It was April Fools’ Day, so when following a stress test my cardiologist, Dr.
Matthew O’Steen, said I had a “silent heart attack” sometime in the past couple
of years I sat staring at him in awkward silence waiting for the punch line. This
is not exactly what a newly married (15-days earlier on St.
Patrick’s Day) man wants to hear. When there was no punch line he went on to
tell me the stress test revealed this event but he could
not put a date or time on it. My mind went back to several incidents over the
past couple of years, any one of which could have been a silent heart attack
and not just TIAs (transient ischemic attacks) as diagnosed at the time. Our discussion went on from there and we agreed
that in eighteen days he would do a heart catherization and probably put in a
stent. He did this by inserting a catheter through an artery on the underside of my right arm just above the wrist. In the aftermath
I began to feel much better than I had in a long time. He subsequently told me my left anterior
descending coronary artery (LAD) was about 80 percent blocked and this is what he opened and where he inserted the stent. About six months ago I had cut back my daily walk
from approximately three miles to two miles. I found myself needing a lot of
post exercise rest, including lying down on some days. Even the reduced
distance was tiring on many days and I looked for excuses to take a break. At
the time I attributed this new feeling to just getting older. Now I know
different. My daily two mile walks have resumed and I tolerate them with ease.
We may have some other work to do down the line (a second artery has a 70
percent blockage) but for now everything is looking much better. It is a good feeling.
