A couple of weeks ago, I got started with posting some stupid things that I have done in regards to health over my lifetime. I got a little sidetracked, business got busy, and I did not get back to it. So, I apologize for the delay, but let’s get going again!
Starting in 1993, and until 2016, I was stupid. I was stupid at heart. I was stupid about my heart.
You see, my father passed away at the age of 55, and that happened in 1993. One morning, he was taking a shower, preparing for a business trip, when he stepped out of the shower, he immediately passed over from a heart attack, and was gone. It happened in an instant.
In many ways, my health has followed the pattern of my father. It seems that his genes have really passed to me. Many of our health ailments have been mutual. When my father had a heart attack and died suddenly (with no previous symptoms, and after having recently passed a stress test), I thought to myself that I better have my heart checked in case I had such problems. However, I thought I was too young at that time, I was 31, so I figured that maybe in 10 years or so I would go have some tests done.
Well, those thoughts remained in my mind, but I never went and had my heart checked out. Over the years, just by listening through their stethoscope, many doctors have told me that my heart sounded good. When I heard that, I didn’t worry much about my heart health. Well, that is kind of stupid itself, because how much information can a doctor really tell by just listening to your heartbeat? I guess it would be easy to miss things that way.
In 2016, I was 54 years old, and the thought was really on my mind about the fact that my father had died at age 55. Still, I didn’t feel any kind of chest pains or anything around my heart, so I figured everything was okay. I did not go in for any kind of testing. In June of that year, I had a heart attack, and in November I had a quadruple bypass. I nearly died by the time I had the bypass. Going in for the operation, everybody tells you that you must be positive, and I told them I was positive about it, but in the back of my mind, I did not think I would live through it.
When I woke up after the surgery, the first thought that came to my mind was “I thought I was going to have heart surgery?” After a couple of minutes, I realized that I was in the recovery room with my surgery complete. It surprised me that I woke up from that, but made me feel very happy as well. I made it through what I had been calling “the King of surgeries.”
If you’ve been reading this website, you know that I have been doing very well with my heart health in the past year and a half or so, after the surgery. I have made very large changes in my lifestyle, and my heart has been thankful for that. But, I cannot deny that I did a lot of stupid things leading up to that time.
So, as you can see, this is another stupid thing that I did. Even though I knew that I was at risk because of hereditary reasons, I did nothing about it. Thankfully, I have come to my senses, though, and I am vigilant about my heart health now. I hope that you are as well.
