3 Years Since My Heart Attack-Day1093

I would like to remind myself from time to time that life is too short.  In 2 days, It will be 3 years since my heart attack.  I am counting the days because I know that my time is limited.  It can happen today or tomorrow and who knows that I will not have the time to write something about what happened.  To my wife Britta, daughter Brittney and son Brent, be it all known unto you that I did my best to keep myself in perfect health; to finish what I had started to do – build my family the best I can.

There are two numbers that I am currently tracking:
1. Stent#1-December 22, 2008 [1093 days]
2. Stent#2-July 2, 2010 [536 days]

To those who don’t know me, here’s a quick summary of the dreadful event including my journal entry in 2008. I don’t want to scare anyone about my heart attack. My reason of exposing it here is to raise awareness of the danger of a heart condition and how it can dramatically change your life.  Heart attack is still the #1 killer in the US. [I did not know that fact until I had mine]. Now you know… so that you too can try to make dramatic changes to your lifestyle, diet, exercise and life in general.

At the age of 42 [Dec of 2008], I had my full blown heart attack [100% occlusion at LAD-Left Anterior Descending].  Nothing changed much except that I am taking medication now and had been very careful not to swim in really cold water. I am a little careful on my diet also but not so fanatically obedient to the cardiac diet laid out my nutritionist. My cardiologist was not giving me a perfect explanation why my LAD was 100% blocked.  Many reasons came up – genetics, diet, age, and mine – a cold water swim.  I am a very active person, I swim, bike and occasionally run.  Most of my activities every week is centered in distance cycling and swimming.  I had always been active since childhood [cardiac wise].  When I was in the US Army, I can finish my 2-mile run in under 16 minutes.  Since I got out from the service in 1996, I’ve switch to cycling and then later in 2005, I included swimming in my training then running.  In short, I am not the typical high risk factor guy that you can pick in the line and say that I will have a cardiac problem down the road.  I said to myself – no way to cardiac problem – since I do 100-mile distance ride every year and I know that my body is in perfect condition and in fact, 2 months before the incident, I just did the Annual Outlaw 100Mile Bike Ride and did my best time.  How so that in the following 2 months, my heart says that it is blocked and no blood flow. What happened in Dec of 2008 will remain a mystery to me.  Was it a life changing event meant to happen? Was it a message to the rest of the world that there are risks out there even if you kept your body in perfect shape?  No one knows.

Today, I just finished a 2.4mile swim at Clay Madsen Pool. The swim is a non-stop race pace event that I intentionally schedule every Tuesday. I’ve added a 25-yard sub surface swim [meaning at 25-yard under water swim – no breath at all]. I had been improving since I started doing this and can comfortably reach the other end of the pool with just 0 breath.

In summary, I think I am doing well as a cardiac patient, 1093 days and counting…

Progress Report:
2008

2009

2010

2011

Below are my journal entry in 2008

20081222, Monday
0000, Sleep
0100, Sleep
0200, Sleep
0300, Sleep
0400, 1 hr indoor cycling, 15 miles, aveHR=119bpm, felt fine
0500, Shower
0510, Breakfast, left over from Texas Roadhouse
0520, Iron clothes
0525, Sharp chest pain 9 rating +left arm numb and did not subside POF: Heart  (Point of Failure)
0526, Decided to go for ER
0530, Left home, Britta driving, kids are still sleeping
0535, In car, chest pain at 9 rating, breathing was fine (normal) thinking of dying but was not scared. I felt at peace and was ready to go. Thought about how I organized everything for my family in case of my departure like this. The notebook I built for them and the notes, the passwords, the accounts we have, my insurance policies that I placed in the firesafe.
0544, Arrived at ER, walked from the parking lot to ER, chest pain still at 9. Information/paperwork started.
0600, Starts. Nitro, Maalox, blood works, EKG
0700, EKG non conclusive for heart attack, heart enzymes non conclusive also.
0800, Chadd arrived. Echo Cardiogram done, upper part of heart moving very slow, sign of heart attack/blocked arteries. Cardiologist informed. Nitro in IV started, pain now at 8
0900, Cardiologist came in, Dr. Wozniak, ordered immediate treatment to save heart, blood thinners, BP meds to lower blood pressure and Nitro to keep pain low. Cardiac Catherization scheduled later in the afternoon but no exact schedule.
1000, Pain threshold=8, waiting for ICU room vacancy. Britta left for home to check on the kids
1100, PT=8, still waiting for ICU room, alone by myself. Did a lot of thinking, mostly of the things I done for my family. So at peace and was ready to go. Weird feeling of peace. Nothing bothers me even the pain the fear of dying.  I know there was something wrong and anything can happen.
1200, PT=8 Moved to ICU, briefing about cardiac cath
1300, PT=7, waiting in ICU, Brittney and Brent came in with Britta/Bettina
1400, PT=6, waiting in ICU
1500, PT=6, moved to Cath lab
1600, PT=6, Cardiac Catherization procedure. Found Left anterior descending 100% blocked and right coronary artery 80% blocked. Removed blockage and installed Taxus Express2 OTW Stent on LAD-PLOC 3x16mm REF38968-1630, LOT 11693163.
1700, PT=0, FIX: Unblocked Left Anterior Descending artery.
1800, Rest
1900, Called Mom/Bebs in Cebu, inform-OK
2000, Rest
2100, Britta left with the kids
2200, PT=0, Heart treatment resumed
2300, Rest, did a lot of no thinking, just enjoying the pain and the thrill of surviving. 
2400, Sleep
 
20081223, Tuesday
0000, Sleep
0100, Potassium IV treatment so painful, PT=10 but chest pain is 0
0200, Sleep
0300, Sleep
0400, Britta came in
0500, Bath in bed by Britta
0600, Rest
0700, Breakfast
0800, Mauro arrived
0900, Dr. Wozniak came, debriefing regarding MI, no root cause he can find. Cholesterol levels are within spec. Mentioned that my being active physically for a long time developed the so called collateral arteries which are normally inactive but when the main arteries are blocked, they opened up and supply blood to the heart as a backup system.  He did not see any permanent damaged per lab works but need to monitor.
1000, Boyboy and Stephanie came.
1100, Rest
1200, Rest
1300, Cardia rehab briefing,
1400, 2 laps in ICU 1MPH pace, Heart Rate=89 but BP=160/100. Failed the test. Funny part, one surgeon yelled, "hey you don’t belong here in ICU, you walk too fast"
1500, Called Samsung Ahmed Ali- 672-1583 inform OK but needed 2 weeks PTO. He promised to arranged my PTO and inform DY.
1600, Mauro left
1700, Britta left with the kids
1800, Sleep
1900, Dinner, Chadd came, talked with Mom and Bebs on the phone.
2000, Rest
2100, Rest
2200, Rest
2300, Mauro came for sleep over
2400, Chat with Mauro
 
20081224, Wednesday (Christmas Eve)
0000, Sleep
0100, Sleep
0200, Sleep
0300, Sleep
0400, 3 hours of sleep. Woke up at 0400 and started a standing up stress test for 2 hours- reading and writing simulating work without sitting down. Ave Heartrate=69, no shorteness of breath and no chest pain. I figured that if I collapse at this moment, I have the full ICU team with me.
0500, Standing up workout, HR=69
0600, Standing up workout, HR=75
0700, Breakfast
0800, Chadd came, Mauro left, breakfast with Britta at the cafeteria. Talked with Mom and Bebs.
0900, First bowel movement post MI, HR=85 steady/stable. Chadd left
1030, 2 laps in ICU walking and my heart rate was 89bpm and BP was 117/70.
1230, Lunch
1300, Rest, waiting for discharge
1400, Dr. Wozniak cleared me to go home.
1500, Arrived home; wear Heart rate monitor, HR=75 Chest Pain PT=0
1600, Barbecue dinner, smokey moos. Hmmmm.
1700, Sleep
1800, Sleep
1900, Sleep
2000, Sleep
2100, Sleep
2200, Sleep
2330, Christmas with the family, Britta Brittney and Brent.