You Gotta Have Heart

It’s been four months ago now. 

I had a heart attack, August 27th. 

About 3:00 am. 

 Yep. Surprised me, too. 

 I mean, I’d been living a fairly healthy lifestyle for almost 15 years and had been eating far healthier since marrying MB in 2001. 

 I’ve been exercising in the form of cycling since 2012, go to the gym on an irregular basis, too. 

Turns out, you can’t outrun your genes. 

 My paternal grandfather, George Sylvester Keller, had six or seven heart attacks in his 60s and the last one killed him. 

 My father, Earl Webster Keller, was diagnosed with heart disease when he was 85. That’s not what killed him, though. Colon cancer is what got him but he did have a weak heart that he ignored. Guy still went to the gym three times a week until the cancer took him down. 

 My turn came in the middle of the night when I woke up with a racing heartbeat and heavy sweating, like I’d just finished a long climb on the bike. 

At first, I thought I’d had a nightmare or had finally suffered the anxiety attack I’d never had. I managed to go back to sleep, fitfully, and then got up around 6:00. I was drinking coffee when MB came into the den and asked if I was okay. I told her what had happened and we did the first thing that comes to mind these days; I took a Covid test. 

Negative result. 

 I then took my BP and it was elevated slightly. I felt tired which made sense having climbed Mt. Ventoux in my sleep. Told her I’d eat breakfast and take a shower but thought maybe going to the doctor was a good idea. (That really scared her as I don’t do that.) 

We eventually ended up in the ER where they ran me thru a series of tests and determined that my heart had had an “insult.” (My cardiologist is a funny guy.) I told him that was probably my liver flipping it off. (He laughed at that.) 

 (Side note – I’ve never gotten into the ER so quickly. If you want to see quick service, go into the ER complaining of possible heart issues when you’re an older male. I was in a small room with three nurses working on me in less than 2 minutes. MB wondered what had happened to me, I was gone so fast.)

Anyway, after two days of tests and two nights in the hospital, I ended up with a heart catheterization, a balloon angioplasty on my right coronary artery (99% blockage) and a stent. 

The good news – my cardiologist tells me I suffered no long-term damage to the heart muscle and that I’ll recover fully. 

The bad news – it’s going to take a little while. I’ve already had 3 months of cardiac PT and am taking a bunch of prescription medications with various side effects. But if that’s the worst of it, to stick around for another 25 years or so, I’m good with that. 

Here’s a recommendation for you. If you’re a male with a history of heart disease in your family, take the time to get a physical regularly especially if you’re over 40. And for goodness’ sake, exercise. Even regular walking will give your heart the boost it needs. 

Final note – as I was being released from the hospital, the doctor was walking through various things. MB mentioned that I liked bourbon and was a collector and how would this affect that. He said, “bourbon, in moderation, is not contra-indicated.” 

Now, that’s good news!

Odds and Ends

Take a road untraveled

Two weekends ago, I took a new route on my bike in an effort to expand my riding range and to continue to challenge myself. 

I took off Sunday morning, a beautiful day, and headed away from home on a country road that I travel by car several times a week.  It’s always interesting to me how roads that seem flat while traveling by car become painful hills when attacked with two skinny tires.

It was early so the first five or six miles passed in relative quiet.  I heard a dog barking off in the distance. A flock of geese took off from a pond as I went past and spent their first thirty seconds trying to get airborne while honking loudly.  Does the honking help?  Is it similar to my gasping loudly when I’m about halfway up a small climb and running out of breath? Or is it more like the sound I make when I finally crest that hill and head down the other side, thrilled that I don’t have to pedal for a little while and can just enjoy the gravity while I try to reduce the wind resistance?  If I could fly, I’m thinking it would be from the sheer joy of breaking the bonds of earth.

I took the last turn into the little village of Montpelier and started through town, past the library and the baseball field.  Now I was heading onto a stretch of two lane blacktop where the speed limit nudges fifty five and I hoped that the shoulder remained as wide as I remembered for as long as I remembered.  I needed about four miles until I could get off this road and make a turn to a more residential route.  I made sure my blinking red light under my butt was on and continued to turn the cranks.

Ten minutes of so up the road, I spied a couple of vehicles in my mirror coming from behind.  I double checked the shoulder (looking good) and stayed in the center of its three feet of safety.  As the truck and car approached, I heard their speed drop and they both swung out into the middle of the road to afford me a wide berth.  I raised my hand in thanks as they rolled past and both drivers waved.  

I love being out in the country, sometimes.

No other cars passed as I made my way to the turnoff and continued this, for me, new route.  It was totally new to me as I couldn’t remember ever driving on it but My Bride had suggested the loop and she knows what I like to ride.  I continued to the stop sign signaling the end of this road, next to the parking lot of the road’s namesake, Hopeful Baptist Church. 

We have a lot of roads named for churches around here and in every case, the church is still there.  Most have a founding date in the late 18^th or early 19^th centuries so you know the roads are old and winding.  And rolling, too.  At one point, I had found myself enjoying a series of rollers going ever downhill but then I saw the pond and knew that the hills were about to go the other way.  Sure enough, around a gentle bend, the next series of rollers headed uphill. Steeply.  Dammit.

I took a quick break in the church parking lot, drank some water and ate a Honey Stinger Waffle for some energy.  These are so good, you could eat them like candy; I limit myself to eating them on bike rides in excess of two hours to control the addiction.  It's working so far.

I saddled up and headed off.  The ride continued on, eventually winding up on a road that I frequently ride but in the opposite direction.  When you’ve never gone that direction before, it feels weird.  I didn’t recall it being downhill the other way, so why is it uphill now?  Gravity messes with you, a lot, when you’re on a bike.

I passed my house and continued on a more familiar road that I’ve ridden dozens of times in the past year.  I was heading back into the suburbs of Henrico county and Glen Allen.  Here the roads are a little bit wider so that a cyclist should feel a little safer.  No sooner had I thought that, than two cars passed me with no room to spare and cars coming in the other direction.  

Seriously? Do you just not see me or do you have no imagination of what would happen with a slight mis-judgement?  Must be the latter as I’m wearing an optic yellow jersey.  I look like a new tennis ball with black shorts, riding a bicycle.  Dumbasses.  

Sometimes I hate the suburbs.

Another hour of dodg’ems and I was back in my driveway with no further incidents.  I’m feeling good about my riding and glad that the days are getting longer.  After-work rides are coming up, soon, and with a little more time I’ll be ready for that century ride in June.

Pool Story

I was traveling a few weeks ago, a semi-annual sales meeting, and we had a team building activity one evening at a place called Lucky Strikes.  This is a chain of bowling centers (I learned that they don’t call them alleys anymore; when did that change?) that isn’t aimed at league bowlers as much as it is at young urban professionals looking for something other than just a bar.  

The place specializes in videos, music, a full bar, decent bar food, and (oh yeah) bowling.  They also have a collection of pool tables, at least they have in the three different places I’ve been across the country.  These were 9 foot Brunswick Gold Crowns (nice table!) with red cloth (ewwww!).

Our group had the run of the place with about five or six players on a team.  Everyone was eating munchies and drinking adult beverages while bowling, some for the first time in twenty years, I later learned.  One of my friends from the office grabbed a set of balls for the pool table and asked me if I wanted to play. He knows that I play in a league and he is pretty competitive so I’m sure he wanted to see how he stacked up.

I racked up a game of 8 ball and invited him to break.  He did and made a ball.  He missed his first shot but I could tell he had a decent stroke.  I grabbed one of the house cues, surprised to see it had a decent tip on it.  And then, I couldn’t miss.  It was almost silly.  I ran that rack and then broke, and ran the next rack.  Then I broke and ran the next rack.  Then I broke and ran a fourth rack.  (People were beginning to stop and watch our games.) I was beginning to wonder what was going on and then I noticed how big the pockets were as I pulled balls out of the corner pocket.  At least five inches wide, about a half inch larger than normal.  No wonder!  It was almost hard to miss.

It was fun to look like I knew what I was doing for a little while.  Fortunately, the next game of bowling was about to begin and we turned in the balls.  The guy that I handed them to asked how many racks I'd run.  Jeez, everybody was watching.

Hope I didn’t queer my action, too badly, around here.

Healthy Anniversary

Last weekend brought about April 7^th which is the one year anniversary of my decision to change my lifestyle and affect my health in a positive way.  Since then, I’ve managed to lose about twenty pounds and reduce my body fat content to less than fifteen percent, down from over twenty five percent. 

I work out at least three times per week including cardio (elliptical trainer or cycling) and weight training.  This has become an integral part of my life now, so much so that when I miss a workout it affects me mentally.  I’ve figured out how to get my workouts in, even when traveling, and that has made all the difference.

I still eat unhealthy meals, I just don’t do it all the time and I watch the portions.  In fact, if I eat too much my body tells me and is ruder about it than before.  And, I eat a lot of fruit and vegetables to help offset the bad stuff.

I still drink adult beverages but I pick my spots with them.  I occasionally drank to excess before and I expect I will again but I’m much more thoughtful about what goes in my mouth and down my throat.  I know that liquor is a slow poison.  Fortunately, I'm not in a hurry.

I was also able to get off all my prescription medications for high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar (pre-diabetes).  That stuff was treating symptoms, not the root causes; the root cause (me) has been addressed and I don’t need them anymore.  I do still take something for acid reflux and I can’t seem to shake that one but I will.

I’m happy with myself.  I’m happy with my life.  I’m happy with my health.

That’s a good anniversary to celebrate!

I'm still an athlete?

August 2003 - I'm at my doctor's office having my first physical in a few years and she tells me "Okay, your blood pressure is just above normal, your glucose tolerance is above the level of acceptable, and your cholesterol levels are way out of whack. That heart burn you've been experiencing is acid reflux and it's only going to get worse. I want to start you on some meds to fix these."

I didn't think I was that bad off! Still fairly thin, skinniest of all my friends, that's for sure! About one hundred and eighty pounds on my six foot frame. But hey, if the doc thinks I need to address all this stuff, I probably should. So I start taking all these drugs and, wouldn't you know it, my BP becomes normal, glucose tolerance falls right into line, cholesterol is excellent and the heart burn goes away. Better living through science, indeed!

So I stuck to my ways, occasionally playing golf, tennis now and then until the arthritis in my wrist put an end to the tennis. Slowed down the golf, too, but I still manage to make it out and play once a month or so. I kept eating whatever I wanted although I did manage to reduce my red meat intake to once a day. Dammit. Okay, sometimes twice a day but only when traveling. I did start eating more chicken instead.

Six years goes by, I become more sedentary, have surgery for an old knee injury and the doctor tells me I'm going to need a knee replacement in about 5 years or so. Say what????? That's for old people isn't it? I'm only 52....oh wait. I guess that is kind of middle aged, isn't it? So I keep taking my meds and continue to eat the same way.

Two more years and I realize I weigh just over 200 pounds. I'm thinking I need to put a stop to this or, by the time I reach retirement age, I'm going to weigh about 250! So I join Weight Watchers online and start to watch how much I eat. For several months I cut back on my calorie intake, try to reduce carbs, focus on lean meats, blah, blah, blah, and.......almost nothing happens! All this work and I've only dropped two pounds???!!!????

I'm a pretty bright guy, have a job that requires some thinking, certified as a Six Sigma Black Belt in business processes. Like most people though, I don't think about myself or my life or my health in the same way as my work. Maybe I need to start doing that if I'm going to really make some changes. Then, it hits me like that lightning strike in a cartoon, you know the one I mean?

I'm only treating symptoms, not root causes! (Cue the heavenly choir!) That's what all those meds are doing, treating symptoms.

The next week, I was at my doctor's office so she could renew my prescriptions, check my tests, you know the stuff that middle aged guys have to do about once a year. When I asked the doctor how long I'd have to continue to take them, she said, "For the rest of your life, of course. You can't stop." (That is the easiest way to get me to do something, of course. Tell me that I can't do it!)

"But doc," I continued, "won't my body get used to these meds and they'll lose their effectiveness over time? Then what?"

She looked at me kind of startled, like no one asks these questions, and said, "We'll have to find some other ones then. Or perhaps there'll be new treatments available at that time."

I thanked her for her time but couldn't help but wonder about that. I mean, I know the drug companies put a lot of money into R&D but what if they only worked on the important stuff like erectile dysfunction, sleep dysfunction, heaven knows what other kinds of dysfunction? Or what if the current group of drugs was the end of the line? Sorry, no upgrades available!!! This was starting to look like a major buzz kill.

The following Sunday, I was reading the newspaper. (Tangent / Rant - I realize that some of you have no idea what that is and others are thinking how quaint it is. Whatever...I like to read the newspaper. I even get the New York Times on my Kindle so I can read a really good newspaper. All I know is, AOL / Huffington Post is not a news source. It's crap. Thanks, I feel better. We now return you to your normal old-fart ranting.)

There was a full page ad for a "health institute" that captured my attention with the phrase "we help people get off their meds" and "lose weight for good." They also had a "road warriors" program. (I travel a lot for work.) Some of my acquaintances had been to this place and had good success. Maybe it was time to do something for me.

I spent the next 10 weeks learning about eating, how your body gets energy, exercise and how it affects your body's systems. This weekly lecture was very eye opening to me. I learned that, like 95% of Americans, I was eating myself to death, very slowly. (It's lucky that none of us is in a hurry!) That all those delicious foods are really bad for you if that's all you eat. (And that’s nearly all I ate.) And that the human body evolved to be busy and active, not to be sitting in front of a computer / TV / video game. (I know you're reading this on a computer and I'm writing it on one. Ironic, huh?) I learned that Type 2 diabetes is running rampant through this country and it's all driven by how we eat, how much we eat, how much we don't exercise, and that it's all preventable!

That was it for me. I changed myself and was surprised at how quickly it happened and the value of the results. After resolving myself to being a middle-aged guy, and being okay with that, I discovered that there is still a little of that young guy in me, that used to be an athlete.

I spent those 10 weeks zealously watching how much and what I ate. I exercised vigorously three or four times a week. I got my old Trek Hybrid bike out of the shed, pumped up the tires and began riding it. Probably most importantly, I enjoyed all of it! And I felt about 20 years younger!

The results were surprising and exciting. In those first ten weeks, I dropped almost twenty pounds while reducing my body-fat content from twenty five percent to less than fourteen percent. I lost almost four inches around my waist and my bride began to say, “Hey, you’re looking skinny! Be careful you don’t get carried away.” (Don’t worry, I like to eat way too much!) And I even lost weight in my wrists. I know, weird, huh? Who knew your wrists get fat? But my watch was suddenly looser around my wrist.

After a few more months of this, to make sure that I had developed it as a habit and not just a fad, I went back to my doctor. I had stopped taking the meds and wanted to see if the results translated into numbers on the medical side. Amazingly, my doctor told me I could stop taking all of them. All of my blood work was normal! After telling her my story, she asked if I’d be willing to stand out in the waiting room and repeat it every hour or so. She seemed very proud of what I had accomplished.

She also pointed out that I needed to continue this new lifestyle for the rest of my life because failing to do so would put me back on the meds in order to remain healthy.

Really??? You mean, I can’t get really healthy by just taking a pill? I can’t get fit with only five minutes of walking per day for exercise? I can’t keep weight off by eating whatever I want? I know! It’s what I learned and that’s why I took the class! It’s also part of who I am now, and that’s why I started with the story.

So, when does the rest of the country learn it?