My High School Friend Had a Heart Attack on Sunday

[Iron Woode]

I received a text from my friend Sunday night informing me he had a heart attack.

I was shocked but not surprised to hear this. He has several health issues like diabetes and morbid obesity. He really needs to loose about 80 lbs. He is also on a semi-Aktins diet, which I have complained about.

Well, now the chickens have come home to roost.

He had an angioplasty and a stent installed. Tuesday he has to have another stent installed. He has around 30% heart damage, some of which will heal. He is doing better but feeling crappy.

He works as a transport truck driver and is now off work for 3 months due to license restrictions. He is going on work disability for now.

To say his life is going to change is an understatement. He starts some physio Tuesday. He may need psychological counseling.

I will be there for him but he needs to realize things will never be the same for him.

If anything new develops I will update this thread.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I saw my father's friend several months after he had a heart attack. He was unrecognizable. Appeared to be a ghost of his former self. I don't know if it was the medications or if he had been put on a strict diet of steamed vegetables but it looked like all the fat in his body had melted off and he was just a skeleton wearing skin. He's actually a GP.

Another older guy I used to know at my office had had three heart attacks and he also had diabetes. The guy refused to take any precautions. If you saw him eating, you couldn't guess that he was diabetic or had a history of heart attacks. That's how reckless he was.

 

[Iron Woode]

I have some updates:

he has been discharged from hospital

he must go back in 1 month for a second stent and check up

he has a cardiologist now and will be getting regular tests

he is still rather weak

he is at greater risk of another heart attack

I am worried but hopeful

 

[iCyborg]

I hope this was a good wake up call. My dad had a heart attack in his 40s and he's been on meds since then, he's in early 70s now.
A guy who was my best friend from kindergarten till high school (we went to different ones and drew apart) had a heart attack in 2018 and died. He was exactly 2 days younger than me, it was a complete shocker. I also have a cousin who died in his mid 40s after a single heart attack. The unlucky ones don't get a second chance

 

[igor_kavinski]

The unlucky ones don't get a second chance

I once had a breakfast and immediately afterwards, my right leg went numb. It literally lost sensation and I got up with great difficulty and almost cried and prayed for it to come back to normal. Thankfully it did. I never ate from that place again. God only knows how many heart attacks that place may have caused by using subpar oil/grease/whatever.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

I once had a breakfast and immediately afterwards, my right leg went numb. It literally lost sensation and I got up with great difficulty and almost cried and prayed for it to come back to normal. Thankfully it did. I never ate from that place again. God only knows how many heart attacks that place may have caused by using subpar oil/grease/whatever.

Not trying to be cynical or unfeeling, but there was always a phenomenon that came from sitting on a nerve which caused "lack of sensation": "leg going to sleep". But maybe you know the difference, and it was something more serious than that.

Every time I hear of a contemporary and friend dying or getting sick, I thank my lucky stars and then worry about how long I have before I punch my own ticket.

 

[igor_kavinski]

it was something more serious than that.

It definitely was. It was a sudden loss of sensation in my leg like the blood flow got blocked. I had to stand on one leg and vigorously try to move the immobile leg. There was complete lack of sensation in it, like it had died.

 

[Torn Mind]

I saw my father's friend several months after he had a heart attack. He was unrecognizable. Appeared to be a ghost of his former self. I don't know if it was the medications or if he had been put on a strict diet of steamed vegetables but it looked like all the fat in his body had melted off and he was just a skeleton wearing skin. He's actually a GP.

Another older guy I used to know at my office had had three heart attacks and he also had diabetes. The guy refused to take any precautions. If you saw him eating, you couldn't guess that he was diabetic or had a history of heart attacks. That's how reckless he was.

So is guy #2 Asian? Because the Asian is the usually one who hits the diabetes wall at lower BMIs.

Cutting out all drinks but water and tea would be a good start to lowering heart attack risk, along with eliminating fried foods of all kinds.

 

[igor_kavinski]

So is guy #2 Asian? Because the Asian is the usually one who hits the diabetes wall at lower BMIs.

Asian but he was a big guy overall. In his younger days, people used to jokingly call him a wrestler despite him never having gone to a gym.

 

[Torn Mind]

Asian but he was a big guy overall. In his younger days, people used to jokingly call him a wrestler despite him never having gone to a gym.

Big but still smaller compared to others with actual subcutaneous fat stores. No doubt a little evolution went down, where everyone eats mounds of rice or wheat(India loves their take on that), but still had to meet thin beauty standards. So the fat ones couldn't get a mate...

Asian diets are generally garbage. Japan saves itself partially by valuing quality, liking seafood, and willingness to eat natto. But have a sweet tooth problem, so there are dental channels showing cleanings of very rough plaque.

 

[igor_kavinski]

But have a sweet tooth problem, so there are dental channels showing cleanings of very rough plaque.

Around age 29 to 30, I knew a Filipino woman who was 6 years older. She was almost into me and it could've worked but she had very prominent teeth and they were covered in thick yellowish stains. It was a ghastly sight and kept me away from her. She married a Korean guy and living there now. With the same teeth. Guess the guy must really love her or is a very forgiving Christian.

 

[Torn Mind]

Around age 29 to 30, I knew a Filipino woman who was 6 years older. She was almost into me and it could've worked but she had very prominent teeth and they were covered in thick yellowish stains. It was a ghastly sight and kept me away from her. She married a Korean guy and living there now. With the same teeth. Guess the guy must really love her or is a very forgiving Christian.

Rice in the afternoon, evening, and probably morning is an Asian rule of life. All that makes it a bonanza for streptococcus mutans to flourish.

Never underestimate the sweet tooth of an Asian either. All sorts of candies, bakery products, etc are made. If the American standard diet and american restaurant food didn't exist, the Chinese diet would arguably be the worst in the world.

Then, there is also little dairy.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Rice in the afternoon, evening, and probably morning is an Asian rule of life. All that makes it a bonanza for streptococcus mutans to flourish.

Never underestimate the sweet tooth of an Asian either. All sorts of candies, bakery products, etc are made. If the American standard diet and american restaurant food didn't exist, the Chinese diet would arguably be the worst in the world.

Then, there is also little dairy.

Thanks! You said "bonanza", reminding me that I need to eat the bananas or they will go to my composting worms.