[vigsom]

Introduction

This is a quick account of some harrowing experiences over the last seven days, and how the Almighty helped me back home while in transit, to safe hands. What will unfold is a whole bagful of experiences, analysis and corrective/ preventive actions. My only request to all of us is to take these really seriously and read through these posts carefully. I'm penning this thread from the confines of a hospital, pierced at no less than 10 places, and will be out of action for a few weeks.

The run up to now

Day Zero

I'd walked out of home to a store closeby (less than 50m) to buy some paneer. Walked back 50m to another store, got the stuff, walked back home, took a flight of stairs (approx 10 steps) and while I was around 3/4ths into this walk, I was getting a weird pain right below the neck in the sternum. By the time I'd walked up the 10 stairs to the ground floor, I was not able to walk any more since that pain was shooting. Sat down, relaxed for 10 mins, walked up another flight of stairs one floor up and went home. Relaxed and was fine after 15 mins or so.

I had an impending out station official visit the following day so was a little concerned, but dismissed this episode as a case of digestive issues due to reduced physical activity, and probably eating something wrong.

Day 1

Left home at 8 am on an empty tummy to target a 11:30am flight, back pack and a 8 kg strolly in hand, and was fine.

- Walked down two flights of stairs, to the car
- went to the airport, walked from drop off to the entry gate
- gate to baggage drop off
- baggage drop off up the stairs (not the eacalator) to Security
- held two big trays full of stuff, put them on the belt
- cleared security and walked down to Gate 8
- boarded a bus, then went up the ramp to the aircraft

No issues at all during and of these steps.

Flight at destination, walked down the ramp to the bus to the terminal, to baggage belt, collected my bag, and lifted it and went out (no wheeling the strolly) to the waiting cab. Undertook a 2 hour ride to my destination and had a rather large portion of palak with 2 chapatis on the way.

[vigsom]

Day 1 (Contd.)

All was fine until after dinner, when I used the lift to get to my hotel room. Same pain, same feeling, but this time I was sweating. Had some water, went to the loo, passed motion and was immediately okay.

What did I assume? That the palak was double of what I'd have originally had, it was high on oil, and that upset the equilibrium of my system.

Day 2

Went to the plant on an empty tummy, walked all over climbing stairways, inclines etc and was absolutely fine. Post lunch, again ran out of steam exactly like Day 0 and Day 1, but got into a car to proceed to my next destination. Two and a half hours of travel - no issues.

Checked into the hotel, went to my room, all well. Had a very light dinner, went back to the room, same issue as Day 1 - pain below the neck, sweating, had water, and was okay in 15 mins.

Since it was three instances of the issue coming up post a meal, I assumed this was related to post eating.

Days 3 and 4

All well, again went to another plant at the second destination, walked around, no issues, but yes, did face the issue post lunch although very minor, given that I'd walked around continuously for 2 hours.

[vigsom]

Day 4 evening

Three hour drive to Pune, got off the car at the airport, took the escalator up to the Aeromall, met a bhpian there . Had a rather heavy meal (since these portions are the bakasura types), but I took just what I wanted and left the rest. After a good one hour with bhpian @SandyDamodaran, I walked back down the walkway, down the escalator to the most rotten airport I've ever been to in my life. For the traffic here, this place is grossly inadequate and the most primitive.

Walked from gate to baggage drop to security check entry - all well. The same issue of pain and fatigue started at Security check thanks to the hold up of passengers. I was holding two trays full of stuff, and nowhere to place them. Could neither place them on the ground for fear of some inconsiderate soul getting past me nor could I place it ahead of another inconsiderate soul. Held on to the 2 full trays, clenched my teeth and somehow got some place to keep it. Cleared security by when I was almost knocked out. Regained some energy, walked to Gate 4 only to later realise that gate had been changed to Gate 8, one level up. No announcements nothing. Somehow made it to the Air Asia flight, was in my seat, and landed in BLR approx 1 am. Had a fruit platter on the flight (maybe I shouldn't have had it given my symptoms).

[vigsom]

Day 5

Same saga at BLR Terminal 2. Knowing that this exhaustion issue was a possibility, I decided to use the walkalators instead of walking all the way, but by the second walkalator, I was already out of steam. Threw my back pack down in disgust, used the loo, again waited 10 mins, took an escalator down, but realised I might not be able to walk to baggage belt no.8; requested a buggy to drop me there. By then the airport was all empty and mine was the only bag on the belt. Picked up the bag, rested for 15 mins, and walked out of the airport from Baggage belt 8 out all the way to the car pick up point - never faced any issue in this final walk!

Reached home around 2:45am, and after some sleep, went to a diagnostic center at about 9:30 am on an empty tummy. This time though, I lost steam again by the time I walked to the main road. No autos, and so boarded a BMTC bus to the diagnostic center, which was just 1.5 km away (2 stops). Got my tests done. Boarded a BMTC bus back - 2 stops, same pain after getting off, and I was sitting there on the roadside like one of those madcaps or drunkards that we see so often. So it was clear - this time the pain was presenting itself even on an empty stomach, and the walking distance without pain was diminishing.

Day 6

All these 5 days, I had no issues at sleep - good seven hours, no discomfort, nothing. When I got up at 6 that morning, I decided to call my cab, go collect the reports, and gate crash at a very old and respected cardiologist in Jayanagar. The receptionist said no appointments free for the day, but I pleaded with her to grant me one even if it was for 5 mins. Finally she gave me a go ahead to meet Doc after a 2 hour wait. The moment I entered his chamber, I felt I was in the right hands. He examined me tip to toe, got his assistant to do an urgent ECG, realised something was wrong as BP was fluctuating on the higher side, and immediately got an Echo done. The Echo showed nothing. He told me I was having a heart condition but also added that there is no damage to the heart (muscle). After administering some tablets, he despatched me to hospital emergency, immediately coordinating with the hospital. I went there on my own, walked in to emergency, was asked who the patient was, and I said, "Me". They prepped me and then took me to the Cath Lab for an angiogram. That was a 15 min affair. Once done, I was told that my LMCA (Left Main Coronary Artery) was 90% blocked and surgery was the only sure shot way out. Angioplasty could be risky given the position of the block.

[vigsom]

Day 6 (Contd.)

I was shifted to the Cardiac Care Unit (CCU) and was administered more injections and medicines that I ever have had all these 53 years. The objective was to stabilise my vitals. I'd already indicated to them that I wasn't prepared for a surgery and requested docs to help me with only medication until I could become prepared.

Day 6 and Day 7

Went through five phases after this shocking input of a heart bypass - denial, anger, depression, acceptance and final decision. When I entered the cusp of the depression - acceptance phase, I wept like crazy; no drama, no wails, but tears rolling down continuously as to, "Why me?". The HOD Cardiology was kind enough to come and spend a cool 15 mins talking to me about so many examples he has seen of disciplined swamijis, and so many others facing such issues. He added that these days, a majority of folks just collapse before reaching medical care, and that I should consider myself lucky to be in care in time.

It took me a total of 28 hours from receiving the first communication about surgery to finally deciding to go with it, after weighing options and the pros and cons of both options (bypass vs Angioplasty). I am currently in hospital, being prepped to be opened up, and do hope I make it with renewed vigor.

Key learnings and very important inputs for all those my age, younger and maybe even older

1. Never skip an annual medical check up. For heart, the ECG is the cheapest, simplest test that tells you everything
2. Echo cardiogram cannot point to plumbing blocks; so don't take a normal Echo as a sign of hunki-doriness
3. Never ignore warning signs and rubbish them as gas or whatever; consult a good and honest physician immediately
4. Eat healthy, exercise enough, don't load oneself up with trans, sat fats and all that sugar
5. Get blood sugar monitored periodically (once in six months), and take IMMEDIATE control measures to prevent a potential situation
6. One prick every six months is better than going through many many more painful ones later.

Although I've been extremely careful on most fronts, I'm candid to admit I didn't do no.1 completely (limited it just to a full blood analysis) and did not take drastic measures on no.5 diligently enough.

I rest my case now and request all of you to be careful. Do hope to give you updates and more experiences when I'm convalescing. Take care, folks. Prevention is better than correction.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[shankar.balan]

Thanks for sharing VigSom.

Having gone through some part of this experience a few years ago, I totally agree that prevention is better than cure.

Regarding food intake, it is really not necessary for a person to eat quite as much as most of us normally eat. And of course it is good to eat ‘right’.

In fact as one grows older it is better to consume less. And no one can stress enough, the sheer importance of physical activity and exercise.

Worth keeping one’s self all limbered up and ‘light’. The body after all is a machine and just like one’s car, requires to be used and exercised regularly to provide best results.

No point preaching here, so these are merely factual statements. It is better to allow realization to take over in a conscious manner. The effort falls to us.
Only we can make the decision and act to change our lifestyle.

Wishing you the very best for a full recovery.

[dailydriver]

Dear Vigsom, you are one of the Toyotas of the forum; you can survive hell!

Cheer up.

First V Narayan and then you, there seems to be no let up on the health front for our distinguished members. But what comes as a ray of hope is the stoic manner in which both of you chose to look at the crisis and even took time to share your experiences with other kindred souls.

I wish and hope that the surgery will be a resounding success and will leave you better than ever: even a Landcruiser can sometimes benefit from a session of TLC!

On a tangent, it is interesting how, for a man whose write-ups on travel have been top of the line, life threw in a spanner while on a travel!!!

My sincerest and heartfelt prayers are with you. Like all other readers of yours, I too will be eagerly waiting for the post-op story to be penned down, with pride and panache.

Best wishes again.

[padmrajravi]

I was shocked to read this early morning. My prayers are with you and I am sure your surgery will go well. Please update us whenever you can.

Our interactions have been limited to couple of instances in the threads, but I have always felt a personal connect because of your detailed writings. Even after reading the title, I didn't expect it to be a detailed account of an unexpected heart condition you faced. But as always, you handled with such maturity and calm decisions. Though I do wish, you had consulted the doctor in the second instance of it happening. Your detailed log of symptoms will certainly be a great help to all of us.

[V.Narayan]

Dear Vigsom,

Compliments to you that you stopped ignoring the shooting pain and got down to the cardiologist for a real check-up. Being sensible has saved you a lot of trouble and pain. Caught in time is half done. My prayers and very best wishes to you for the upcoming surgery and recovery. May God bless you & your family as you walk through this tough phase of life,

All,

Where food goes one thing, I learnt the hard way from my ongoing cancer treatment is that we eat about twice as much as is really needed and then add to those complications of modern processed foods. Most of our health complications have one or more roots in what we eat.

[Kkumar]

Get well soon. With the change in lifestyle heart ailments have become common in all age groups. As you said annual medical check ups are a must for everyone which should not be taken lightly. Many of us won’t miss the periodic servings of our cars but won’t mind skipping medical check-up. Take care.

[CArspeed]

Dear Vigsom

Wish you a speedy recovery.

According to me it’s extremely difficult for anyone to predict an impending heart attack or almost any other attacks for that matter. Many of us go through these similar conditions many a times and these pointers never mean that there is a heart problem. Had it been so no doctors would die of heart attack. In this regard you or none of us need to feel sorry for ignoring the signals.

Having said this as V.Narayan has pointed out we should be watchful of our eating patterns and be more disciplined which helps in an overall well being and of course does not necessarily guarantee a thoroughly healthy life. The same applies to mile munchers like us as we should always be a disciplined and responsible driver but at the same time it does not guarantee you an accident free driving. This is what life is all about.

[cogWheel]

Thank you for sharing this Vigsom.

It is fortunate that you had multiple warning signs of unstable angina which you heeded on time and you are able to take pre-emptive action before a full blown heart attack.

Wishing you the best for the surgery and the recovery process.

[PVS]

Dear Vigsom, wish you a speedy recovery! Thanks for sharing the entire ordeal, and this thread is a timely reminder to everyone on the importance of a proper diet and regular exercise.

Thanks and get well soon sir!

[ghodlur]

Your post suddenly took me back to the April of 2021 when I was hospitalized for Covid treatment and one evening I started experiencing severe pain in the chest. There was no bed in the ICU in the hospital thanks to the second Corona wave. I withstood the pain for 6 long hours before the Doctors made a makeshift arrangement in the ICU and started my treatment. My wife who was admitted along with me in the same hospital for Covid was running helter skelter to get a doctor's attention for me. She had to resort to abusing the staff even. Later with help of my friends and office staff I was shifted to Apollo Jayanagar Bangalore, the whole trip from one hospital to another was a journey where I thought I saw the gates and came back. It was diagnozed that there was a clot in my right auricle which would either require a stent or a shot of injection to dissolve the clot. Luckily for me the latter worked and the docs said this was a rare chance when the clot could break down that easily. I could see the operations in full view and the action happening. Unfortunately one of the muscles in the right auricle was permanently damaged and I will have to live with this condition all my remaining life.

Vigsom - When I came out of the ops theatre I had almost similar thoughts. Why me? I had prided myself to being the fittest in the clan. I was exercising superbly my weight although on higher side didnt matter as I was having the stamina of an athlete. That one night changed the entire scenario - I started having medicines, the count which I have forgotten.

I have to compulsorily walk now for a min of 1 hr to keep my heart muscles active. Everytime I go out for the walk, I remember the almighty for giving me a second life.

Dont worry, you will do fine. Uparwala bahut meherbaan hai, he will take care of you.