HOW'S YOUR HEART?

How I Found Out I Needed A Stent

I’m so lucky. Both my sister and brother needed open heart surgery.

Crazy, huh?

Neither one of them knew they had heart problems. It was during the haze of recovery that my sister actually whispered to me, “I thought I was just tired.”

It was after she was on a long flight and felt some pains in her legs that she decided she should check in with her doctor. She had heard about the dangers of blood clots. Thankfully, her doctor didn’t find any of those. But, oh my goodness, he couldn’t find any pulses in her ankles either. Calmly, he recommended that she go over to the ER and have some tests done. But her heart replied, “Nope, we’ll stop right here.” She ended up with five by-passes.

Several months later, my younger brother, who had just ridden Pike’s Peak on his bike, felt some pains in his chest during a tense moment at work. No heart attack, but six by-passes needed for the guy who had just ridden an intense 12.5 to 19-mile climb (one way) that ascended over 4,800 to 6,300 vertical feet to the 14,115-foot summit — a ride featuring over 150 turns.

While recovering at home, he went into cardiac arrest when a blood clot traveled to his heart. Since CPR had broken open his chest that had been wired shut after his open heart surgery, they couldn’t give him the clot-dissolving meds he needed. He would have bled to death. But, unbelievably, after 16 days on every kind of life support imaginable, he survived. The hospital staff called him, “Our Miracle Man.”

I’m so lucky. When I mentioned my sister and brother to my doctor in passing, she exclaimed, “Well, I don’t’ feel that good about you now” and sent me to a cardiologist for a checkup — just in case. My mom had survived a heart attack later in her life, but my doctor said that a sibling’s health is actually more important.

At that time, I didn’t know I had heart problems.

Four years earlier, they told me I was heart healthy, and I celebrated with another Pepsi. I had undergone nuclear and stress tests because I had an off -and- on ache in the middle of my back sometimes and vice-grip like pains in my upper arms whenever I walked too fast. I could walk miles without feeling anything.

All the tests came back clear.

So, guess what I did every time I had a bit of discomfort? Yep. I’d run to my chiropractor — and blame my husband.

In hindsight, it’s weirdly funny that I did that.

You see, we were riding bikes with friends at Hilton Head — kind of in a line. I was able to stop when Mike and Sheryl did, but my husband, who was riding right behind me… well, he couldn’t.

So for four years, every time I got those back and arm pains, I’d yell at Stoney, “You gave me this damn arthritis when you hit me in the back on Hilton Head!” I used to blame everything on arthritis. Oh, and my husband too. Ha!

It turned out when I had the angioplasty done, I had a 98% blockage of one artery and a 47% blockage of another.

Surprisingly, I chuckle to myself whenever I think back to that procedure ten years ago. I wasn’t worried at all. After all, I had passed those earlier heart tests with flying colors. It was almost like going to a dentist appointment to get my teeth cleaned for some reason. I was so naive.

It WAS freezing in that operating room as I lay on the metal table looking at the computer. I didn’t feel a thing when the doctor inserted the catheter into my groin and started pushing it toward my heart. But several minutes later I left out a tiny, unexpected gasp and the surgeon announced, “We found it. We’re going to go ahead and put a stent in now.”

What? I couldn’t believe it.

I owe my sister and brother a HUGE thank you. They were the warning, the hammer-to-the-head, that saved my life. Thankfully, they are both living full, happy lives today.

You know I didn’t really realize that heart disease is the #1 killer of women in the United States — more fatal than all types of cancer combined. In 2023 over 300,000 women in the USA died from heart disease while sadly another 42,213 died from breast cancer.

They say women are at greater risk after menopause because of a lower level of estrogen but that it’s wise to eat healthy, manage our blood pressure and exercise all through life to prevent heart disease from ever happening. Oh, and they recommend avoiding excessive alcohol at any age since it weakens the heart muscle.

I know. I know. When I was younger, I thought I was invincible too.

But, please, listen to your body — and your siblings. Believe what they’re trying to tell you.

It’ll Be OK.

Siblings: painted by Surrealist Paul Keel in 1930

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“No Sir, I said your wife has ‘Acute Angina.’” ~ Etsy

QUESTION: HOW CAN YOU IMPROVE YOUR HEART HEALTH? Were you surprised by anything in this article?

Here is a link to a great video about coronary stents if you’d like to know more.