Milestone!
In life, there are certain milestones that become official time stamp markers, much as “BC” and “AD” are historical markers. There’s Before and After High School, or College, Marriage, Kids, Retirement, etc. Any of these provide a convenient way to remember at least an approximate placement on our personal timelines. For me, I had a mile marker I wasn’t expecting or wanting—BHA and, perhaps appropriately, AHA: Before and After Heart Attack.
One year ago tonight, just after midnight and thus into Independence Day, I woke with a “rock” on my chest. I tried to come up with some reasonable explanation, but I just kept coming back to “this is my heart; this might be a heart attack!” Bob called 911, and in minutes the ambulance arrived with EMTs who confirmed my worst fear: “Yes, you are having a heart attack!” One EMT told the other, “It’s a good thing she woke up!”
The ambulance transported me to the local hospital to meet a waiting helicopter to bring me to the hospital 40 miles away who has the reputation as being the #1 hospital for heart attack care. There a waiting Cardiac Catheterization Lab team took over imaging to pinpoint the 99% blockage in one coronary artery. Two stents (through my wrist) opened up the artery, and by 4:30am—just 4 hours or so after waking up at home in pain—I was in my room in Cardiac Intensive Care.
Gulp. Talk about a wakeup call!
I was lucky—I got the care I needed quickly, and got the blockage taken care of without open heart surgery, and, most importantly, I lived to tell the tale.
That “milestone” did provide an AHA moment—Life is not guaranteed, and while some things happen to us beyond our control, others present a very real opportunity to take control. A combination of excellent care, cardio rehab (that I still continue a year later), and a reset of how/what I eat and daily activity—PLUS the attentive love, care, and support of my husband—I’m still here a year later to tell that tale. I’m 50 pounds lighter (with still “one or two” pounds left to go), my blood pressure is excellent, and even my cholesterol numbers have gone from okay-not-great BHA to good AHA. I’ve worked hard to do better than I used to, and thankfully, the important metrics show the effort has paid off.
Bob and I eat better, and cook many of our meals from scratch, trending towards plant-based, but still enjoy salmon weekly. We cut out salt and fat where we can, and when the inevitable falling-off-the-bandwagon meal happens, we look at the overall average of what we do. We encourage each other to get on the treadmill or other exercise equipment, and are working to transform the sunroom next door at my late father-in-law’s house into an exercise room.
The things we are doing now are not anything I didn’t know I should have been doing all along, and have half-heartedly [no pun intended!] attempted in the past. But overcoming the inertia and actually doing those things required more than just the knowledge that they would be helpful and healthful. That heart attack was the tipping point.
One of my memories from that night a year ago happened as the ambulance was getting ready to take me to the hospital. I was strapped in and connected to umpteen leads tracking my heart, and the door at the rear of the ambulance was still open. Bob stood at that door—out of reach, but seared into my memory. Would this be the last time I saw him? If I had anything in my power to change, I would do it.
So while a lesser “alarm clock” might have been preferable to waking up to that pain, a lesser alarm might have just tempted me to hit the snooze button and go on as before. In many ways, that heart attack was the best thing that has happened to me, at least in later years. One year AHA is a very good place to be!
Two other tales of my heart attack experience:
Lessons I Learned From My Heart Attack: When Life Hands You a Wake-up Call, Don’t Hit Snooze
12 Weight Loss Secrets for Success from Someone Who Lost 50 Pounds
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