My New Lucky Number is 7 ( dead for 7 min and zapped 7 times).

by Norman D. Goswick
(Newport News, VA)

I had my first big scare on Aug 5, 2001 when I was just 46 years old. I was dead for 7 and half minutes. The doctor zapped me 7 times (they typically stop at 4). I am one of the lucky ones. I recovered pretty quickly. They put in a single stent. However, 5 months later I had a minor problem and they had to redo my stent.

What I learned from the experience was that each person’s symptoms are different. In my case one of my symptoms was my teeth starting to hurt. The doctor told me later that when my blood pressure shot through the roof that was one of my particular symptoms.

Pay attention to your body. I try not to worry about every little ache and pain. But you should not ignore something out of the ordinary.

Every year since my heart attack I have been passing my stress test with flying colors.

I was in pretty good shape until Oct 2008. I was going to the gym and eating pretty good (no, not great). I was feeling exhausted doing something as simple as walking from my car to my office. I knew something wasn’t right. However, an EKG by my GP showed nothing. Before I could get to my cardiologist I went to the emergency room. The next day they found 3 blockages. Oh boy, open heart surgery.

Within a couple of months I was back in the gym swimming and doing other exercise. I figured I was good for another 7 years easy. Guess again.

Within 5 months I had a problem. The triple bypass had a problem. My cardiologist said this kind of thing happens to 5% of the patients. Oh boy, I get to fall into the 5% category. The main vain was fine. The right side was 80% collapsed and the left side was completely closed. He said, however the left side had attached a lot of “helper vessels” and was getting blood flow. He said all he needed to do was put a stent in the right side and monitor the other 2 for now.

I asked if we could get a refund from the surgeon or would he blame the problem on the replacement parts (they were my parts)!

Here we are 15 months later and all is well. I am in the gym 3-5 days a week. Life is good. I am not sure how many years I have left like this. But I refuse to throw in the towel. I will not go down without a fight.