Topic: Discovered motivation to stop smoking & eat right.

[oldfordguy]

I would like to encourage all you guys out there who smoke to stop, and all of you to eat healthy.  I've been trying to do this for several years without a lot of luck, but found something that has really motivated me to do it.  Last Wednesday morning, the oldfordguy ended up in the emergency room with chest pains, had a massive heart attack (just another of many that I never realized I had had before.)  They placed 3 stents in the arterys of my heart in an emergency angioplasty procedure that saved my life.  I finally got to come home yesterday, with a new "HondaMan" style ignition system (an automatic diffibrillator and pace maker) in my chest.  I haven't had a smoke for a week now (and I don't miss them) and I'm counting every bit of sodium and cholesterol that I consume.  The scariest part for me was that they told me I could no longer run a chainsaw, welder, work on ignition systems, etc.  I was worried I couldn't ride the bikes, but the doc said that should be ok (after I recover, he's not even letting me drive for 6 weeks.)  Thank God my wife is an excellent welder (but I will miss getting to do it!) 
Well, that's about as long as I can stand to set in front of the computer for now.  Just wanted to let you guys know how much I wish I had payed better attention to my health before now.  Don't let it get you.  I'm only 43!

[fuzzybutt]

i got the same sort of wake up call thanksgiving week whne i was hospitalized with chest pains, a BP of 205 over 145 (or something like that) and a weight of 404 pounds. i've never smoked though and never will as those things killed my father in 2003. glad youre ok though.

[firecracker]

Glad to hear you survived it.  I stopped smoking 14 years ago and feel (and smell) much better for it.

Now in training for a marathon.  Anything is possible!

[750goes]

I had my wake up call in July 2000, heart attack, high BP, high cholesterol, smoker (pack a day), drinker (1 slab per week), womaniser (got married - cured that), not overweight - age 46 - and I thought pretty healthy - played competitive sport twice a week, umpired softball on Saturdays, coached and trained two local teams, ran in a local triathlon every year, and watched my diet pretty closely as well....

I finished up with a triple bypass, and I feel the same now as I did then... maybe I was unlucky ??

unfortunately it is in your genes - or some of it is...

get back on the treadmill and keep at it - exercise that heart muscle - 

[tramp]

glad all of you made it
remember what got you there

[Gordon]

Glad you're still around! 

I never officially quit smoking, but my best friend and my wife both quit about ten months ago (my best friend quit for health reasons, and my wife quit because she was pregnant with our son).  They were the only people I ever really smoked with, so with no more partners in crime, I just kind of stopped, too.     

[Rocking-M]

OldFord, glad your ok. I was walking a fellows timber with him last year and noticed
he was really having a hard go of it. He had the pacemaker put in the next day.
They told him not to run the chainsaw too, he was running it again in a couple of weeks.
Welding however might fry your pacemaker

Take care!

[Sam Green Racing]

Youngfordguy, glad you and the others pulled through it, youv'e made me think.

Sam.

[333]

Much like everyone else, I'm glad you're gonna pull through.  But some questions;  No chainsaws?  Is it because of the proximity to the ignition system?  I understand the welding thing, although you could still do it the old fashioned way-gas.

[medic09]

Wow!  I am truly glad to hear you guys all pulled through!

Things like smoking, weight, blood sugar, activity (lack of) are what we call in the business 'modifiable risk factors'.  You can't change your genes (though you can change your jeans), but you can change what is most likely to tick 'em off!  And we definately do see people live many, many years after a heart attack if they improve the conditions that they can control.

We want you guys around for a long time to come, to keep contributing your annoying comments!    Take care of your physical, mental, and spiritual health!

[Uncle Ernie]

Talk like this makes me want a big slice of chocolate layer cake and a cigarette. 

How do you guys deal with stress?

[Uncle Ernie]

Youngfordguy, glad you and the others pulled through it, youv'e made me think.

Sam.

Yow- THAT's gotta hurt!











 

[oldfordguy]

Much like everyone else, I'm glad you're gonna pull through.  But some questions;  No chainsaws?  Is it because of the proximity to the ignition system?  I understand the welding thing, although you could still do it the old fashioned way-gas.

Yeah, from what I understand it is because your hands are close to both ends of the ignition system which forms a electrical path through the heart (and pacemaker/defib unit.)  As long as I can keep the pacemaker shielded from the high voltage, I guess it will be ok.

Thanks for all the support, guys. They are telling me I have about 15% heart function left, and aren't sure if much more will come back with physical therapy or not.  That's why they went ahead and put in the "electronics."   I plan, however, to work at it for the rest of my life to get whatever function back I can, because I have a five year old son who loves the same things my wife and I do (outdoors, hunting, fishing, camping, bikes, cars, racing, etc..) and I don't want his experience to be less than possible just because I made poor decisions in my life. 

Right now, walking up one flight of stairs to the bedroom is about the extent of the physical activity I can handle, but I don't need to really do that because I can't sleep in the bed anyway.  I have my left arm imobilized while the incision for the pacemaker and wires heals, and the only place I have been able to catch a few winks is in my recliner.

[DammitDan]

oldfordguy,

I'm glad you're getting healthy and you survived your ordeal.  As I understand it, the heart has a tendency to try and heal itself, and living healthy with diet and especially exercise can increase that healing ability exponentially.

My dad's friend ran marathons with him for years, went in with chest pains one day and ended up with a quadruple bypass.  Turns out the marathons had forced the heart to grow blood vessels around the blockages, and that's what was keeping him alive.  Absolutely amazing.

I went in for my physical a few months ago, and the doc told me I had alarmingly high cholesterol and blood pressure (and I'm only 24 ).  He told me that I weighed 255 at 6'1, and said if I didn't start living healthier I would develop serious health problems down the road.  After getting the #$%* scared out of me, I started running and lifting weights and counting calories.  I've lost over 35 lbs and haven't felt this good since my PT days in college ROTC.  It's amazing what dropping a couple sacks of potatoes from your body weight does for your energy levels.  My stomach is actually getting flat again 

So there is definitely good things to be said for exercise and diet...  It's a pain in the ass to get healthy, but once you get  there your energy levels shoot through the roof and you just feel GOOD.  You'll get there man, and you'll see 

[Uncle Ernie]

I am unoquivically convinced that the power of the mind trumps almost anything the doctor says.  I have surprised doctors more than once.