| Hi, Sunrisers and other GCC folks who have contacted
me with great
thoughts, helpful and encouraging stories...here is an update in a
nutshell... -I have seen various med personnel in the last 18 days since my little infarction... -been ultrasounded in my carotid to be sure I do not have more plaque build up elsewhere that could cause a stroke later....awaiting results. -I did get the video CD of my beating heart, the dye pulse, the clearing of the circumflex artery...totally cool to see my heart being saved. I will be using that in my physics classes next year...great medicine due to applied physics. -Now, conclusion about my great blood numbers...from a strict diet....careful supplements recommended by Dr. Carmichael...my total chol. was 152 ng/dL, my CRF was just a 3.3...meaning I had a 50% below average possibility of cardiac disease...on the morning AFTER I had a heart attack. So how do you deal with a family history (as I have) or you just want to be sure your pipes are clean??? Get an ultrasound so there is visible proof that you have very little plaque...my big coronary arteries had 20-30% build down up to little arterials that are totally blocked...Lipitor should dissolve that away there and elsewhere...me and the doc hope so anyway. On 18 Sept follow up meet with doc and more ultrasound...hopefully we'll see some nice results. -My muscle troponin, released while I was having a heart attack, was measured at 25 ng/dL the afternoon of the attack...a really bad attack will shoot numbers up to 100 and above...so in a rough sense my heart attack was a 2.5 out of a 10 as the worst. Two days after my attack my troponin was back down to 0.04 ng/dL....this is a very good sign. Quick action on my part by recognizing what was happening...although I rode with shoulder pain about 15-20 minutes and it took me another 5 minutes to really realize and accept it and to start doing something about surviving...the rapid response of the EMTs, and quick work by emergency personnel at NFRMC, and by Doc Wessel clearing the block and stenting me...all in just 1h45m for the whole ordeal saved my heart muscle on the left ventricular side. I have minimal damage...my wife & I the cardiac nurse practioner say, based on my second blood test, that I may have NO long term damage...no muscle death = NO nectrotic tissue. The LV ejection volume, even when damaged, was measured as normal...that is critical since that oxygenated blood feeds into the aorta. This partially explains why I was able to ride part of Peggy Road all the way to Chestnut Hill and then on to Millhopper Rd with a slowly worsening pain in my shoulder when I had not quite realized this pain was something more than the usual back ache. Thank goodness for all my years of running and cycling producing lots of collateral circulation!!! -I have been cleared to ride....using my stationary...1st ride was 5 min at 10 mph...0.8 miles...2nd ride was 15 min at 12 mph...3rd ride today was 25 min at 12.2 mph...a whole 5 miles. I kept my HR at 85 bpm on these rides and can slowly add time and bpm as I go along. With brisk walking, my total aerobic work per day is at 45 minutes already. By the end of summer when school starts I should be doing hour rides at 15+ mph...I hope. -the med people I met with seem confident that with slow progression I will return to full strength over the next several months. Who knows?? Maybe I can be ready to do some of the SFC or HFH. I should be able to do some Sunrise rides by Winter or Spring...that's the goal. I really miss the Sunrise ride...the emails have me chomping...allows me to set some goals to work towards...send you another update down the line...spin the hills...Bob |
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