My life changing moment

Lessons to be learnt from my heart attack

8h15 17 February 2021: This was the date I suffered my first heart attack. People who knew me were shocked because I didn’t appear to match the profile of a “typical” heart attack victim. I’m not overweight, I don’t smoke, I don’t drink, I appear calm and relaxed most of the time, and enjoy walking. I do however have one vice which I will get to later. So, let’s bust the first myth that heart attack candidates look and behave in a certain way.

I want to start my story a few weeks earlier and go back to Christmas day 2020. The day we were gifted with our first grandson, a healthy baby boy, Musa. For the first two weeks, we couldn’t visit and hold him because of COVID precautions. When we did eventually get the chance to visit my son’s house, normally on a Sunday afternoon, I would be sitting on the couch feeling extremely tired, to the extent of sometimes nodding off. We joked as a family that I was behaving like a typical grandfather. Second myth: being a grandfather does not suddenly make you tired in the afternoon. If you suddenly find yourself tired and out of breath go and get professional advice.

In the weeks leading up to my heart attack, I was woken up on two occasions in the middle of the night by a strong pain in my chest. It caused me to sit up and drink some water. This was of course reflux caused by heartburn and indigestion. Myth number three. Not all chest pains are reflux-related. In fact, the pain I experienced directly before the heart attack felt exactly like a wind caused by indigestion. Unless you have been diagnosed with reflux do not assume repetitive pains across your chest are reflux-related.

The day before my heart attack I went for a one-hour walk and when I arrived home, I had a tightness across my chest and felt lightheaded. I do not have breakfast before my walks and the lightness I was feeling in my head was obviously sugar related, so I went straight for a glass of fruit juice to replenish my sugar levels. Myth number four. If you are exercising and experience pain across your chest and feel lightheaded it does not automatically mean that your sugar levels are low.

These incidents were all signs that my body was sending me, but I was not listening… because I'm not a candidate for a heart attack. Listen to your body, seek professional advice, and don’t worry about feeling stupid about going to your doctor with a reflux problem.

So back to the fateful Wednesday morning. My wife and I took a walk, less stressful than the Tuesday because I was now aware of the pain I had experienced the day before and I didn’t want to “push” myself. On arriving home, I again experienced the pain across my chest and the lightness in my head. But this time it did not subside. This time I did not have enough energy to walk to the fridge to get my magic potion of sugar. I sat outside with my hands on my knees. My wife came out and asked what was wrong. I explained that it was the same pain from the day before but more severe. 

At this stage I told her that something is not right. 

While she was calling our local GP I didn’t have the energy to sit up anymore and had to lie down flat.  I also asked her to call a colleague about a workshop that we had to facilitate in an hour.  And as she is speaking to this colleague I felt the pain move across my shoulders and down my arms. I broke out into a heavy sweat and realized this is not normal.  We had the option of going to the doctor's room or the ER at our local hospital. I chose the ER.

My wife changed my drenched t-shirt, yes she did, and then I managed to walk to our car for the short ride to the hospital. On arrival at the ER reception, I was speedily checked in, my urine sample delivered and then into the ER room. The pain was constant like someone stepping on your chest with steel boots. Before I knew it patches were being placed on my chest for the ECG, someone was inserting an intravenous drip in my left arm and someone else was taking blood from my right arm. The pain was not subsiding, and I could sense the tension in the room as the nursing staff gently comforted me saying everything was going to be fine as they professionally carried on taking care of me. I was told they were going to give me a “clot buster” that would help with releasing the clot in my heart and reduce the pain. Within minutes of the “super” blood thinner being administered through the intravenous the pain started to subside, and I could feel the tension relaxing in the room. 

According to the cardiologist, I was very lucky that we came in as quickly as we did. He then confirmed that I had suffered quite a severe heart attack. The words echoed in my head and everything felt very surreal. In a flash, I realised that my life had just changed forever. You suddenly realise how fragile life is. This is not just another organ or body part. If this muscle stops working that’s it. Lights out! My family life, the plans I have for 2021, my career all stop right there. From the time of the heart attack to the administering of the “clot buster” was less than sixty minutes. When you experience heart attack symptoms act quickly as it can be the difference between life and death.

As I had stabilised they scheduled an angiogram for first thing in the morning. When performing an angiogram they insert a catheter into your artery and use x-ray video cameras to see where the blockage is in your heart.  My catheter was inserted via my arm and it was less painful than giving blood, honestly. They do give you a drug to keep you calm as you are awake throughout the procedure. I found it absolutely fascinating that I could watch the screens as they were inserting this flexible wire into my pumping heart. They picked up three blockages in my left coronary artery and the cardiologist opted to insert two metal stents. Stents are tiny tubes that they insert into your artery to keep open the blocked section. After sixty minutes I was wheeled out of the cardiac cath lab and back to Surgical ICU for rest and observation. At 11h00 the following day I was discharged from the hospital.

I feel blessed that I survived this ordeal and have used it to reassess my lifestyle and eating habits. At the start I mentioned that I had one vice. So, for many years I have not been able to smell which means no flavours, no scents, and basically no taste. To compensate for this deficiency, I use sugar excessively. I love sweet things like biscuits, cakes, pastries and must have sauce over my food. Our fridge is full of all sorts of sauces. This all needs to change. As the dietician told me in hospital: “You can have a biscuit at night, just don’t have four.”

This has been a huge wake-up call for me. Don’t take life for granted.   Take the time to look after your body.  When your body is trying to tell you something, listen to it. Live a balanced life.

I hope my experience and story has made you think about your own lifestyle and eating habits. Do your annual checkups and monitor your cholesterol. Remember there are no specific symptoms for high cholesterol which ultimately leads to coronary heart disease. 

UPDATE: Lying in the ER unit gave me the opportunity to do some deep reflection. I realized that I had been given a second chance and I immediately made up my mind that I was going to change my life.

It was a challenging twelve months because I came to the realisation that I was going to leave my country of birth. There is a lot of mental preparation that goes into such a move. I also did some deep research across a number of disciplines to prepare logistically for a relocation. Fifteen months after my heart attack I boarded a plane with a bag, containing everything that I owned, to start a new life on a tropical island in the Indonesian archipelago.

I now help senior executives transition to a simpler life. You don’t have to wait for a heart attack to take action.