Life or death....Please read this for your sake

[Barq's]

Guys...
I'm sorry I haven't posted in awhile but I have been having some major health issues lately. I'm 43 and I had a surgeon tell me yesterday that I had a heart condition that could have killed me. I've been in and out of the hospital for over 2 months trying to find out why I couldn't breathe. I had a couple of episodes where I had to get out of bed and leave the room, gasping for air, so that I wouldn't alarm my Wife...There were also a couple of times where I was in so much pain that I actually had my phone in my hand ready to call for an ambulance, but the pain would subside and I would go about my business.

What I thought was an issue with my lungs due to being a fireman and smoking for 15+years was actually heart blockages in the famed "widow maker" part of the heart.

I passed every test that was given to me and I was given just about everything that they could do heart wise and lung wise....Everything except the actual heart cath.

It wasn't until I was on the operating table that they found that I had 3 blockages. One of the 3 could have killed me. The 3 were all between 80-90% blocked and the doc told me that it wasn't a question of "if" I would have had a heart attack, the question was when....He told me that had I had this heart attack that I likely would have died.

Now, I have pills that I have to take daily to stay alive and I will be living with a condition that will change and has already begun changing my lifestyle.

Heart disease is no joke. It's sad to say that I had to fight with doctors that something was wrong with me when all the tests showed that I was just possibly mistaking my issues (mental)....I even doubted myself at times, but I knew that something wasn't right.

I've been real emotional since waking up to find out this news and I've looked at my children differently knowing that I could have just fallen out and left them without their father.

I'm going to ask all of you that read this to consider getting blood work done to check your cholesterol and other levels....I'm going to ask you to ask yourself if you are living healthy for not just you, but your family and mainly your kids, if you have any. I'm asking you to talk to your family and ask if anyone has heart disease in the family....if so, get yourself checked and if something doesn't feel "right"....Fight to find out what is wrong, even if it means getting on the table like me. The same doctor that chewed me out for being 43 and having the condition I had, apologized and told me that it was a miracle that he performed the procedure he felt was a waste of money because it probably saved my life. He was shocked and visibly shaken when he spoke to me and my wife after the procedure. I fully understand his feelings as all of the tests prior had shown that I had less than 1% of a chance to suffer a heart attack in the following year.....I probably was one cripple chase away from falling dead in a field in the delta mud....

My heart disease is mainly genetic but what I eat and the amounts of food I ate are done as of the time I woke up. The exercise that I could never find time for is now going to be a priority. Though I quit smoking months ago, I assure you that I'll never smoke another one.

I love my family enough to do what I need to do to ensure them that I will be here on this earth for as long as the Lord needs me, but I'm not going to check out prior to that time due to my negligence.

Take care of yourself and question the family about health issues....get some testing done to establish base lines even if you're only 20 years old...find out how your body is doing and listen to it.
I hate to say it, but test after test, I was hoping for someone to tell me that they had found out what was wrong so that I could stop stressing and address the underlying issue....My "issue" was a certified "widow maker" and by the grace of God, I was saved.

If you think that it isn't important, consider how many members of ducksouth have died over the years....we are a small group of friends that are effected by "life" and "lifestyles"...I very well could have been the next one to go and it's a Godsend that I wasn't.

A cardiologist just said that "when we talk about your heart, we really are talking about your life"....He hit the nail on the head with that statement.
I sat on the edge of my bed last night reading the fine print on my brown bag of meds that I must take daily to continue to live and I must say that for once in my life, I have an honest to goodness fear of death. My life truly depends on what I put into my body; good and bad and so does yours, whether you realize it or not....
Wake up to life....
Get tested and take care of yourself because whether you know it or not, if I have to read about it on here that you passed away, it would hurt me....I care about you guys even though I've never actually met most of you. You matter to me, so imagine how much you mean to your family....
Barq's

[dukbum]

Glad you still here sure makes me wanna get checked with my 40th coming up

[merlebo05]

I have started living a much healthier lifestyle/exercising 4-5 days a week losing 60 lbs, and my number one motivation was/is my children!!

[cwink]

Man that is scary.. Been working out and eating better now for a few years. Definitely helps and getting regular checkups. Glad you are on track to getting better.

[edub20]

Scary stuff man. Sounds like the man up stairs was watching out for you and giving you a heads up. Glad you acknowledged it and got it all figured out before something bad happened.

[GET-N-RITE]

Good post bub and glad everything worked out. Prayers are with you for a full recovery. Also nobody really ever thinks about death or at least I don't until it (death) is closer to you than you might think.

[medic11]

Damn it boy, that's scary. Especially since you're still active in the Air Force, it'd be different if you were a couch potato. Glad they found it.

[Barq's]

yea....AF surgeon was shocked. Told me my days of going overseas are over. I never thought taking a pill would be life or death but that's what I am faced with. I was also told that if I get cut bad cleaning fish, etc. that I better go straight to the nearest ER because of the meds. My days of hunting or fishing by myself are over.

I am now wondering what a Medical Board is going to say about even staying in. I'm faced with a bunch of new "what if's"....My mother and I were talking and she told me that she was scared to have a cath done....I told her that she should be worried about death. The worst part of the whole procedure is getting the IV and having to show your "goods" to a nurse every 15 minutes after the procedure...

I have felt better since I "woke" up after the procedure and the doc said I would continue to feel better daily....that's a hell of a lot better than falling out doa.

[1010]

Glad you're ok man!

[4dawgma]

Glad you caught it in time. Thinking about getting checked myself.....trying to put down the smokes. And my nuts have been itching like crazy lately. is this normal for rankin county? My girlfriend said it was because yall got "hard water"??? Please advise....




























haha, Seriously, get yourself checked out. Everyday is a gift.

[mudsucker]

My fat booty better go get checked out! Glad they found out your problem!

[Wildfowler]

At least you had some symptoms that you recognize and didn't ignore. My wife had a heart attack last summer. The widow maker as you said.

My wife symptoms were not recognized by her as heart issue. Her main symptom was heart burn.

[Barq's]

my #1 symptom was chest pressure in the form of just being winded from even walking across a parking lot and also having trouble breathing while laying down. It felt like my chest had weight on it. I smoked for 15+ years, was a paid fireman for years, and did a lot of construction/remodeling work with asbestos so my main thought was that it was lung related (cancer/copd/asthma).

I had catscans, ultrasounds (heart and carotid), mri's, and stress test and all came back normal....The only way they caught it was to go in and do the heart cath.

My family history was the best indicator, along with my cholesterol level, but it was a key Nurse Practioner that reviewed my test results and cared enough to push the issue....it was her begging the surgeon just to put me on the table that quite possibly saved my life.

My hunting buddy and best friend stopped by yesterday and he said that he knew something was wrong with the last 200yd pintail retrieve I went on....I remembered getting back to the bank and telling him that I couldn't do another one of those or it would kill me.

Anyway....my life changed on March 11th and I know depend on pills to keep me alive. My eating lifestyle changed immediately and the upcoming days, weeks, months will show a physical change in me that I have never seen.

I'm 220lbs and 5'10" (haven't been able to do anything really since I had rotator cuff surgery back at thanksgiving) but all that is going to change.

I'm vowing to get down to 180 and my priorities to live are now staying right with the Lord mixed with extreme diet and exercise.

I tell ya'll its hard to comprehend that the pills I take are mandatory to keep me alive....I can honestly say that I'm scared for the first time in my life that something has my life in real jeopardy.
Get checked and listen to you body...
Barq's

[marty lee]

Glad you found it out in time brother. i survived the widow maker in 2010 at 48 years old. Doc said if i had been even 10 minutes away from the hospital i would have died. i actually suffred my heart attack while in the ER waiting room. they worked on me in the floor of the ER because i had coded right there! i am thankful and blessed to be alive today and will say GOD is good and in control. oh and yeah i take 6 pills every day 3 at night 3 in the morning

[khound22]

Thanks for posting this, might just save a life