Today is 8 months since I had my emergency stent surgery after a heart attack. I was lucky—I checked myself in to a good hospital on time. If I’d waited it would have turned out much worse. This was just two days before COVID hit my state too. https://twitter.com/jpmajor/status/1232481815996194818

Since then I’ve been doing well. I feel better, I eat better, and my weight’s gone down about 33 pounds, which yes I needed. I’m on statins and antiplatelet and blood pressure meds, which will likely be lifelong requirements. I’ll be 45 in two months.

The important thing I want to stress here is to be aware of your body, and contact your health professional if you don’t feel right. If I didn’t do that, I probably would have died on Feb. 27 rather than been released from the hospital.

We’re in especially stressful times now. 2020 is cresting, what with the election and COVID and the holidays all crisscrossing within the next couple of months, on top of whatever we each have going on. It’s hard. And stress CAN KILL. If you’re predisposed, even easier.

It’s not wrong to be stressed. Most of us are, even those of us who don’t think so. Whether it’s a distant background him or a constant thundering roar, it’s there. If you don’t feel well or just not right—or you’re actually in pain—get checked out. It may be nothing. Or not.

I didn’t have a chest-clutching, crushing-weight heart attack. For me it was a bit of radiating tightness across my upper back and through both arms, and even into my teeth. More like nerve pain. It went away, but I didn’t feel right for a couple of days. So I called my doctor.

The doctor wasn’t in but after I mentioned how I’d felt a coupe of days earlier, the nurse practitioner told me to get myself checked at a hospital. That of course sounded scary, but I did it. Luckily. After that, EKGs and blood tests showed I was in an MCI event.

Every group of doctors that came to talk to me appeared more and more concerned. Also scary. But I was at least in the right place, and it got taken care of. It wasn’t that bad—I was awake for the whole procedure. Took about 15-20 minutes once they began. Again, I was lucky.

At one point they even thanked me for coming in.

But again, my point here is to listen to your body and don’t ignore when you’re not feeling right. Yes, COVID is scary and no one wants that. But there are other things too still, and shit happens. I sure wasn’t planning on a heart attack at 44 but there I was, doing it.

For any of you who are cardiac savvy, I had a LAD blockage caused by plaque buildup. Near 100%. Two stents are now keeping that open. I watched the X-ray during the procedure; it was a big area affected. Luckily little loss in output.

I was kinda doomed by my genes; heart disease is rampant in my family. The 40s are entry level for us. Doctors kept asking me if I smoked. I never have.

Just...pay attention to how you feel. Better to have a false alarm than ignore something serious. And it’s ok to not feel ok. This is all a lot, for anyone. For everyone. There are no bonus points for hurting the most.

And try to avoid fried, fatty foods. It catches up with ya.