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17 Posts
Hello Everyone,
Just wondering if I could get any advice from anyone who may have experienced a heart attack or know someone that has that were involved in a trade.
My Dad is currently 55 years old. He has been a pretty heavy smoker and has drank his share of alcohol over the course of his life. For the last few years he has been on high blood pressure medication.
At the beginning of the year he was diagnosed with gout (which is like a painful buildup of crystals in his foot). His doctor prescribed him an anti-inflamatory drug that he took in February of this year. When he took the drug, he started having a serious anxiety attack. We took him to the hospital, and later found out that it was actually a mild heart attack. Supposedly anti-inflamatory drugs can increase blood pressure.
A few days after his heart attack there was a 60% blockage found in one of his arteries, and a 30% blockage in another artery. The doctors did an angioplasty and inserted a stent into his artery in order to open it up.
During his recovery and follow up checkups with the doctors, they found trace blood in his urine. This supposedly could be caused from a stone he has in his kidney. However while they did the ultrasound, they found that his abdominal aorta was wider than normal. This is known as an abdominal aortic aneurysm. When this artery grows to about 5.5cm in diameter they recommend doing surgery because if this artery ruptures the odds of survival are very minimal.
Finally today we got a bit of good news. They did another test in order to get a more precise measurement of his aorta (which was previously said to be 5.3cm in diameter)...and the test results came back stating that it was actually only 4.5cm in diameter. So the cardiologist said that he did not need surgery at the moment, and that they would continue to monitor it every 6 months to ensure that it has not gotten larger.
Now, with all this said, my Dad works as a sub-contractor installing/repairing garage doors for apartment buildings & warehouses. He does some welding, fencing and various other jobs such as exaust fan repairs etc.
When he had the heart attack, there was a period where he was not suppose to lift anything above 10 lbs. Now that he is 7 months into recovery, and with the news of the width of his aorta, he asked the cardiologist if lifting weight would affect his aneurysm, and the doctor said that he did not have to worry about that, the heart would give out before the aortic aneurysm ruptured. There is also no visible damage to the heart that can be seen as a result of his heart attack back in February.
With all this said, I know how my Dad is. He pushes himself very hard, and works alone on the job the majority of the time unless it's a super big job he may have a helper or two. Does anyone know of people who have had a heart attack, or anyone in a similar situation as my Dad is in, that have went back to the job and were OK? I know there are probably no doctors in here, but I'd just like to hear a bit from some of you because my Dad is super stubborn, and I don't want him to put himself at risk by interpreting what the doctors tell him in a way that he does too much before it's too late.
Thanks for listening!
Just wondering if I could get any advice from anyone who may have experienced a heart attack or know someone that has that were involved in a trade.
My Dad is currently 55 years old. He has been a pretty heavy smoker and has drank his share of alcohol over the course of his life. For the last few years he has been on high blood pressure medication.
At the beginning of the year he was diagnosed with gout (which is like a painful buildup of crystals in his foot). His doctor prescribed him an anti-inflamatory drug that he took in February of this year. When he took the drug, he started having a serious anxiety attack. We took him to the hospital, and later found out that it was actually a mild heart attack. Supposedly anti-inflamatory drugs can increase blood pressure.
A few days after his heart attack there was a 60% blockage found in one of his arteries, and a 30% blockage in another artery. The doctors did an angioplasty and inserted a stent into his artery in order to open it up.
During his recovery and follow up checkups with the doctors, they found trace blood in his urine. This supposedly could be caused from a stone he has in his kidney. However while they did the ultrasound, they found that his abdominal aorta was wider than normal. This is known as an abdominal aortic aneurysm. When this artery grows to about 5.5cm in diameter they recommend doing surgery because if this artery ruptures the odds of survival are very minimal.
Finally today we got a bit of good news. They did another test in order to get a more precise measurement of his aorta (which was previously said to be 5.3cm in diameter)...and the test results came back stating that it was actually only 4.5cm in diameter. So the cardiologist said that he did not need surgery at the moment, and that they would continue to monitor it every 6 months to ensure that it has not gotten larger.
Now, with all this said, my Dad works as a sub-contractor installing/repairing garage doors for apartment buildings & warehouses. He does some welding, fencing and various other jobs such as exaust fan repairs etc.
When he had the heart attack, there was a period where he was not suppose to lift anything above 10 lbs. Now that he is 7 months into recovery, and with the news of the width of his aorta, he asked the cardiologist if lifting weight would affect his aneurysm, and the doctor said that he did not have to worry about that, the heart would give out before the aortic aneurysm ruptured. There is also no visible damage to the heart that can be seen as a result of his heart attack back in February.
With all this said, I know how my Dad is. He pushes himself very hard, and works alone on the job the majority of the time unless it's a super big job he may have a helper or two. Does anyone know of people who have had a heart attack, or anyone in a similar situation as my Dad is in, that have went back to the job and were OK? I know there are probably no doctors in here, but I'd just like to hear a bit from some of you because my Dad is super stubborn, and I don't want him to put himself at risk by interpreting what the doctors tell him in a way that he does too much before it's too late.
Thanks for listening!