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Fred's StoryI was taken by surprise one day when I noticed that I was having trouble breathing while I walked to my office. I had to stop and the pain would go away in about 30 seconds. I felt like I was having trouble breathing with tightness in my throat and chest with a little pain in my arms. As we all know after it happens to us now, I was very uneducated to heart conditions and their symptoms. I visited my doctor who told me I might be suffering from asthma and prescribed an inhaler. You see I was only 44 years old and couldn’t possible have a heart condition. The inhaler didn’t help a bit and I noticed that I could no longer do the things I have always done like mow my yard. I could make a couple of passes with the mower and I would have to stop and rest. The pain would go away as quick as it came and I would start working again and continued to stop in order to complete my yard work. I couldn’t go on like this so I contacted my doctor who did an ecg on me in his office and reported that everything was well. He also did some breathing tests and determined that I had normal lung function. At that time we decided to have a cardiologist check me out. The reality was that I was unable to function normally as any physical activity would have to stop due to my condition. As I look back on it now, I could have been one of the many people you hear about that drop dead of a heart attack. The cardiologist interviewed me and set me up for a treadmill stress test. The day of the test I was only on the treadmill a short while the doctor stopped the test and laid me down on a table and told me to take it easy. He then gave me nitroglycerine and told me I had a some kind of blockage and would require further testing. The doctor gave me a prescription for a big bottle of nitro and told me not to do anything until the tests were complete. He advised me to take a pill if I felt any chest pain. I was now introduced to angina, a term I had heard on the television but was completely unaware of its meaning. I was told to go off work and thank god I had a good job with benefits. My wife was never really convinced that I was sick and insisted that I was faking. Why she thought that someone would fake cheat pain is beyond me, but that is another story. I still remember the day of my angiogram. I went to sleep the night before in my bed next to my wife for the last time. I went to the angiogram and the cardiologist informed me that I needed bypass surgery and he was going to contact the surgeon. I met with the surgeon and he informed me that the left side of my heart was 98% plugged with and the right side was 92% plugged. I was told that they would operate on me the next morning, but he did give me the option of scheduling with in the next week as long as I understood that if I had died from cardiac arrest is was my request to postpone the surgery. I decided to have the surgery the next day. My wife basically said goodbye and left me in the hospital. I felt alone. The next morning I had a five way bypass, four on the left side and one on the right. The vein was removed from my arm and left leg. I did have a little trouble breathing after the surgery but I was breathing fine and was discharged within 7 days of the surgery. I was in pain the first month but I fought to regain my life. I showered twice a day. I never realized how many muscles you use just to shower. Needless to say I did a lot of moaning the first month. I began walking and breathing as I was informed in the hospital. I over did it at first and the cardiologist told me to slow down. He explained that I needed time to heal before I started exercising. I eventually started cardiac rehab and felt a lot better about myself as I could exercise and be monitored by the medical staff. I was the shinning star in the rehab. I was just a kid compared to the other patients. I guess that’s nothing to brag about but I did recover. I finally have resumed my life and feel great. I did hurt and feel depressed at first but eventually I came to accept my new aches and pains until they eventually disappeared. The main thing is to remember the alternative to dealing with the pain and recovery is death and I want to live as long as I can. When I start feeling tired of eating chicken I flash on the fact I am glad to be here eating at all. This is a long short version of my experience; if you want details or have a specific question please feel free to write me. The worst thing for me during the recovery is the wires in my chest. I finally can lay on my stomach with out the wires bothering me. I still know they are there, but I just learned to live with them and together we will eat a lot of chicken. Keep a positive attitude and count your blessings. Fred You are here: Home >> Your Stories >> Fred's Story |
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