So today is like a second birthday for me, a kind of rebirth. 5 years ago today while driving home I experienced discomfort in my chest that stayed with me for two days.
It was a Wednesday much like today and I thought it was heartburn from the spaghetti & meatball dinner I had with the chicken nuggets mid-night snack. It was unusual for me but I had spent the night watching over my mother who was in physical rehab; I’m fortunate to be part of a strong support system in my family.
I did not think it was serious because like a lot of men in my position I was pretty active. I swam occasionally knocking out laps with ease. I rode my mountain bike pretty hard, no less than 10 miles, 4 to 5 times a month I even shoveled my parent’s driveway and sidewalk with no issues a couple of days prior. I was fit except for excess weight.
The fact is I was very sick and had no idea. See that Wednesday 5 years ago I had a heart attack and didn’t realize it until I was on the table two days later undergoing an angiogram mesmerized by the black and white image of my beating heart on the huge screen. The cardiologist pointed to a dark spot and said, “See this? That’s what caused your heart attack.”
That’s what caused your heart attack
I’ll never forget those words.
I’m what they call Asymptomatic. I felt nothing pushing myself up those steep hills on my bike or swimming those laps or shoveling snow. I’m sure I must have slowed a bit from when I was younger, breathing a little heavier but I dismissed it as age. Curiously I did feel fluttering in my chest when walking up a minor incline. It made no sense to me or my doctors why I didn't feel anything pushing myself but a leisurely stroll uphill triggered a response. I wasn’t completely symptom-free since that is Classic Angina.
As soon as I sat in the car that morning I felt warm and the onset of nausea. I drove with the window down and the cold air made me feel better. I was convinced it was heartburn. I even took the time to grab this shot below. As I drove down Queens Boulevard nausea returned, discomfort in chest grew and became pain, and there wasn’t anything I could do to ease it. Then I made a terrible mistake, I bought some antacid, went home, and went to sleep. I went to sleep.
I had a lot going on, dealing with the stress of a serious chronic illness of my mother, irregular work hours (I think I had a 4 AM start time), I didn’t have the best diet and my sleep pattern was irregular. That’s a deadly cocktail for a disaster that I was able to avoid. Like a lot of people in similar situations, I just pushed through but never stopped to consider the impact all these factors were having on me, together. A good friend kept talking to me about my sleep and the irregular work hours but I thought she wasn't being realistic.
The experience forced me to reexamine my life, not just my health but my whole life. Of course, a near-death experience will have a dramatic effect on you but the effect can be short-lived. It’s easy to forget the lessons and slip back into negative seemingly harmless patterns of self-destruction. As dramatic as that sounds it’s true. It is self-destruction. It took me 5 years to cultivate a balance of wellness that I’m still working on.
Awareness- After I left the hospital a week later, I was hypersensitive to everything I was feeling that was… off. I made a few trips back but thankfully they were false alarms but it illustrates a failing of a lot of men like myself. We are not mindful of our bodies. We ignore pain and discomfort as just a part of life. And although it is, it’s the part of life that’s telling you something is wrong. Most men wouldn’t ignore the check engine light in their car yet dismiss shortness of breath or a fluttering in the chest. Most men check fluid levels in their vehicles or the charge level on their phones but don’t know their blood pressure levels. The amount of heart attack victims with remnants of antacids in their stomachs is pretty high probably because like me a lot of people mistake it as heartburn. Be aware!
Since the heart attack, I’ve become an avid Fitbit user tracking steps, sleep, and heart rates. I would occasionally check blood pressure but after my bout with COVID-19 last year (yeah I beat that too) it’s become almost a daily routine.
Nutrition - It took me a bit to figure this out since eating healthy can be time-consuming and expensive. Why the hell is the salad the most expensive thing at McDonald’s? I’m not sure if it still is but I’ve embraced meal prepping with a twist. I’ve learned to cook with a lot of herbs and spices to add flavor and reduce salt. I haven’t discovered the “flavor magic bullet” but I do a lot of roasting which adds flavor without adding extra sodium. I’ll do a massive cooking session, making at least two different types of animal proteins several ways then dividing it all into healthy portions along with a veggie. The twist is I freeze them "bad boys." You can cook for pretty far ahead if you freeze your meals:
- Figure out what freezes well. Broccoli does NOT. Pasta should be al dente since reheating will re-cook it. Better to make these fresh and not freeze. Salmon should be a little undercooked for the same reason but it freezes well.
- Divide and seal meals while they're still hot so you don’t lose too much moisture. If you allow it to cool before sealing it in a container the frozen food will be a bit dry when reheated. Just don’t put the hot containers into your freezer, allow them to cool first.
- Cook a batch up as often as you want to add variety to the mix. When I first started it was baked chicken and veggies every day, it drove me nuts.
- This is also good because it enforces portion control which is my greatest battle.
I also started juicing. Ginger is an excellent anti-inflammatory but delicious with carrot and apple. I juice these 3 with spinach or broccoli stalks. I still need to do some research since I’ve heard you shouldn’t mix fruits and veggies. I used to add frozen blueberries, strawberries, and bananas because the berries are a good source of antioxidants, and the frozen banana a good source of potassium plus it provided a thick smoothie consistency but it's too much sugar.
Healthy snacks are a must-have. Have nuts and fruits handy so you can avoid chips and cookies. I would pack grapes, cheese, carrots, and hummus as a snack at work.
Everything else you can pretty much research if you’re interested. I just wanted to share since my heart attack was such a shock to everyone. My doctor was new to me, so it was a shock to her. The cardiologist was only taking precautions but didn’t expect to find anything. On the surface, I didn’t look like a candidate and neither do a lot of people out there. If you feel something… off, go check it out. I’m not trying to create a bunch of hypochondriacs but go check it out.
I’m going to close with this memory. I had stents placed for the blockages in two procedures. The second procedure was risky due to the location and difficulty getting to the blockage and we discussed it at length. There was a… significant mortality factor. My doctor was a young guy who had similar musical tastes as me but not his team. They begged me to tell him no reggae so we opted for some old school hip hop instead. As I lay on the table looking up at the ceiling and all the technology above me I could hear them getting everything ready, briefing and playing in the background was “One Mic” by Nas. And I thought this feels like the end to a movie. I actually thought to myself, “Is this the end of MY movie?”
Still here and kicking, take care of yourselves and each other.
Comments