Yuku free message boards

When's the last time you had a physical? I had put one off for several years even though I am over-weight, in my 50's and spend TOO much time in an office-largely because I had no symptoms. About 3 weeks back, I obliged my wife by getting a full physical. X-rays, ekg's and a stress test turned up "some little something." My doctor sent me to a cardiologist who looked at everything and said there was something on the left side of my heart that was puzzling and said "I doubt it's anything to worry about, but it's your choice. You can either get an angiogram or we'll just try to treat it with meds." In spite of the fact that I had no symptoms, at all, and only went because my wife bugged me about it - I said, "Let's do the angiogram - if there is something in there; I want to KNOW what we're dealing with. In my pretest briefing by the doctor doing the angiogram, who had looked at all the tests told me I'd probably be out in about an hour and thought there might be some beginning disease in there that we'd caught early-at most, he figured I'd have a single stent. Out of the test in an hour if nothing, home the next morning if I had a stent. Annoying, but not bad.

Long story short, after the test, I was told that I was a VERY lucky man. They checked me into the hospital immediately and did a quadruple by-pass last friday. One artery 100% blocked, 2 at 80% and one 50% blocked. My surgeon told me that in a month or a year, my wife would have come home and found me dead from mowing my lawn - he called it a silent heart-attack. I had done 45 minutes on the treadmill the day before my test, like I do 5 times a week for years - with no pains, bands, pressure, indigestion, etc. Nothing.

So, my friends, I'm taking the energy necessary to type this right now (a LOT) to you to suggest that if you are over 50, overweight or have ANY history of heart disease in your immediate family; please get checked. You're worth it to your friends and family. I had to postpone a sabbatical until next year due to this, but I'm good with that. Good news - my doctor is a fly-fisher and assured me I'd be ready for my Yellowstone trip this september - in fact, its one of the things I use to motivate me right now.

Pat