On a clear summer day in 2004 when I was sixty-four and to move from my apartment to a small house, I had a heart attack. I felt sick to my stomach, then had a cold, clammy feeling; finally I felt as if my upper body were being aired up, like a tire. I was at home by myself, and I dailed 911. When EMS wheeled me into ER, an RN friend was on duty. “What are you doing here,” she asked. “Oh I came out to see if you ever really work.” Then I flatlined for the first time and gave her and everyone else on duty a real workout; they worked on me from about 4:00 p.m. until about 9:00 p.m. while I flatlined another eight times. Finally I was stabilized, and shipped out on a helicopter bound for an area hospital with a cardiac care unit. When the chopper landed on the roof of the hospital, I remember being pulled out by a man who I later learned to be my cardiologist, then I knew nothing until I woke about two days later. I learned that my family had been given a dire prognosis: I wasn’t expected to make it through the first night and if I did, I might be brain-dead because of the number of times that oxygen had been removed in order to use the paddles on me yet again. I couldn’t believe all that had happened to me.
I had been trying to take care of myself better and had chosen to cut down on the amount of meat that I was eating (I had begun eating veggie pizzas, for instance), and had given up pork completely. However I continued to smoke cigarettes and drink coffee, which I later learned are both enemies of the heart and especially the mature heart; both cause the heart to beat faster thus wear out sooner. I had gotten my cholesterol count down to 160 without anyone bothering to run the blood test required to check it, but I hadn't counted on tar and nicotine getting into my arteries, too. I learned that I was (and am) very, very lucky to be alive and I immediately became very grateful that I was/am.
After EMS picked me up from my apartment, I have never smoked another cigarette. I love coffee but I gave that up too, and that includes decaf coffee. I have continued my war against cholesterol by continuing to give up not only pork but beef, too; my diet consists entirely of chicken, turkey, and fish, and alot of the time I eat only veggies. I have futher assited my heart by giving up chocolate (caffeine) and carbonated drinks, even though we are told that chocolate is good for the heart. I don’t know who dreamed that up because chocolate has caffeine in it, and the caffeine in chocolate is no better than it is in coffee.
Right after my heart attack I went through a cardiac rehab program at my local hospital that lasted about three months and seem to helped me regain my strength. Afterwards I began a walking program, and continued lifting weights as I had done in the original cardiac rehab program. During the four years that have passed since my attack, I try to exercise at least thirty minutes each day, gradually working out each area of the body so I will remain as strong as possible.
I learned the hard way about the importance of drinking water. When I left the hospital, I was told that I had to take the medicine that I had been given for the rest of my life. Each dose of medication required a big drink of water, but I hadn't previously drank alot of water, so I forgot about it. One day my heart rate went way down, and from that EKG, I learned that water can effect my heart rate. So I will say to whomever is reading this: DRINK LOTS OF WATER!
QUIT SMOKING. If you gain weight, so what? Would you rather be slim and die or gain a few pounds and live? Take your pick. No one can make you do anything; you have to do it for yourself.
