Brian’s Scariest Moment Ever

It was 4 years ago this week that I was laying in a hospital bed after suffering a heart attack. It is an anniversary I hope to celebrate for many years to come. Having a heart attack was by far the scariest and most painful thing I have ever gone through. I had all the warning signs but was too dumb or stubborn to listen to my body.

I had been fatigued for some time but figured it was just because of the hours I keep for my job. I was tired when I would wake up and had trouble finding the strength to get through the day. I thought it may just be my diabetes messing me too. I was having pain in my back and my left shoulder. There were times it felt like my arm was just hanging off my shoulder like a cut of meat, like I just had a stained muscle or something. I had these feelings for weeks and did nothing about it. Then one day I was shoveling the snow, came inside and the pain knocked me to me knees. There was an intense paralyzing pain in my left shoulder, 10 times worse than before. I could not move. My wife gathered me and my things and said we were going to the hospital. The proper thing to do would have been to call 911 so they could have been prepared and had medical people there in case things went wrong on the way there. If I ever have another one, I will call an ambulance. When we arrived I was asked a list of questions, which are really hard to answer when you are having a heart attack. They asked me to grade my pain on a scale of 1 to 10. I believe I answered with an "F" word that was neither "four" nor "five". They stopped my heart attack in minutes, put in my sten

t and I felt instant relief. The feeling of having blood flowing properly through my body was amazing. I didn't know how bad I really felt until I knew what it was like to feel good. If you are having symptoms you think may be heart related, please don't hesitate, go get checked. You don't want to go this if you can prevent it and you can. I have changed how I live and how I eat. I am paying attention to my diabetes and doing what I can to prevent another one. I am eating more healthy foods, (putting cheese and bacon on a dry salad makes it edible), occasionally actually get up and move around and just enjoy every breath I am given. It is 4 years later and I am the best me I have ever been. Thank you doctors and nurses. Take care of yourself and watch out for those signs. We've got a lot of living to do.