Heart Attack

I should have paid attention to my doctor a couple years ago when he said I had high cholesterol and blood pressure.  Stupid me thought I could beat it with diet and exercise instead of pills.  Of course it might have helped if I actually did diet and exercise....

For about a week prior to Jan 6th I was having occasional burning in my chest.  It never lasted long so I assumed it was heartburn.  On Tuesday, Jan 6th I was bowling on our senior league and after every shot, my chest started burning.  That's when I finally realized it might not be heartburn.  I told Norine to make sure I went to the Dr the next day.  I know, I should have gone immediately, but I didn’t wanna! I was fine the rest of the day.  Nothing wrong with me, right? Around 8 PM, I told Norine we should go to Ameristar for awhile, that it might be the last chance we have to go in a long time.

I was still feeling fine when we were getting ready to go home (around midnight).  Then I told Norine we need to stay a little longer (I have no idea why I said that).  Within the next 30 minutes, my chest started burning bad and I was feeling dizzy and nauseated.  I said it was time to go.  Norine went to cash in our ticket and I went the the men's room.  I was standing at the urinal doing my thing and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on the floor. I recall seeing someone’s shoes as they walked into the restroom. They turned around and walked out immediately. I’m sure they figured I was some drunk passed out on the floor (I didn’t have a drink all night) and headed off to a different restroom. That may be what woke me up, I’m not sure.

I staggered out of the restroom (continuing the drunk look) and told Norine I needed to sit for awhile. As soon as I was able, we went to the car and straight to the emergency room at North Kansas City hospital. Hindsight - that was another mistake. We should have called 911.

I had two blockages in my right coronary artery. One was 100% and the other 80%. The cardiologist put in two stents and I felt better immediately after.

Fortunately I got to the emergency room when I did.  If I was at home, I probably would have tried to sleep it off. As it was, I got to the hospital in time to keep any permanent damage to a minimum.  

So - if you experience heartburn, you better get it checked out! Especially if you have cholesterol or BP problems. Oh yeah, and if you see some “drunk” passed out in the restroom, take a second to see if he/she is ok. You might save someone’s life.