I thought I was pretty healthy

[Mark]

Question: Were you aware of any family history of heart disease or cardiac arrest?

Heart disease on mom and pops side. I went so far as to have a heart stress test done in 2015 with nothing out of the ordinary detected. I also have annual physicals, full blood work, cholesterol, and anything age appropriate. Nothing was off the charts by the numbers. Turns out the numbers don't tell the whole story.

I dodged the proverbial bullet and I'm grateful for a second opportunity. And I'm even more grateful that I was in an accessible location for the event. I feel extremely fortunate.

 

[wapitibob]

My dad lived thru 2 heart attacks, a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, and a quad bypass. He said the worst thing was where they took the vein out of his leg for the bypass, it never quit hurting.

 

[Mark]

He said the worst thing was where they took the vein out of his leg for the bypass, it never quit hurting.

I have a lot of pain in that leg as well. I hope it eventually goes away. So far it has only gotten worse.

 

[Mark]

Thought I would provide an update on my recent triple bypass.

Here I am, 10 weeks post op. I started Intensive Cardiac Rehab four weeks ago (three visits a week). Overall I feel pretty good. I'm able to do a few normal activities including riding my bike - street only, no mountain biking yet. I am restricted to 10lbs while lifting weights and I can walk two miles at a brisk pace without stopping. My heart rate stays below 135 while walking. That's my max limit at this time. My blood pressure is under control and my heart rate is consistently normal.

I went back to work at four weeks post op. I worked six hour days for the first two weeks. At six weeks I was back to 10 hour days. It feels great to be back to work and gives me a sense of being productive.

I've been on one pheasant hunt and walked five miles that day. I handled my dog, I didn't shoot. Shooting a gun is out of the question right now and I won't even attempt to draw my bow. My sternum is still healing. No reason to test the strength of that titanium wire holding my sternum together just yet. At the end of that hunt I was tired, but the next morning I felt fine.

I'm doing some light yard work and continuing training my young lab. I'm feeling better and stronger every day. My weight is down to 170 with a goal of 160-165 per my nutritionists recommendation. My diet hasn't changed much with the exception of sodium intake. I'm limited to 1500mg daily and I've found it's actually pretty simple to stay well under that limit. I'm surprised at how much sodium there is in the foods I used to eat.

What I've learned from this event is that there is life after a heart attack and open heart surgery. I honestly didn't know what to expect 10 weeks ago. Quality of life will only be affected for the short term. I'll be close to 100% by the end of the year.

My youngest son drew an antelope tag so I'll be going on that hunt in August. I feel great about the progress that I've made and I appreciate all of the support and well wishes that I have received from a number of people here.

 

[Tick]

Good news. Best of luck to you.

 

[elkguide]

Life is good...… VERY GOOD!!!!!!

 

[Downeaster]

Glad to hear that things are progressing well and thank you for sharing your story.

 

[Laelkhunter]

Best of luck on your continued recovery.

 

[Farmingdale's Finest]

I am glad you are doing well and the future looks good.

I had a Widow Maker heart attack at 43. I am 51 now. I was in Philly for work when I started belching. I thought I had indigestion until I had a single crushing pain in my sternum and a shooting pain into my left arm.

I was in a hotel room at the time and got dressed and went down the elevator to the front desk. I probably should have called 911 from the room but it never even crossed my mind. I get to the front desk and tell the clerk I need to go to the hospital. I was brought to Hahnemann Hospital which is apparently the top rated Cardiac Hospital in the northeast and among the top 20 in the world. I also got even more lucky with the head of cardiology in the hospital when I was brought in.

Fast forward 3 weeks to my follow up visit and the Cardiologist that put my stent in did an echocardiogram and told me " If i didn't know your recent history I would call your heart normal. You have one small irregularity but still falls into normal parameters. That's the only damage you did to your heart and I expect that to heal within the next month." When he was asking me about my habits and family history he found out I had won the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Pan Ams 7 months before and was working out between 3-6 days a week. He said that's why I was still alive. I don't remember the medical term but because I was in such good shape I developed additional capillaries that allowed blood flow through the heart and thus didn't develop scar tissue.

Today I am training for my first backpack elk hunt in Colorado this fall with my son! Make the best of the situation and count your blessings because you never now when it will be your time to go!

 

[4rcgoat]

Glad to hear your doing good,best of luck going forward, this is really a wake up call for me, never take anything for granted.

 

[netman]

It’s good to hear good reports! I’m training right now myself for a couple hunts out west this fall. I’ve decided that since I went all winter and spring with light workouts I’m going to start at zero and work back towards my goals. I’m 54 and keep forgetting I’m not 25.
Keep on keeping on fellas!

 

[SoDaky]

Good news and wishing good health to all.Thanks for the update Mark.

 

[codym]

This is all very interesting to me. Glad you all are doing well. I have been doing a lot of research on heart disease and heart failure. It seems that there is no definitive correlation between cholesterol and heart disease. Seems genetics play a huge rule. I train people for bodybuilding and physique competitions, in researching diets I keep coming back to the realization that low fat high carb diets seem to be playing a major role in some types of cancers and heart disease. I'm really interested if any of you all that have suffered heart issues and or cancer, specifically prostate cancer, have tried a ketogenic diet and if so have you seen any affect on your condition?

 

[Farmingdale's Finest]

This is all very interesting to me. Glad you all are doing well. I have been doing a lot of research on heart disease and heart failure. It seems that there is no definitive correlation between cholesterol and heart disease. Seems genetics play a huge rule. I train people for bodybuilding and physique competitions, in researching diets I keep coming back to the realization that low fat high carb diets seem to be playing a major role in some types of cancers and heart disease. I'm really interested if any of you all that have suffered heart issues and or cancer, specifically prostate cancer, have tried a ketogenic diet and if so have you seen any affect on your condition?

I responded above with the widow maker heart attack. The cardiologist that saved my life told me that with my family history of heart disease on both sides. It was almost unavoidable and I should have been seeing a cardiologist since about age 30. My father had his first at 48 and died from one at 58. My mothers father died from one when he was 48 and I believe it was his second. My fathers father was the first male on that side of the family to live past the age of 43 and he passed away a week before he turned 82.

I always chalked my father up to lifestyle. He smoked 2-3 packs a day, was a recovering alcoholic and the only thing that kept him under 300 was the fact he had chicken legs. Now he was almost 6'7" but I also never saw him do anything athletic in my life. I never smoked a day in my life, am not a heavy drinker and as I said I was competing in BJJ at a very high level. And still it didn't matter. As far as diet. I have heard term Keto but I really don't know what it means. My diet is pretty clean but not perfect. I don't eat a lot of pasta or bread. I do add a teaspoon of sugar to my coffee and will have beer if I am drinking. My one vice is in the winter I love to have my cookies and milk. I do have a lot of chicken, broccoli, asparagus , Venison and salads. I also eat at least 1 apple or orange daily as well as drink at least a gallon of water a day.


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[codym]

FF thanks for responding. A ketogenic diet is basically a high fat moderate protein low/no carb diet. Some people will use keto and Atkins interchangeably although they are not one in the same. Keto usually follows a 70/30 fat/protein ratio. This diet will put the body into the state of ketosis by which fat is utilized as energy through the use of key-tones. The benefits being that key-tones are more efficiently utilized by the the body and the brain than is glucose, while maintaining stabile insulin levels. The reason Atkins is not the same is the that protein when above the 30% threshold, can be converted into glucose similar to that of a carbohydrate thus kicking the body out of ketosis. Now I'm not promoting a ketogenic diet, but in my research, there are numerous reports of people with type 2 diabetes, breast cancer, prostate cancer, and even children with autism making impressive improvements in their conditions with only the addition of a strict ketogenic diet. I wonder how many doctors are even asking about diet. I ask this because I have lost 4 family members and friends to massive coronary episodes in the last 2 years. All of these men were late 40's to early 50's all active and none over weight. All were seeing physicians on a regular basis for other issues or conditions. None were being treated for heart conditions. It begs the question as to wether or not our current indicators are effective in predicting heart attacks? I have a feeling our high carb, high sugar, highly processed diets are causing way more issues than people realize. I’m not a medical professional just my opinions after observation and research as well as competing and working with physique athletes for many years.

 

[TXCO]

Glad youre ok.

 

[boom]

Mark. i am so happy for the great update!!

thanks.

 

[SouthPlatte]

Best of luck in your recovery and thanks for sharing. At 55 I do worry about those things and try to stay in relatively good shape. Then I look my uncle who's is 82 and has smoked and drank his whole life and, although his body is starting to fail him now, he was going strong up until a couple of years ago. You just never know but I think I'll try to keep the odds in my favor by staying in shape.

 

[Nickman123]

I was also a guy who ate fairly well, thought he was in shape, exercised alot, weighed the same as in my early 20's, had no really bad family heart history, but, in my early 50's, I started having occasional chest pains when exercising. Nothing excruciating, just felt like burning in my chest when I began exercising and then it would go away. Talked to my Doc about it multiple times, had EKG's and even a treadmill stress test but they kept telling me everything was normal. They told me it was probably acid reflux.

Finally, at age 60, just a few months before a scheduled elk hunt, I had a few chest pain episodes that were real bad. Saw a cardiologist and he had me do another treadmill stress test. He said the results were "abnormal" and "might" indicate a blockage. He sent me for a "calcium score" test. Supposed to show level of calcified plaque in your chest. He said my result on that test was the worst he'd ever seen in someone who hadn't already had a heart attack. I was sure it had to be some kind of mistake but we agreed to do an angiogram. Turned out my 3 coronary arteries were 70% blocked, 70% blocked, and 100% blocked. They said my body must have somehow created some kind of "bypass" for the blocked artery or I'd be dead. They admitted me to the hospital and scheduled me for a triple bypass 2 days later.

That was year and half ago. For me, surgery wasn't that bad. Absolutey sucked being in the hospital for a week but I didn't find it nearly as painfull as I've heard from others. Walked out of the hospital 4 days after the surgery was walking 3 miles around the neighborhood a week after that.

You never know. If you're having any sort of chest pains, get it checked out thoroughly.

 

[mt100gr.]

You just never know when someone will dig up a thread from 2018!!!!!

OP, I hope you're doing well!

Best of luck in your recovery and thanks for sharing. At 55 I do worry about those things and try to stay in relatively good shape. Then I look my uncle who's is 82 and has smoked and drank his whole life and, although his body is starting to fail him now, he was going strong up until a couple of years ago. You just never know but I think I'll try to keep the odds in my favor by staying in shape.