Keeping A Family Tradition Alive

It’s been a busy week. Tuesday I had an early doctor appointment in Fort Wayne to have a CTA, which is a CT scan of my heart. They run a contrast dye into my blood, which is the weirdest sensation as you feel this warmth go over your whole body. It only lasts about a minute. The scan takes a series of pictures of my heart so they can get a good look at the arteries and ventricles and see if there’s blockages or abnormalities.

The test only lasted about 10 minutes tops and we were out. Got breakfast, then headed to a Honda dealership to just “look” at cars. Well after about 6 hours we drove home with a 2022 Honda CRV Touring Edition with only 52,000. My wife’s Ford Flex has almost 260,000 miles so I think it’s on borrowed time at this point. We did keep the Flex to have a back up vehicle in case any of the kids’ cars have problems, then we’re covered. Plus, it’s nice to have options.

Wednesday was my follow-up with a dietician, and then the Cardiologist Nurse Practitioner to go over my results. Well, the results were in and it turns out my left and right ventricles are narrowing. I’ve got non-calcified plaque build up and they don’t want to take the chance of that to break apart, causing my body to create a blood clot which would then cause me to have a heart attack. So this bad boy is getting a heart cath September 3rd and getting not one, but TWO stents put in.

Keeping a family tradition alive.

Okay, so not an immediate family tradition. My parents haven’t had stents or heart surgery or heart attacks. They both take BP and cholesterol meds, but their tickers are in good shape. Same with my older brother. Apparently when I was rolling the dice regarding genetics and heredity, I rolled snake eyes in the cardiovascular department. There is a long line of heart problems when it comes to grandparents and great aunts and uncles. Open hearts, strokes, stents, oh my! I guess I always hoped the worst I’d get was my dad’s penchant for joint and tendon problems. Well, I did get those but I also got the janky heart as well.

I blame double Quarter Pounders, Jeno’s Frozen Pizzas, and Papa John’s garlic butter sauce from my youth. Then a (un)healthy amount of beer between my 20s-40s to seal the deal. But really, I’d rather blame tainted family genes as opposed to my beloved IPAs. “IPAs don’t hurt me, they love me and care for me!” said every guy that had plaque build up in his heart that needed stents later in life.

I’m really pretty cool about all of this. Instead of waiting to have a Widowmaker down the road, we’re doing the preventative thing and putting stents in now. Along with a brand new prescription of Lipitor and a daily 81mg of baby aspirin, the heart cath will get the old pump running like it did pre-double Quarter Pounders and 30-pks of Natty Lights in the 90s. I already feel great, and if it weren’t for the scan I would have assumed my heart was well on its way to mending. I don’t have to stop my exercise, so they’re not worried I’m going to drop in the midst of a treadmill session. It’s business as usual, then September 3rd I go in and get the super soldier serum and become Steve Rogers…or maybe Steve Austin. Either would be good with me.

All of this to say I’m kind of relieved this is happening. Peace of mind, really. I’ll live to watch my grand-doggies and grand-kitty grow up and be fine four-legged citizens of society. Plus, I’ll be able to see that second season of Alien : Earth.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, get your yearly physicals boys and girls. I might have been able to avoid this had I done the adult thing and seen a doc at least once a year. Instead, I’m ballooning my heart in September and that’s that(but really, if it wasn’t this then I’d probably need a new knee or hip replacement.)