jlstrat

Hi, all. Woke up Wednesday AM with chest pain radiating to my back, and then nausea. My wife took me to the ER and I was having a heart attack. I had a blockage in my left anterior descending artery. Three stents. I was probably cocky because I ride over 5000 miles a year, and thought I was in good shape. But I am 61 and the hospital staff, from the cardiologist to the nurses, told me this is a genetic thing and that nothing I did caused it. Should I have been on Lipitor or something else sooner? I just don't know. I hope that all the cycling will lead to a quick recovery and that I can cycle again in a couple of months, maybe sooner. At any rate, shared experiences would be helpful.

RonH

Ain't genetics fun. I "inherited" my dad's bad heart. Had a stent in my LAD (known as the widow-maker) in 2014. No problems since. Keep us informed of your progress and keep riding. It keeps the heart strong.

John E

Thank you for posting and the cautionary tale, and best wishes to you. Life is all about playing the hand we are dealt, and all of us in this forum have probably won the genetic lottery more often than we have lost, but each of us is a genetic loser in some way. All that cycling will definitely improve your odds of a rapid and uneventful recovery, and you are way ahead of folks of the same age and genetic risk who did not exercise.

jlstrat

Widow maker for me, too. Mornings are a little tough, but things lighten up as the days wears on.

Bob Ross

Yikes! Glad you got through that.

Re: the genetics thing...are their protocols or recommended practices for folks with your genetic makeup?
I come from a long line of colon cancer sufferers: My grandfather and both of his sisters all died of it in their 40s, & my father was diagnosed & treated (surgey + chemo) when he was 50. So as someone with a "strong hereditary predisposition towards colo-rectal cancer" I follow a very different course than most people my age. I started getting routine colonoscopies when I was 30, and I get them every 2 or 3 years rather than the recommended 5.
Seems like there should be a similarly hyper-vigilant course for folks who are genetically likely to suffer from heart disease.

Sucks that the cycling doesn't ward it off, I was kinda counting on that!

pdlamb

Glad you're still with us. Welcome to the club!(?) I had a LAD stented back in March after I collapsed; lucky (?) for me, I don't remember any of it. My cardiologist (and if you don't already put those two words together, I hope you don't have to!) said cycling saved my life. He cycles to work, too!


Get into and through cardiac rehabilitation. Write or type a list of questions for your 6 week checkup. One of those questions should be, "Should I be on a statin?" There's some thinking in my cardiologist's group that statins help stabilize plaques; since my blockage started as a soft plaque rupture, taking a statin before the MI might have helped even more than starting it after. Ah, well, heck; live and learn.

BobbyG

A speedy recovery!

JanMM

What he said.

sch

You may find that your hill climbing recovery is better since the stent. It is not entirely clear what statins do, but the
cholesterol reduction is probably a minor part of their function. Plaque stabilization (?) anti-inflammatory function (?)
which correlates with the inflammation theory of cardiac plaque disease, whatever, are more likely effects.
They are cheap enough and for most takers safe enough to add to the pharmacologic regimen.
OTOH platelet inhibitors are a bit annoying for a cyclist mainly if you crash. You will bruise easily, and any little cut
will bleed for 30 minutes or so. And a head bump can result in a brain bleed. Lobby your doc for a discontinuation of
these (except aspirin) in 12-18 months. Cardiac rehab for a 5000 mile/yr cyclist is essentially redundant. It is intended
for couch potatoes with minimal exercise histories. If a cardiac echo shows no muscle malfunction post MI then the
rehab is going to be an expensive waste of time.

cobolman

Get well soon.

rumrunn6

neighbor got carted off in an ambulance the other night, Wifey found out it was a heart attack. think he's OK. if you see a doc annually strange they didn't pick up anything sooner like w blood pressure tests

thanks for the head's up about possible symptoms! be well!

just remembered my father-in-law had 2 bypasses. a double at age 50 then a quadruple 20 years later. he passed a cpl years ago a month before his 90th birthday from other conditions. amazing what modern medicine can do. aside from medication he was a big walker as long as I knew him

gettingold

Good luck jl. I had a stent placed on the main right (95% blocked) which completely clotted with blood a couple of years later. I was on a group ride, heart attack, and went into v-fib right after I got to the hospital. A bit of well-timed electricity and I've been good to go ever since. Clotting in the stent was very unusual according to the doc and the rest of my arteries were fine. Still riding full tilt but I'll probably be on Plavix for the duration. The vast majority go off it after a year I'm told.

I'm another in the poor genetics camp. My father died of a h/a at 56 while playing softball. I'm 58 so I feel like I'm ahead of the game!

DiabloScott

Heart attack talk scares me more than most medical stuff... I don't have any advice, but I could only hope to be as positive and calm as @jlstrat if it ever happens to me.

Huzzah!

I seem to have inherited a pretty good heart - had an ECG awhile back that was pretty boring... a little regurgitation and a little calcification.

mirfi

When I was 50(11 years ago), told my family doc I wanted a colonoscopy and a stress test. Three days after the stress test I had a 5-way. Found out later, both my fraternal grandparents died at 48 of heart attacks. Was in great shape which helped the recovery.

qcpmsame 

Glad that it was you, @jlstrat, posting the news, and not a loved one or friend passing along some terrible notification. Kudos for getting in right away and getting things taken care of, my father was taken in 1976, by an MI, he apparently had a previous one and had hidden it from us. Seems bad tickers run on my fraternal side of our family, GF at 51, uncle had his first at 40, and my father at 49. I had an echocardiogram last month and plan to get further checked out due to some afib episodes starting up recently. Listen to the doctors and therapist, but give it your best so we can read your updates with happiness.

Bill

bobwysiwyg

Like others, glad you are OK.

Apparently, 20% of fatal heart attack victims have no prior warning according to my cardiologist. I might have been one. Never had symptom one, no discomfort, tightness of the chest, etc. My resting heart rate is 40-45.

Broke my leg. Prior to the surgery to repair it they did a nuclear scan of the old ticker, probably because of my age. Found two arteries partially blocked. One too small and positioned such it couldn't be addressed. The other suggested I better have follow-up after returning home, which I did. Net result, a stent. The broken leg and recovery were not my best days but have come to think of it as a lucky "break."

ModeratedUser17082018

Glad you got thru this. Scary as I found out.

The cardio recovery class I went thru was excellent and included lots more than walking a treadmill. I highly recommend the cardio recovery class.

What I learned is that most heart issues can be repaired . As one doc said "it's either plumbing or electrical, and we can fix both easily." I know a bypass is not "easily" done but getting a stent is about as hard as getting a flu shot.

My real and only point is this: if you suspect you're having heart issues go get it fixed.

To the OP - best wishes for a speedy recovery. They (recoveries) happen every day, so be optimistic.

Fredster

I had a heart attack a few years ago while out for a bike ride, 99% blockage in RCA. I had been very active and I had no prior signs although I was on statin drugs for quite some time before for high cholesterol. I ended up with a couple of stents and a bunch of new medications. It took me a while to get back to the activities I was used to and I definitely don't push as hard as I use to.

kbarj

In 2008, at 52 years of age with a total cholesterol level of 164, I had a heart attack due to a major blockage of the LAD. Only one blockage (so one stent), and like you I was told there was nothing I could have done about it. I have been on statins since then (finally settled in on Crestor as it had the fewest side effects for me). At my last stress test they told me I was in average cardiovascular shape - for a 28 year old. I have been doing hiking, biking, and Brazilian Jiu Jistsu. You're going to tear it up. The limitations my cardiologist gave me were no long-lasting high intensity workouts and no body building (because of potential high blood pressure issues).

jlstrat

So glad I posted here. I knew others would have similar experiences. The indications I got from the hospital staff and cardiologist were 1) my heart attack would have been worse if I hadn't ridden and 2) my recovery will be quicker. I hope I will be back to my old riding form (such as it was) by next Spring. I had already made some changes because of age, enjoyment and increases in local traffic. No riding in ice, no riding in rain below 50 degrees F, and so on. I also intend to be less miles driven. If I have yard work and deadline on an article, it's ok to skip a day and do my work. Maybe a 45 minute gap opens in the afternoon and I can just take an enjoyable ride. I've done 5500 to 6000 miles for more than 10 years and the last year felt like work, maybe because my heart was getting weaker. Anyway, your stories help. Mornings are tough, but the sadness lifts as the day wears on.

Dave Cutter

Glad you came through OK.

Some things never change. I remember my Dad went into denial almost immediately after his release from the hospital. But lived more than a decade after that.... and died from a completely unrelated illness. My brother dropped dead from a heart attack a couple years ago. Everyone saw it coming... everyone, but him.

We are bio-mechanical machines... and mortal beings. We breakdown and we die. Exercise, lifestyle, diet.... nothing can change that. Enjoy yourself.......follow doctors recommendations, get well.

flan48

Best wishes for a easy and successful recovery.

Best regards
Barry, 71, New Jersey

jlstrat

Just to let you know, I had some dull pain in the middle of my back for at least a week to ten days leading up to the heart attack. No other warning signs except some fatigue, which I attributed to age. If I have other things to report I will. When I awoke last Wednesday, I had a stabbing pain in my chest that shot through to my back in the spot that had been hurting, but this was much more intense. After some minutes, I told my wife to take me to urgent care. Then I became nauseated and I said we needed to get to the ER. The hospital said always call an ambulance when you have what you think is a heart attack. The EMTs will get you stable in order to minimize damage.

pdlamb

Just a quick follow-up; it's a good idea to find out which hospital(s) in your area have the best cardiac team in advance. I've heard some horror tales, such as the hospital that kept a patient with an MI for two days and then released her, claiming she had indigestion. (Next time the pain hit she had her husband bring her to a better hospital.) The hospital that does open-heart surgery is a good guess, they should know how to handle an incoming patient in the ER.

Classtime 

Finally, diet is mentioned. I'm also glad all is well, but after a scare like that, I would look into a change of eating habits. (Of course you could be a vegan following a whole food plant based diet for the last 30 years. Are you?)Are you?
Jeff