I am writing in response to the story of Rick Mylin. He was saved with the new protocol for CPR because of his wife nagging him to get checked out at the hospital.
My story is very similar to Rick Mylin's in that I, too, have a nagging wife that I am thankful for.
Three years ago my nagging wife had me see my family doctor to get a stress test. I was 43, never smoked, very physically active, but I did have high cholesterol and a poor family history. My father died of a heart attack at 35 years old. When I told Dr. Sessa that my wife wanted me to get a stress test he said that he could do an EKG in his office and that would tell him if I needed a stress test in three to six months. After the EKG, Dr. Sessa scheduled me for a stress test the following day.
At the stress test, they called Dr. Sessa and told him that I needed a heart catherization right away. Later that week I went to Fort Wayne, and then the next week I had a quintuple bypass. I went from not knowing I had a problem to open heart surgery in two weeks.
The surgeon said that I would have died before the year was over. He also said that there was scarring on my heart from a previous heart attack. I told him I never had one and he said yes I did and the scarring proved it.
Because of my wife, I am alive today. Several of my friends have since been to the doctors to get checked out because they want to be sure that they are OK also.
The point is, I was a healthy and active male who had five clogged arteries and didn't know it. I was a ticking time bomb.
February is American Heart month. I urge anyone who has a family history of heart disease to go and get checked out. It could save your life.
