A Young Heart Attack Survivor’s Story — 1 Year Later
Today marks the one year anniversary of the day that could have been my last. It was on this day in 2016, that I survived a heart attack at 37 years old. My original post details the events of that fateful day and the immediate aftermath. Reading it again gives me the shivers. The weeks that followed saw me doing cardiac rehab, starting my aggressive load of medications, and having countless conversations with family, friends, and strangers about my story with most of them having the theme of utter disbelief at the fact that I had a heart attack at 37 years old.
Cardiac rehab was an experience that I hope you don’t ever have to do. Not because it was a bad experience (quite the contrary, in fact), but because of the constant reminder of why I was there. Three mornings a week I would get hooked up to a heart monitor and exercise. The exercises started extremely mild and eventually escalated to the point where I was actually starting to get a workout. The nurses were excellent and there were very informative classroom sessions immediately after the exercising for two days a week. All-in-all, my cardiac rehab experience was very positive, despite the constant worry that I was working my heart too hard too fast. I was slated for eight weeks of cardiac rehab, but I passed an echo stress test with flying colors after about four weeks and was able to wrap up cardiac rehab early.
Since then, many things have changed. Including how I look at food intake. I learned that the average person takes in WAY more sodium than they should. 2–3 times more than they should, in fact. Sodium increases the volume of your blood, which increases your blood pressure. Higher blood pressure puts unnecessary stress on your cardiovascular system. I’ve learned the difference between good fats (unsaturated) and bad fats (saturated and trans). And I’ve learned to take on more of the cooking responsibilities in our household so that I can have more control over what we take in and what we substitute for healthier ingredients.
I’ve also learned to look at life differently than I used to. You never know when it’s your time to check out, so stop putting off those things that you’ve been meaning to do and haven’t. I feel like I’ve been pretty good at this all along, but it all has a little more meaning now. The things I do with my kids aren’t just fun activities in the moment anymore. Any one of them may be the memory of me that they cherish the most when my time comes to leave them. Just that knowledge is enough to drive me to make the experience that much better.
I think the thing that I am most proud of as a result of all of this is the fact that it was a speed bump, but ultimately didn’t slow me down. I’ve always been an active guy who loves physically active sports and activities. In the immediate weeks following my heart attack, I was relegated to keeping my heart rate down as my heart recovered from the traumatic event. After cardiac rehab, my doctor lifted my restrictions and I was able to get back into my usual level of exercise and physical activity.
In the year since my heart attack, I was able to get back out on my wakeboard, hitting it as much as three days per week some weeks this summer. I got back out on the mountain bike trails with my son and went on family bike rides for many miles with my whole crew. I took my kids snow skiing, snowboarding, and sledding. I hiked Angels Landing in Zion National Park. I got back into barefoot waterskiing, freestyle jumping, and introduced show skiing to my kids, doing doubles and pyramids with them. I ran my first Warrior Dash with my kids and extended family and enjoyed numerous rides on the rollercoasters at ValleyFair with my family. I continue to do high intensity exercise routines to keep myself at a fitness level to support all of this. And I feel like this is only the beginning.
I’ll be forever thankful for the love and support of our family and friends. You were there when we needed you the most. Whatever else happens in this life, that’s something that I will never forget.
My continued hope is that my story will come to mind if you ever find yourself with chest discomfort or pain. You’re already a hero in somebody’s eyes and it’s your responsibility to be there for them as long as you can. Even better, use my story as a catalyst for change in your life, if you need it, so that you can work to prevent problems from even happening. Sometimes genetics suck, but there’s no reason you can’t lead a healthy lifestyle to try ward off potential problems. Do it for yourself. Do it for your loved ones.
My story didn’t end on this day in 2016 and I am unbelievably thankful for that. I have much more left to do. So do you.
