On Monday Nov 25th 2024... I suffered a massive heart attack.
Never smoked, never had high blood pressure, never considered over-weight and no history of heart disease. I did, however, always struggle with high cholesterol, but never focused on it. I was on and off-medication, telling myself I’d eat more fish and vegetables, but doing little about it. I felt that so long as I wasn’t gaining weight and still fairly active “I was fine.”
It was a painful lesson to learn, that Monday morning I began feeling a heaviness in my chest and had a hard time breathing. I was fortunate to have my son home who drove me to the urgent care. A quick examination confirmed a heart attack and was raced to the hospital emergency room where I underwent an emergency catheterization in my lower descending coronary artery. I spent three days in the hospital and was incredibly grateful to be surrounded by great doctors and nurses to be able to make it home in time for Thanksgiving dinner.
It was a difficult recovery involving multiple doctor visits, medications, and cardiac rehab, but I’ve since learned the following. Do not ignore your symptoms. If you’re like me, you may be genetically pre-disposed to high cholesterol, so keeping it under control is important. A combination of some medication as well as a high fiber, low-fat diet is in most case, more important, than a daily fitness regimen. If you have high cholesterol, see your doctor, and implement a plan to keep your numbers low.
Never smoked, never had high blood pressure, never considered over-weight and no history of heart disease. I did, however, always struggle with high cholesterol, but never focused on it. I was on and off-medication, telling myself I’d eat more fish and vegetables, but doing little about it. I felt that so long as I wasn’t gaining weight and still fairly active “I was fine.”
It was a painful lesson to learn, that Monday morning I began feeling a heaviness in my chest and had a hard time breathing. I was fortunate to have my son home who drove me to the urgent care. A quick examination confirmed a heart attack and was raced to the hospital emergency room where I underwent an emergency catheterization in my lower descending coronary artery. I spent three days in the hospital and was incredibly grateful to be surrounded by great doctors and nurses to be able to make it home in time for Thanksgiving dinner.
It was a difficult recovery involving multiple doctor visits, medications, and cardiac rehab, but I’ve since learned the following. Do not ignore your symptoms. If you’re like me, you may be genetically pre-disposed to high cholesterol, so keeping it under control is important. A combination of some medication as well as a high fiber, low-fat diet is in most case, more important, than a daily fitness regimen. If you have high cholesterol, see your doctor, and implement a plan to keep your numbers low.
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