[Heineken77]

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!

 

[Magnettica]

I'm a doctor, I advertise on Craig's List, he'll be fine. I sure hope for your father's sake he quit smoking and the heavy drinking. Did he?

 

[Heineken77]

LOL

Yeah thank god he quit smoking & drinking. Has not had a single drop of alcohol or a cigarette since February. He also has started a heart healthy diet as recommended by his physician and has been doing very well with that as well.

 

[woodchuck2]

Both my father and my step father had heart attacks that were fatal, 2 of my uncles on my fathers side of the family both had heart attacks too. One was fatal and the other uncle had several by-passes over a 25yr period. Another close friend of mine had a mild heart attack but survived, he was also a close friend of my fathers. When he had his heart attack he said it felt like all his viens got real hot and that he felt like he was on fire. He had a stint put in and has been great since and he is now pushing 60 yrs of age. He no longer drinks but still smokes, he works just as hard if not harder than anyone i know and i constantly have to ride him to slow down and stop bulling. He has a really bad back but even that doesnt stop him. He has told me that he isnt afraid to die and already knows what it is like to have a heart attack. He feels he has had a good life and is going to enjoy life to the fullest until he drops. He has had this attitude now for 11yrs and the docs still give him a good bill of health.

 

[jumbo]

My pop's 67 years old. He had the same aneurism as your dad does. His got large enough for repair last fall, when he was getting pre-op testing done they found heart blockages. So he ended up also having a triple by-pass done.
3 months later he was back to cutting wood like the bull head he is. He say's he feels better now than he has for the last ten years.
I hope you have your dad around for many more years.

 

[Tom Struble]

good luck to both of your dads

they sound like real men of iron:notworthy

 

[Heineken77]

hey guys, thank you very much for your replies guys. I too hope your father will be ok Jumbo. I'm really hoping my Dad will be around for many many more years to come. He's just like how my Grandfather was, work work and more work.

Thanks again for the insight

 

[ampman]

Both my father and my step father had heart attacks that were fatal, 2 of my uncles on my fathers side of the family both had heart attacks too. One was fatal and the other uncle had several by-passes over a 25yr period. Another close friend of mine had a mild heart attack but survived, he was also a close friend of my fathers. When he had his heart attack he said it felt like all his viens got real hot and that he felt like he was on fire. He had a stint put in and has been great since and he is now pushing 60 yrs of age. He no longer drinks but still smokes, he works just as hard if not harder than anyone i know and i constantly have to ride him to slow down and stop bulling. He has a really bad back but even that doesnt stop him. He has told me that he isnt afraid to die and already knows what it is like to have a heart attack. He feels he has had a good life and is going to enjoy life to the fullest until he drops. He has had this attitude now for 11yrs and the docs still give him a good bill of health.

i hope you go and get check ups alot of this can be helped

 

[woodchuck2]

I got real nervous several yrs ago when i was still working Corrections. I was working alot of double shifts, working on the side for myself, cutting firewood for my mother and dealing with the typical family issues of 3 teenagers at home so needless to say i was under stress. It got to the point i was having severe chest pains, alot of muscle aches, migranes and shortness of breath so i finally went to the Docs. Well, they found i was dehydrated from all the wood cutting and due for a stress test. I thought i was going to die from that damn stress test :blink:. I passed OK but i am due again next year. Since then i quit that job and now work for myself, i have been hiring help with some of the wood cutting, my son has moved back to Ohio to be with his mother and the other 2 kids are rarely ever home anymore. Alot less stress now, no more chest pain, far fewer migranes and a general overall better attitude. Now i just need to make more time for exercising and do a little better with my diet. Thanks.

 

[rservices]

I've been recently diagnosed with a high blockage in my carotid artery, I'm having the testing done before they schedule the surgery (carotid endarterectomy). It's where they cut open your artery (neck) and clean it out. My wife thinks I should be freaking but I'm not (just a plumbing job Call Roto-rooter).

The funny thing is that I'm a pretty healthy guy(50years), great blood pressure, average weight, smoking (15 years), no history of heart disease .

I lost my glasses back in april, and when I went to the eye glass dude I mentioned these floaters I would see in my right eye, and he suggested I get my cholesterol checked.

Well in a short time I've had an MRI, CAT scan, and an ultrasound. They found a 90% blockage.

From what I've read most people don't recognize that vision changes can often have more to do with your blood flow and not changes in your vision.

So I guess the moral of this story is "If you need glasses have your cholesterol checked"

 

[jumbo]

I've been recently diagnosed with a high blockage in my carotid artery, I'm having the testing done before they schedule the surgery (carotid endarterectomy). It's where they cut open your artery (neck) and clean it out. My wife thinks I should be freaking but I'm not (just a plumbing job Call Roto-rooter).

The funny thing is that I'm a pretty healthy guy(50years), great blood pressure, average weight, smoking (15 years), no history of heart disease .

I lost my glasses back in april, and when I went to the eye glass dude I mentioned these floaters I would see in my right eye, and he suggested I get my cholesterol checked.

Well in a short time I've had an MRI, CAT scan, and an ultrasound. They found a 90% blockage.

From what I've read most people don't recognize that vision changes can often have more to do with your blood flow and not changes in your vision.

So I guess the moral of this story is "If you need glasses have your cholesterol checked"

That's great info. Best of luck, my friend.

 

[TimNJ]

My brotherinlaw had a heart attack in May. he is 58. He cold turkey quit smoking and drinking after 40 years of both. They put a stent in and told him no lifting over 10 lbs not because he might have a heart attack again, but because the stent has to seat it self and let the artery's walls grow around it to hold it in place. If he did something and the stent moved down the line it could kill him.


rservice, fyi, I was in the hospital for what they think was a TIA in 2006. They did a ton of MRI's, MRA's, ultrasounds, etc. They told me my carotid artey was 90% blocked and the surgeon would be in to talk to me the next day. well after the surgeon looks at my MRI he notices that the "blockage" was in fact an anamoly in the MRI that he said can be caused by electric spike or static (laymans terms) from the MRI machine and that in fact wasn't a blockage. You may want another MRI done at another facility just to confirm your first result.