In February of 2022 I visited my cardiologist for my yearly exam. He has been caring for me for about 20 years and I saw him not only as my doctor but as a friend who really looked out for me in my ways. When the examination was completed I said to him, you know doc my father, uncle, grandfather, and my sister all died from a stroke or a heart attack, and all around the same age, 67-69, and currently I am 67, so what can we do to help keep me from an early demise? He recommended a 5 minute test called coronary artery calcium scan that measures the amount of calcium that has collected in your coronary arteries due to inflammation. I took the prescription and left, and scheduled the scan with a local imaging center. Being me I looked this procedure up on line and discovered that a high score and one that would bring about a bit of concern was around 200 and a very high score was 400. My score was around 3,000. Before I even got home from the procedure my doctor called me and immediately scheduled me for a cardiac catheterization.
I was catheterized and it was found that I was about 90% blocked in many arteries including the main artery, but because the blockages were in the distal parts of the artery (meaning toward the end of the artery) I wasn’t experiencing any pain. I was given a prescription for a statin medication and was sent home. Before I left the doctor told me that I had to be brutally honest with them and let them know if I began to experience chest pain. That was the end of March 2022.
In July of 2022 I was lugging bags of mulch around the backyard and started to experience chest pain, I went over to my local hospital and was tested to determine if I had had a heart attack and was told no and that I was experiencing angina attacks that come on with exertion, and they were right from that point forward exertion brought about chest pain which subsided a when I stopped exerting myself. Always the athlete I continued to walk 5 miles a day, lift weights, and jump rope. Did I experience angina, I did and it subsided on rest. However I will say that because of my conditioning there were times when I didn’t get the angina or it took a great deal of exertion before it’s onset. I did share with my wife Pat that if this angina doesn’t subside on rest she should be ready to take me to the emergency room. I always knew that I wasn’t going to get away with this and I wasn’t going to throw caution to the wind and paid very close attention to my body, and even my mind. I wasn’t going to allow myself to be convinced that I was okay, I knew something was going to need to get done, I just didn’t know what or when.
On Sunday January 15, 2023 I went out for my walk and the inevitable happened, the pain didn’t subside. I told my wife, texted my doctor and off we went to Jersey Shore Medical Center hospital. I was admitted and scheduled for another catheterization. I was catheterized on January 18, 2023 and was told that I needed quadruple bypass. The surgery was scheduled for Monday January 23, 2023. I met with the surgeon, watched YouTube videos about what to expect, and went into the surgery confident about a complete recovery.
Movement is critical after surgery and the folks in the ICU were interested in getting me moving. What they witnessed, I truly don’t think they ever saw before. I got out of bed on my own, sat down on my own, I got up on my own and looked at my wife and said to her “this is why I did 100 squats a day.” I was taken for a walk around the ICU and did 1,000 steps. My wife told the nurse that I could have gone further.
I spent four days in the hospital after surgery. Before I left my surgeon came in and said to me, you have a new heart, the arteries that we used to graft into your heart were pristine, and your heart produced collateral arteries to create a new blood supply to get around those that were blocked. His final words to me were “It was the exercise; you are going to live another 20 years.”
One week after returning home I was walking 1.5 miles and was up to my normal 5 miles in 2 months. But that’s not all I learned over the course of the last few years not only what exercises to do but how by making exercise a lifestyle not an event can change our genetic narrative.
I had and have a family medical history that seemed to predetermine my health issues. Truly though we are not determined by our genetics we are only influenced and we can change our response to the influence at any time. Strokes and heart disease run in my family so feeling a bit anxious and worried led me to question my doctor about my odds and what could be done. I was already doing many things that needed to be done for my health but then learned along the way about epigenetics; the science of how lifestyle and environment influence gene behavior. By being aware of my risk factors many years prior I was able to rewrite my genetic narrative. My daily habits, regarding exercise, diet, and even my mindset could alter my gene expression. Truly, genetics can load the gun, but lifestyle pulls the trigger. For many years when I exercised I knew what I was doing, but I really didn’t know the true why of what I was doing. Now I do.
It’s lifestyle not an event. Exercise is something that should be incorporated into a person’s day. Oh I do workout but my workout is something that is consistent and sustainable and any exercise that I do can be used during the course of my day. It’s called functional exercise it’s important for me to know what exercise I am doing, but equally important is the why. As an example we sit we stand all day long, so what exercise helps with this; squats. We bend over and pick things up, like a small child, what exercise helps with this; deadlifts. We start our lawn mower; rowing motion.
I walk, not just a structured walk, but all over. Why have your groceries delivered to you when you can walk around a grocery store. Walk a little faster if you can for days when you are in a bit of a hurry or you are keeping up with or playing with your kids. Gain an understanding that exercise can be done anytime or anywhere. While waiting for your coffee to brew in the morning you can do 10 squats, and ten pushups off of your kitchen counter.
Energy can’t be created or destroyed, it’s recycled. If we take in too much energy in our diet in the form of food our bodies will store it in the form of a very unhealthy energy called fat. Diet is a lifestyle as well we just have to remain aware of our pants size and when to dial back our food intake. For many years when I exercised I knew what I was doing, but I really didn’t know the true why of what I was doing. Now I do. I was training for quadruple bypass surgery.
Please remember what my doctor said to me before I left the hospital; “It was the exercise; and you are going to live another 20 years.” I‘ve got a lot of planning to do.