We hear this phrase each and every year but what does it really mean? Does it mean that you will change just because the year has? Well, I guess you will because at some point you’ll have a birthday and get a little older. Does it mean that your personality and behaviors will change? I guess that is a possibility because you control it. Will you dust off the treadmill, take if for spin? Maybe, you will once or twice. I believe that this is the time when you can create new habits. We all know or should know that 21 days creates a habit so we should be focused on creating healthy habits that can be beneficial to us as well as people around us. So tell me, when was the last time that you had a check-up and this question is really directed towards men. Men you should take your health very serious. Just because you’re not obese does not make you healthy. Men of a particular age need to be doing regular check-ups. I know we all don’t have health insurance these days as we should but it is worth the few hundred bucks to get your annuals just like women do. Did you that the likelihood of having a heart attack is greater amongst men than women although heart disease is on the rise for women in our society today. I have a friend who is not even 55 years old and suffered from a heart attack. He and I had a conversation today about his health situation but first allow me to tell you there are three types of heart related issues that we often identify as the same thing. Now, this might be surprising but I had no idea that there were types and some are more crucial than others. Not to say that even a mild heart attack isn’t crucial but I was just stun to learn about categories and how to identify each.
I have learned that there are three types of heart issues that can be life threatening to an individual. First, there is a heart attack, and you know this because heart attacks generally follow body aches in the neck, abdomen, back, jaw, and arms (especially the left one). Other identifying factors include shortness of breath and coughing, pain in the chest, and anxiety. During this episode your heart does not stop beating. The next situation is called cardiac arrest that is described as an electrical issue. It is identified as an electrical issue because something goes wrong with the rhythm of your heart beat, there will be chest pain and you can blackout, in this case the heart will stop beating. Lastly, there is a stroke brought on by a brain issue where numbness, excessive sweating and dizziness come into play and you get a paralyses of one side of your body. This can be brought on by artery blockage that causes lack of oxygen to the heart or a mini-stroke that is a temporary blockage of an artery. All of these types can be deadly to the individual especially if they are not in a position to get immediate medical attention. We generally identify each as a heart attack because the end result is that they all affect this organ. Like I mentioned earlier, I have a friend who was blessed enough to survive a heart attack. He was kind enough to share his story with me in the hopes that maybe someone can benefit from the symptoms that he experienced as well as learn what to expect should you find yourself in this situation. This can be beneficial to both men and women because everyone is susceptible to having an episode especially if they are not see a physician on a regular basis.
My friend Edward Thomas had a heart attack recently, much to his surprise, he found out that what he thought was indigestion was his arteries blocking up. Thankfully, I can say that he is fine now and I waited for a few weeks before I asked him to talk about it. He was willing to talk about it because he said if this could help someone else in the future then the story should be told. Unfortunately, he did not want to be recorded so allow me to share with you the re-accounting of the situation. I asked him just a few questions about the incident to get a better understanding to learn what the warning sign were and here is how Edward responds.
First and foremost, I asked, what were your symptoms? He told me that he started having a little bit of dizziness after climbing a set of stairs on a Tuesday while at work. Edward does home renovation and repair as his occupation. He works for himself in upstate New York. He can build a house actually but this particular day in early November he was working with a crew on a plumbing project. He said that he did not pay too much attention to it as he thought maybe the supplies that he was carrying was a bit much for him because he also had a pain shoot through his arm at the time. He shrugged it off and continued with his day. The very same evening, he told me that he had a little tightness in his chest and he attributed that feeling to indigestion after his heavy meal. It was a long day, he goes home, he cooks dinner, he eats and he falls asleep. He awoke to a tightness in his chest, slight but enough for him to believe that he slept in a bad position or his food did not settle properly. He went outside into the night air, took a few deep breathes and the pain subsided. He returns inside and retires for the evening thinking nothing of the incident. The next day, Edward is back on the job and experiences the light-headedness again, still can’t figure out why but ignores it entirely. Now this is Wednesday, November 11th yet he continues on with his day. Fast forward to Saturday, November 14th. Edward is still going along with his normal routine but this time the dizziness returns like the Tuesday evening but more intense. He also experiences the chest pain and it appears familiar but again more intense accompanied by a shortness of breath. What he does is call his siblings for direction not 911 but his brothers that are spread out around the Tri-State area. He tries the older brother who lives closest and there is no answer. Mind you, it’s 1:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning. He goes down the line to call another brother, no answer, calls yet another brother and no answer. He still does not think to call 911. The first brother that he tries to reach out to calls him back by the time he makes all of his calls because he knows something has to be off for his younger brother to call in the wee hours of the morning. He explains how he feels and tells him that he has been through this already this week and the brother’s first and only reaction is, man you need, help hang up from me and call an ambulance. Now, he was calling his brother for direction, direction was given and yet he says well, I’ll give it about 10 minutes and then if I still feel this way, I will call. The brother hears the distress in his voice and agrees. The brother calls back in 8 minutes time to ask if he has called for an ambulance and Edward’s response is no. The wife of his brother takes the phone and says to him, Ed, I need you to call 911 and tell them you are having trouble breathing as soon as I hang up the phone. He says okay sister, she says bye and hangs up the phone. Edward then calls for help. The paramedics arrive and inform him that he was having a heart attack. The best cardiac facilities is an hour away from where he lives and the ambulance heads to that location straight away. Edward is awake the whole ride. They cut off his shirt, give him a few pills to chew, put the leads on him and off he go on the highway racing him to the hospital.
Now, the patient, my friend Edward Thomas is in the ambulance when they arrive at the Middletown Regional Hospital. He is still conscious of everything that is happening to him in disbelief. Medics rush him in where the doctor on duty is awaiting his arrival. He does a few minor checks and confirms to Edward that he indeed is having a heart attack, tells him that he will be heading up to surgery and who can he call. Well fortunately, the brother and sister-in-law were already in route because they did call him back again moments after the ambulance arrived at his place of residence so they knew he was headed to their town and immediately got up to go to the hospital. They just happen to arrive within moments before Edward was rushed to surgery. Here is the really freaky part, Edward is still awake during this event. The surgical team is assembled, he sees his brother and sister-in-law prior to being rushed up to surgery and they provide him with just a local anesethic prior to cutting him out of the rest of his clothing and doing laparoscopic surgery to insert two stents to free up the blockage. Edward says he vomits several times, as he tries to apologize, the doctor’s assure him that it is normal under the circumstances and lets him know that he will be fine. Edward states that he still can’t believe that this was happening to him as he lies on the table but feels a bit of relief after they are partial done with inserting one stent.
I asked him, how long was your hospital stay? He stays in the hospital for all of three days. Edward gets strict orders to not go back to work for 15 days but is released from the hospital and goes to stay at his brother’s house since it is in the same town as the hospital. What does he do? He says at his brother’s house for all of a few days and returns home to get back to work. Only this time, he enlists some of his trusted laborers to take over the physical part of the project that he is working on. Within days, Edward does not feel right, this time he wastes not a moment before he heads back to the hospital to get himself checked out. He gets admitted, he is thoroughly checked, and all is well but now he knows that taking it easy is mandatory and not an option. A few weeks go by and he is then given the all clear to return to his work.
After the ordeal I asked, what has changed for you? Edward told me that he had to change his diet completely. In fact, he said that he threw out all of his food and started over with the list that he was given at the hospital. He said that he did not realize how he prepared his meals as well as what he was eating was an issue. Also, he said that he was told that he needed to institute a cardio exercise program. Edward stated that this is the first time in his life that he had to be prescribed medication.
Lastly, I asked, will you make it a point to get regular check-ups? Here is the big discovery, Edward did not have a yearly check-up as everyone is instructed to do. He has no insurance as he works from himself and is a staff of one. Sure, he can hire a crew when he lands a big job but he can’t afford health insurance or so he believed that it was not a priority because he is not overweight nor does he eat fast food because as someone who is self-employed that’s just not an expense that he found to be important since he rarely ever got sick especially with the expense of keeping his equipment up to par (keeping his truck on the road, making sure tools that were worn out get replaced, etc.). He works during his busy season and saves for winter when business comes to a halt. Yet, today, he has found a cardiologist and will make it his business to go every month to get checked so that he can maintain his medication required to keep his stents open as well as other things to keep him from having another heart attack.
Technically from Edward’s rehashing of his medical emergency he has been having a heart attack for multiple days until he could no longer ignore it. It appears from what he shared that he had the makings of a combination of issues. He had the dizziness, the shortness of breath and chest pain and the shooting arm pain. It was amazing as listened to him how he was explaining away all of his symptoms. There are many of us who are self-employed based on our skill sets but that is not excuse to not take care of yourself.
I thanked Edward for his time as I know it seems as if he were watching a movie of the week when this occurred. It’s a New Year and let the new you be someone who sees about his or her health. Men tend to ignore symptoms of distress when it comes to their health, please get your check-up because it is not just about going to the gym or losing a few pounds. It is about making sure that everything is in working order on a regular basis. If you have not had a check-up in a while, please do yourself and the people who care for you a favor and get one because you can’t put a price on your health.