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Post by strippitman on Nov 11, 2011 19:28:21 GMT -5
I had a heart attack today while trying to move a stand after hunting this morning. Doc said I had a 100% blockage in my right coronary artery. Had a stent put in to repair the blockage area. Will be in hospital through Sunday. Good luck to all of you who are out for opening weekend!
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Post by jsanders on Nov 11, 2011 19:34:38 GMT -5
Sorry to hear that man, I hope u get better and get back out to the outdoors
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Post by B-rad on Nov 11, 2011 20:38:11 GMT -5
Sorry to hear, hope you can be back out soon!
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Post by hunterguy28 on Nov 11, 2011 21:32:00 GMT -5
I thought you were just bein sarcastic at first!!! Get well soon!!!
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Post by anthonydykes on Nov 11, 2011 23:21:14 GMT -5
that sux! Hope you get better soon, but dont make it TOO soon!
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Post by Greenedog on Nov 11, 2011 23:23:36 GMT -5
Holy smokes! Sorry to hear that, Matt. You're too young for that! Hope you get all healed up soon.
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Post by strippitman on Nov 12, 2011 10:38:15 GMT -5
I should be back hunting by Monday I hope. Talked with the heart doc a little bit ago and he thinks there was little to no heart damage. I am pretty lucky to be typing this today, though.
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Post by frenchy on Nov 12, 2011 13:33:36 GMT -5
sorry to hear that, get well soon then go lay the smack down on a mac daddy!
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Post by Greenedog on Nov 13, 2011 9:35:40 GMT -5
I should be back hunting by Monday I hope. Talked with the heart doc a little bit ago and he thinks there was little to no heart damage. I am pretty lucky to be typing this today, though. That's great news!!
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Post by Brian on Nov 14, 2011 1:09:28 GMT -5
Good to hear not too much damage was done. Hope you are back in the field soon. Did you know it was a heart attack when it was happening? Did you walk out on your own?
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Post by strippitman on Nov 17, 2011 11:08:58 GMT -5
Brian - I had a buddy with me when it happened, luckily. We were moving a big heavy stand that an old guy gave to us when he quit hunting this woods a couple of years ago. We would carry it like 20-30 yds, set it down, catch our breath, then carry it another 30, etc. All the while, we would joke about how out of shape we were . We were moving it about 200 yds total. When we had about 50 yds left I told my buddy let's get all the way there on this turn. Well, about 2/3 the way there I started feeling really, really weak and then started breaking a fever. At first, I thought I was coming down with the flu. We continued carrying and we got to the final resting spot for the stand. We dropped it on the ground and I slumped over a fallen tree on the ground because I thought I was going to puke. I laid there for a couple of minutes, meanwhile I was sweating profusely. It was about 30 degrees and very windy and I stripped down to just my insulated bibs and a sweatshirt and continued sweating like it was 104 degrees. At this point its been about 5 minutes since we set the stand down. My buddy had completely caught his breath but I am laboring to breath and my chest starts becoming extremely tight and it feels like my left ear drum was gonna explode (first ear ache I have ever had). I tell my buddy to go to the other end of the woods to get our bows and when he gets back we will see how I feel. If I feel ok we will put the stand up and get it secured to the tree. It only takes a couple of minutes for him to get back but by this time I realize something is seriously wrong . My buddy is beginning to realize it too. I looked him straight in the eye and said, "what the hell do you think a heart attack feels like?" He says, "I don't know but we need to get you out of here!" The truck is parked about 150 yds away acrossed a flat picked bean field. Should be easy walking but I struggled to keep my balance to get to the truck. We talked about having him drive the truck out to get me but the field was too soft to risk it! We make it to the truck and we are 20 minutes from our hometown hospital emergency room. As we were heading there I told my buddy I was bieginning to feel better and maybe I could just go home and take a nap and see if I feel better. As soon as I said that, my chest pains tripled in intensity! I looked at him and said, "get me to the ER!". I texted my wife to let her know and she left her job to meet us there. I get to the ER and within 3 minutes they have hooked me up to an EKG and determined that I had "abnormalities" with my heart. By then they had already called a helicopter to come and airlift me to the nearest heart trauma center for an emergency heart catheterization! I began to panic, so did my wife although she was trying to stay strong. Actually I I started crying like a little baby because I was thinking what the hell is going on? I was fearful of what the term "heart catheterization" meant. I was envisioning my sternum being sawed through and a full blown open heart surgery being performed. I asked him what a heart "cath" was? He said, "the doc will get into your artery through your wrist or groin and slide a wire clear up to your heart and inject a dye that will tell them if and where there is a blockage. Once the blockage is discovered they will install a stent with the same wire. The entire process could take about 30 minutes and you'll be awake for the whole thing." Believe it or not this was actually comforting news. In all actuality, it took them about 5 minutes to prep my body and about 5 minutes to perform the procedure. I was back in my own hospital room and recovering within a half hour from landing at the trauma center. Me and the Doc had a lot of fun joking around during it too which helped lessen the fear of the whole deal tremendously. Right now, I feel pretty good but I am struggling with some things. One, I am having a hard time accepting that I had a heart attack at age 37 . Two, right now I am living in fear of this happening again. Three, I also am having a hard time accepting that I will be on heart meds for the rest of my life.
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Post by goosepondmonster on Nov 17, 2011 11:16:22 GMT -5
Good to hear you're doing better.
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Post by Greenedog on Nov 17, 2011 13:16:42 GMT -5
I'm just glad your buddy was with you, Matt. It's got me thinking twice about some of the stuff I do out there alone. Heck, I moved 2 hang-on stands myself the same day that happened to you. I even joked with Kim later that I thought I was having the "Big Elizabeth."
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Post by jawbusters on Nov 20, 2011 22:51:28 GMT -5
stripitman I'm glad to hear that your doing better.
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Post by Brian on Nov 21, 2011 19:58:07 GMT -5
Thats quite a story Matt. Good thing you had a buddy with you.
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