. The ER doctor and the wife finally talked me into staying overnight.

The next morning I felt great and was getting my clothes ready to be discharged. The cardiologist came in asked me how I felt. I said I feel great and apologized for wasting folk’s time. He just smiled at me and said: “You had a heart attack”. They did a Cardio Cath the following morning and found a 90% blockage in the main artery (RCA for medical folks) that pumps my blood my heart.

I am VERY lucky. The damage was miniscule and they were able to stent the artery to restore 100% blood flow. I share this with you all so that each of you to take care of yourselves and not ignore the signs. I lead a very active lifestyle and thought chest pains were just part of getting old; it was my heart trying to tell me to “take care of me”.

I know I am alive today, not because of me, but because of the Lord, my wife, and that stubborn ER Doctor who wouldn’t let me leave. Because there is no doubt that if I had left that ER and went home I would have been right back at it the next day and this time the attack may have (most likely) been massive.

(09-14-2017, 10:48 AM)bfine32 Wrote: I took the day after the 4th of July off to catch up on some yard work. While push-mowing my slopped back yard in the in the blazing heat, I experienced a burning sensation in my chest. I finished the backyard and went inside; as I didn’t feel like doing the front yard. After a few minutes of rest the burning sensation went away and I went about my business.

My next off day was Saturday July 8th, So I decided to go out in the mid-day heat and mow my flat front yard. After about 2 strips the burning sensation returned, being a stud, I fought through the pain and finished the front yard. I went inside to rest and allow the pain to subside; unfortunately, this time it did not. The burning pain turned into a constricting feeling and my left arm began to hurt.

My wife immediately said “let’s go to the hospital” of course I objected and reminded her that I am bulletproof. She did talk me into taking an aspirin. After about 30 more minutes of chest pain and her insistence I said OK, we can ride up to the ER and if it is still hurting when we get there I’ll go inside. It lessened; however, did not fully go away so I lived up to my word.

Once inside my pain was all but gone, but as soon as you say, “chest pain” in an ER folks waste no time. They got me in, took and EKG, a chest x-ray, drew a bunch of blood, gave me a shot of blood thinner in my stomach, and put a nitro patch on my chest (those cause severe headaches). After a while the ER doctor came in and said everything looks fine on the EKG and x-ray. He did say that the only way to rule out a heart attack, is to take multiple blood samples over a few hours and look for changes in enzymes.

Of course, being a Saturday, the early reports came back clean, I now felt fine, and the fact that they don’t serve beer in a hospital; I wanted to leave. The ER doctor and the wife finally talked me into staying overnight.

The next morning I felt great and was getting my clothes ready to be discharged. The cardiologist came in asked me how I felt. I said I feel great and apologized for wasting folk’s time. He just smiled at me and said: “You had a heart attack”. They did a Cardio Cath the following morning and found a 90% blockage in the main artery (RCA for medical folks) that pumps my blood my heart.

I am VERY lucky. The damage was miniscule and they were able to stent the artery to restore 100% blood flow. I share this with you all so that each of you to take care of yourselves and not ignore the signs. I lead a very active lifestyle and thought chest pains were just part of getting old; it was my heart trying to tell me to “take care of me”.

I know I am alive today, not because of me, but because of the Lord, my wife, and that stubborn ER Doctor who wouldn’t let me leave. Because there is no doubt that if I had left that ER and went home I would have been right back at it the next day and this time the attack may have (most likely) been massive.

(09-14-2017, 12:46 PM)Wyche Wrote: Yep, you dodged a bullet my friend.  I'm glad the Good Lord was watching over you, and made your wife more stubborn than you.  Having two stents myself with a 99% blockage in the circumflex, and 30 in the RCA, I know where you're coming from.  It hit me at work, and because my grandmother had been through it, I knew immediately what was going on.  I couldn't believe it at 32, but I knew.  I chewed the aspirin, took a co-worker's BP pill and dialed 911.  Nine years later, after some drastic lifestyle changes due to this and finding out I was diabetic as a result, I'm doing ok.  I had ignored the signs of diabetes, because...like you...you don't go to the doc if a bone is not sticking out, and it almost cost me dearly.  At least two years of extremely high blood sugar had wreaked havoc on my bloodstream, my liver was dumping fats, sugars, and cholesterol into my arteries and clogged two of them off.  You combine that with what was a stressful job at the time, and chain smoking Marlboros....it's a wonder it wasn't worse than it was.  They said my blood was like gravy, and couldn't believe I was conscious with a blood sugar reading of over 800.  

Heed the doc's advice, and you should be good to go.  Godspeed.

(09-14-2017, 12:55 PM)BengalHawk62 Wrote: Damn dudes!  two of the most entertaining fellas around here.  It definitely would NOT be the same around here without ya'll.  I hit forty recently and with my first little one on the way, this scares the bejesus outta me.  I'm not exactly your most well fit guy, but I did quit the smoking back in February when the wife told me the good news.  Glad you guys are still with us! 

(09-14-2017, 01:46 PM)Tiger Teeth Wrote: Glad you're still around.  And you too Wyche.  I had a scary event myself just the other night.  I was feeling dizzy and out of breath and told my wife (a nurse) that I felt funny.  She grabbed her blood pressure monitor, and checked me.  When the reading came up at 223/110, I knew it was high, but she calmly said, "let's go, we need to go to ER."  By the time we got there, it went up a little more (can't remember what it was, I was in freakout mode).  

They hooked me up to the EKG, and gave me something called Clonidine.  After about an hour, it came down to normal, or close to it.  I went to my doctor the next day, he read me the riot act, and doubled my blood pressure meds, and put me on the Clonidine also.  We've been keeping a close eye on it, and it's been running really good.  But the worst part is, I have to quit, or drastically cut down on my drinking.  So I learned that binge drinking will skyrocket your BP.  

(09-14-2017, 10:48 AM)bfine32 Wrote: I took the day after the 4th of July off to catch up on some yard work. While push-mowing my slopped back yard in the in the blazing heat, I experienced a burning sensation in my chest. I finished the backyard and went inside; as I didn’t feel like doing the front yard. After a few minutes of rest the burning sensation went away and I went about my business.

My next off day was Saturday July 8th, So I decided to go out in the mid-day heat and mow my flat front yard. After about 2 strips the burning sensation returned, being a stud, I fought through the pain and finished the front yard. I went inside to rest and allow the pain to subside; unfortunately, this time it did not. The burning pain turned into a constricting feeling and my left arm began to hurt.

My wife immediately said “let’s go to the hospital” of course I objected and reminded her that I am bulletproof. She did talk me into taking an aspirin. After about 30 more minutes of chest pain and her insistence I said OK, we can ride up to the ER and if it is still hurting when we get there I’ll go inside. It lessened; however, did not fully go away so I lived up to my word.

Once inside my pain was all but gone, but as soon as you say, “chest pain” in an ER folks waste no time. They got me in, took and EKG, a chest x-ray, drew a bunch of blood, gave me a shot of blood thinner in my stomach, and put a nitro patch on my chest (those cause severe headaches). After a while the ER doctor came in and said everything looks fine on the EKG and x-ray. He did say that the only way to rule out a heart attack, is to take multiple blood samples over a few hours and look for changes in enzymes.

Of course, being a Saturday, the early reports came back clean, I now felt fine, and the fact that they don’t serve beer in a hospital; I wanted to leave. The ER doctor and the wife finally talked me into staying overnight.

The next morning I felt great and was getting my clothes ready to be discharged. The cardiologist came in asked me how I felt. I said I feel great and apologized for wasting folk’s time. He just smiled at me and said: “You had a heart attack”. They did a Cardio Cath the following morning and found a 90% blockage in the main artery (RCA for medical folks) that pumps my blood my heart.

I am VERY lucky. The damage was miniscule and they were able to stent the artery to restore 100% blood flow. I share this with you all so that each of you to take care of yourselves and not ignore the signs. I lead a very active lifestyle and thought chest pains were just part of getting old; it was my heart trying to tell me to “take care of me”.

I know I am alive today, not because of me, but because of the Lord, my wife, and that stubborn ER Doctor who wouldn’t let me leave. Because there is no doubt that if I had left that ER and went home I would have been right back at it the next day and this time the attack may have (most likely) been massive.

(09-14-2017, 12:46 PM)Wyche Wrote: you don't go to the doc if a bone is not sticking out,

(09-14-2017, 01:46 PM)Tiger Teeth Wrote: But the worst part is, I have to quit, or drastically cut down on my drinking.  So I learned that binge drinking will skyrocket your BP.  

(09-14-2017, 12:46 PM)Wyche Wrote: You combine that with what was a stressful job at the time, and chain smoking Marlboros....it's a wonder it wasn't worse than it was. 

(09-14-2017, 02:26 PM)Wyche Wrote: Damn bro!  Were you drinking when it happened?

(09-14-2017, 03:28 PM)Tiger Teeth Wrote: Now I have to admit to myself that I have a drinking problem, and deal with that.

(09-14-2017, 02:49 PM)bfine32 Wrote: Yep, we gotta look after ourselves. I never smoked (tobacco) a day in my life; however, it was the first question every Dr. asked. I did dip for about 20 years, but I quit that 7 years ago. I also exercise regularly.

The say some folks are just plac producers and apparently I am one. I also took a NSAID (Voltaren) everyday from for foot pain; they say that may have caused it; perhaps I should contact Fred and see if I have a case. j/k.

 

(09-14-2017, 03:27 PM)Bengalholic Wrote: Glad you're OK Bfine.

I had a similar experience about 3 years ago when I was 44. I had been having chest pains and a rapid heartbeat on and off for a couple of days, and then during the night it got really bad. My old lady kept on me until I finally went to the ER. My troponin levels showed signs of a heart attack/heart damage, so they did a heart cath.  I ended up getting 4 stents and having to be put on a bunch of meds. I have stopped smoking and eat a lot better, but I still drink and have no plans on giving that up any time soon. 

Take care of yourself brother!

(09-14-2017, 03:28 PM)Tiger Teeth Wrote: No, not yet.  I was getting ready to, but I told her I didn't feel right, and she took my blood pressure before I started.  I've been drinking straight rum chased with Diet Coke every night, for well over a year.  And I drink (drank) a lot, too.  I rationalized that it was lowering my blood sugar, so it was okay.  Now I have to admit to myself that I have a drinking problem, and deal with that.

(09-14-2017, 04:06 PM)Sabretooth Wrote: Winter of 2015 I started gaining weight suddenly and went to patient first. I had no medical coverage at that time. They just advised me to lose weight.Normally it is 190 and now up to 225. February 19 2016 ,I got stuck in the bathtub and it took about 20 minutes to get out.Could only walk a few paces without sitting down. Obtained Anthem insurance and  checked into hospital. Now up to 252 pounds.They ran tests and determined my heart was failing. Cardiac cath the next day found arteries ok( almonds eaten almost every day )HDL 79, LDL100.Hospitalized for 9 days with meds and new diet got me to 185 lbs.

Nowadays I read every food label available before ingesting food and drinks.Of course I cheat sometimes but am down to 159 pounds.I 'm 5-11, height wise and 64 years old.
A version of the flu got me in November of 2015 and possibly weakened my heart.I never had flu shots before, but now get them in September .

Glad you guys are all OK NOW.