…and this is a 
Now that it is over, I can say what happened — sometimes people freak out over this kind of thing, and there were no real worries here.
On Friday, as I do every day, I went out for a walk for about an hour — I strolled down to the Stevens County Fair, on an unpleasantly muggy early afternoon, and then walked back home…and I was almost there when I felt a peculiar tightness in my chest. That's odd, I thought, I wasn't exerting myself that much. And then I felt a slow ache building in my left arm.
If you have any familiarity with physiology and medicine at all, you know that is a very bad sign. I was about equidistant from home, where I briefly thought I would just go, lie down, and feel the odd weak ache go away, and the Stevens County Medical Center, where I would go if I were sane and taking the problem seriously. Sanity won handily, since I had a father who had his first heart attack in his early forties, and after a series of more heart attacks, would die in his mid-fifties. So I turned right and walked two blocks to the medical center (if I'd been entirely sane, I probably should have whipped out my cell phone and called them, but it was such a mild pain, and I was so close…).
Anyway, it turns out that if a 50ish man walks into a hospital and mentions chest pains radiating into the left arm, there is a kind of automatic freak-out response that I'm sure saves lives. I was flat on my back on a bed with an IV needle in a vein and a nitroglycerin pill under my tongue in about 30 seconds, and then I was hooked up to an EKG and surrounded by doctors and nurses. The ache was also gone right after that, but then I was completely in their control, and was wheeled right up into a hospital room for 24 hours of observation, which because it was a weekend, turned into several days of observation and tests and getting blood drawn every four hours and being awakend at 2am for more tests, all while being wired up to telemetry widgets.
It made for an epically boring weekend.
The good news, though, is that there was no sign of a heart attack, and even when they subjected me to a stress test (no fun at all for a sedentary professor) the pains did not return. The bad news is that all my bad habits were exposed and measured, and it turns out I have moderately high blood pressure, which is already responding to drugs, and a few little cardiac abnormalities that they're going to check out more thoroughly later this week with an angiogram. So I'm OK! Don't start the deathwatch yet!
It could have been worse. Mainly what I got was slapped upside the head with a warning, this time.
The main consequences are that I'm going to be taking pills everyday, and that I have to change my diet to more cardboard and blandness, which the TrophyWife™ has grimly seized upon as an excuse to take over all the cooking at home, and stick me with the dishwashing job. I think it also means that when I'm off giving talks and joining in the post-event celebration at the local bar, I'll be eschewing the greasy bar food for a salad. Damn.
Oh, well, this is the price we pay for the accidents of family history. I got a brain and an appreciation of learning from both my parents, but my mother's iron constitution passed me by, and instead I got my father's heart. I'm not complaining, though, since it was the heart of a romantic poet; we all know how fragile those things are, but I wouldn't trade it in for anything.
Oh, and for everyone reading this: if you feel some persistent twinge that you suspect might be a sign of some problem, but you think maybe if you just lie down for a bit and the symptom will go away, don't. Get it checked out, even if it does mean you get to spend a weekend in a bed surrounded by beige walls.
Comments
Posted by: Glen Davidson
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August 16, 2010 4:34 PM
Caught and owned.
Glen Davidson
Posted by: pteryxx
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August 16, 2010 4:34 PM
*applauds publicly*
*discreetly, sighs in relief*
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp
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August 16, 2010 4:35 PM
Oh I hope someone was praying for you...
Anywho, good to hear you're mostly hunky dory.
Posted by: PZ Myers
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August 16, 2010 4:36 PM
Before anyone asks, no I did not indulge in any of the greasy fried food substances on a stick at the fair. That stuff'll kill you.
Posted by: Ichthyic
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August 16, 2010 4:36 PM
Meh. My pops went through something similar in his 50's (had an aortic aneurysm).
The habit and diet changes turned out to be no big deal, and he lived on to 80 with no further related issues.
You'll get used to this, and be entirely comfortable with it in a couple weeks, and back to the pub for pints in no time.
cheers!
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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August 16, 2010 4:40 PM
Wow, PZ. Glad to hear you're okay.
It's hard not to be sedentary as an academic, but you'd be surprised how many opportunities for healthful activities can present themselves when you apply a little creativity.
For instance: are you simply collecting your zebrafish with a net, or are you donning trunks, getting into the tank with them, and attempting to catch them with your bare hands? As for those dishwashing duties: sure, you could simply squirt some Palmolive in the sink, or you could find a source of clay, build a potter's wheel and a kiln, and throw your own dishes for every meal.
Just some ideas.
Posted by: GrumpyPathDoc
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August 16, 2010 4:41 PM
I had a similar episode almost a year ago to the day. My wife and I were gardening, we went to our pool, I swam a bit and fell asleep. I woke up, not with chest pain but with an irregular pulse. Diagnosed myself with atrial fibrillation and off we went to the ER at the hospital I work at. I spent the weekend much as you did with an IV, wires everywhere, new medications and lots of blood drawn.No problems since then but I also have lost 15 pounds and need to lose about 15 more.
Hang in there PZ, medicine can almost trump family history for heart disease if you follow the advice of your physician.
Posted by: Cuttlefish, OM, CR
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August 16, 2010 4:42 PM
You certainly chose
The right century for this!
Glad you're still around
Posted by: kariedgerton
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August 16, 2010 4:44 PM
I'm glad you're okay! If you need any healthy recipes let me know!
Posted by: hznfrst
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August 16, 2010 4:44 PM
Thank dog you're okay, P.Z. I had a similar scare last year which turned out to be nothing, except for an obscene hospital bill that I'm still fighting in this "greatest country in the world."
It's bad enough what's happened to Hitch; I don't think I could stand having two of my heroes at once facing this sort of thing.
Peace, and from now on tofu.
Posted by: pbickart
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August 16, 2010 4:44 PM
I was lucky to have these classic signs. I avoided a coronary 13 years ago by not ignoring them; I had 90% occlusion of the left anterior descending coronary artery, and an angioplasty, a stent and Lipitor have kept me going since then with no further trouble.
But those signs are far from universal. Be glad when you can recognize them.
Posted by: jidashdee
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August 16, 2010 4:44 PM
Just remember, there is no such thing as turkey bacon!
This could be a good excuse to get half-plowed on red vino every night. As if anyone really needs an excuse for that.
Posted by: SWH
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August 16, 2010 4:46 PM
The sane move was a good one. You can now join the rest of us middle aged sedentary academics by adding a statin and an ACE inhibitor to your daily diet. To perk you up, most bars sell a wide variety of perfectly palatable fat-free low cholesterol beer. Much healthier than the greasy solid junk they use to inflate their profits! Just rebalance your intake in favor of liquids and you'll live at least until Christmas!
Posted by: Tulse
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August 16, 2010 4:46 PM
It's great to hear you're OK, PZ. Clearly Somebody Up There is looking out for you!
Posted by: Spiro Keat
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August 16, 2010 4:49 PM
Whew! Glad it was only a warning PZ.
Posted by: James F
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August 16, 2010 4:49 PM
I admit my ideas aren't as creative as Brownian's, but some jogging or cycling will do a world of good. The Couch to 5K program, for example, has gained a lot of popularity. Stay healthy!
Posted by: llewelly
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August 16, 2010 4:50 PM
PZ:
This photo was a completely accurate prophecy.
Posted by: Dwpeabody
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August 16, 2010 4:50 PM
Omg, I heard PZ had a death bed conversion.
Posted by: blf
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August 16, 2010 4:50 PM
That makes it sound like the TW™ isn't such a great cook…
I did a quick search for edible cardboard, and except for various suggestions / projects to make edible food containers, the only thing I found was a suggestion that's a synonym for matzo. ;-\
Of course, what really happened is your Evil Master of the Universe™ implant's battery needed changing. And you weren't in the hospital all that time, some of it was aboard a mothership getting a new battery and, probably, other adjustments.
Unfortunately, they sent you back. ;-)
Posted by: Jerry Coyne
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August 16, 2010 4:50 PM
Glad you're okay! As Hitch said, maybe we'd all better ease up on the smokes and the cocktails!
Posted by: Antiochus Epiphanes
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August 16, 2010 4:52 PM
Just eat a baby and you'll feel better. They are a good source of brown fat (the good fat) and youth.
Posted by: toomanytribbles
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August 16, 2010 4:52 PM
i'm so glad you're well. thank goodness.
and the weekend was definitely not lost... you realized you must take better care of yourself.
Posted by: Fred The Hun
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August 16, 2010 4:52 PM
Well, that's all fine and dandy but it might be time to change one more thing, being sedentary. Get some roller blades or something.
By total coincidence I just happened to be following a thread over at TOD just a few minutes ago...
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/6857#comment-702857
Ride a Bike or take a Hike!
Posted by: 朴競花/박경화 (Gyeong Hwa)
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August 16, 2010 4:53 PM
Perhaps you should be less sedentary, professor. :-)
But I'm glad to hear you're alright. I had thought that your absences was due to being busy with stuff.
Posted by: lumbercartel
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August 16, 2010 4:53 PM
Bland? Bland!?!?! What's with this "bland" crap?
Some of the most complex and far-from-bland foods in the world are outrageously heart-healthy. Think India, FTLOTFSM! Herbs and spices, after all, are just about the ultimate low-cal goodies.
(Says /me, having smoke-dried a batch of home-grown chiles yesterday. Ummmmm.)
Posted by: paul.m.lundgren
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August 16, 2010 4:54 PM
Maybe it was just your arm trying to sprout tentacles, instead?
[End obligatory lame joke]
Glad you're OK, doc. Feel better soon.
Posted by: Bobber
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August 16, 2010 4:54 PM
PZ, while I'm glad that you were wise enough to be cautious and get yourself checked out rather than just brush it off, I can't help but think that you are fortunate to be able to actually take these precautions without facing bankruptcy.
I've been in a similar situation - I'm in my 40s, my younger brother had a heart attack last year (mild, and he was also smart enough to get to the emergency room ASAP), there's heart disease and stroke in my genetic heritage (dad has had a heart attack, three bypass surgeries and an angioplasty, but is still going relatively strong for 80 years old), I have high blood pressure (controlled with medication) and high cholesterol (likewise controlled with medication and a most boring diet). Yet I'm unemployed, what savings I have go into paying bills while I desperately search for work, and I don't have insurance. When I finally went to see a doctor about some chest pain I was having he tried to scare me into getting a stress test ($1800.00) or allow myself to be admitted to a hospital for a full cardio test barrage (untold thousands of dollars). I was very forthright with the doctor, explaining that spending all of that money on a "maybe this is what's wrong" situation simply wasn't an option for me; the money I would spend on tests, with the likely outcome of "Oh, just eat better and get more exercise" (which I don't need a doctor to tell me to do), is better spent on electricity, groceries, and my daughter's school supplies.
(There's very few options for health care down here in rural NC. The local "Free Clinic" [quotes very appropriate] requires you to have a job and submit a year's worth of financial records before they'll see you - in two months.)
I'm really glad you're okay, PZ. But your episode reminds me of how much better it would be if all of us could take the option of potentially saving our lives without it requiring losing an arm and a leg in the process.
(And please do take care of yourself, PZ. There aren't enough voices of reason in this world that we can afford to lose yours!)
Posted by: jdhuey
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August 16, 2010 4:55 PM
A very similar thing happened to me, except that while I was performing the stress test, I had a real bona fide heart attack. I went in on Friday, heart attack on Saturday morning followed quickly by angioplasty (two stents LAD), then sent home Sunday afternoon. If you have to have a heart attack, do it in a hospital.
Posted by: The Science Pundit
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August 16, 2010 4:55 PM
Glad to hear you're fine! One question: will you still be quaffing the fine, barley-based, brewed beverages?
Posted by: pixelfish
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August 16, 2010 4:56 PM
Because of certain symptoms not going away, I get to take a barium shake on Wednesday...so I feel for you and your medical shakedown. It's never fun to feel like your body is failing you.
Posted by: Lyle
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August 16, 2010 4:57 PM
PZ, I'm glad you are doing well. Good luck with the lifestyle changes.
You should have used the cell phone!
And yes, when you have those symptoms, you should go lie down... in a bed at the Emergency Department of the closest hospital!
Posted by: Vicki, Chief Assistant to the Assistant Chief
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August 16, 2010 4:59 PM
I'm glad that it turned out not to be a lot worse, and glad that you got checked.
As for bland, garlic, ginger, peppers, and horseradish are all vegetables and low in fat. Balsamic vinegar will make that salad more interesting. (And so on, at great length that you can probably research for yourself.)
Thanks also for passing on the "get it checked" advice. Sometimes it's nothing, but people die of "it's probably nothing."
Posted by: BBCaddict
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August 16, 2010 4:59 PM
Oh man! I'm glad it was nothing!
You're too awesome to lose PZ.
Posted by: Robert H
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August 16, 2010 5:00 PM
Eloquent proof of the utter failure of imprecatory prayer. May you always so confound your enemies.
Posted by: MadScientist
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August 16, 2010 5:01 PM
Maybe angina then rather than a heart attack - but didn't the nitroglycerine give you a headache? Still not good news though. I wonder what they expect to see on an angiogram - 2 hearts maybe?
Posted by: oregonsage
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August 16, 2010 5:02 PM
Reminiscent of my episode 2 years ago, and I have a similar family history.
After a few days of nagging pain in my back I finally walked 2 blocks to the acute care room down the street they just monitored me for 2 hours until I complained that the pain was still there. A dose of nitro made me all warm and fuzzy as it opened up my passages and then they shipped my off for an operation.
I now have 4 little metal mesh tubes in me, am 30 lbs lighter and a lover of vegetables and oatmeal.
Yes this all happened just shortly after turning 50. As the man says, dont ignore this stuff.
Posted by: evogene
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August 16, 2010 5:03 PM
I am very pleased that you are ok, Prof.Myers. I don't know much about medicine, but hypertension seems an odd thing. E.g. I am only 20 yrs old and I am in a pre-hypertension status naturally, and that is a bit scary specially when I get older. I wonder if hypertension is another example of bad design that creationists need to know about.
Posted by: RamblinDude
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August 16, 2010 5:05 PM
Dark green salads, whole grains, etc. Get used to it and you’ll never go back to all that greasy shit America calls food.
Posted by: loocas
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August 16, 2010 5:05 PM
Glad you pulled through okay.
Posted by: Aaron Baker
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August 16, 2010 5:06 PM
Glad you're OK. I second the green salads.
Posted by: consciousness razor
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August 16, 2010 5:06 PM
I'm glad to hear you're doing alright, and that the worst parts of the experience were apparently boredom and the prospect of bland food. (Hmmm, for some reason, I'm reminded of the Catholic mass...)
Posted by: oihorse
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August 16, 2010 5:07 PM
Heeh. Less sedentary than most :P
Posted by: Dianne
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August 16, 2010 5:07 PM
Has anyone mentioned aspirin yet? It's good for secondary prophylaxis of heart disease and keeps breast cancer at bay.
Also, if it hasn't been done, may I suggest 24 hour blood pressure monitoring to see if your BP is stable and if the office measurements are typical (you may have some element of white coat hypertension, for example...or you may have an anti-WCH syndrome in which your BP goes down in the office.)
Posted by: jidashdee
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August 16, 2010 5:08 PM
I just realised that I recommended Au Pied du Cochon as a restaurant choice for the Montreal convention. Scratch that one off the list if you value your life.
Nothing for you but beer battered, deep fried Lipitor tablets in sweet chili and garlic sauce from now on.
Posted by: sphex
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August 16, 2010 5:08 PM
Just want to add my voice to the chorus of "glad you're ok!". I'm so glad you did the sane thing, so glad you had good doctors, and so glad that you'll modify your lifestyle in such a way that we'll get to enjoy your presence for a lot longer.
in light of the "are you afraid of death?" thread, I find this whole episode somewhat ironic
Posted by: blf
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August 16, 2010 5:09 PM
Poopyhead's a banshee? (Like Mr Gryle—well, not exactly like Mr Gryle: I doubt Pee Zed eats septic pigeons, albeit he might gnaw on his grandmother's bones?)
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/vM7UePx6gYIABXkdWww4UWymJw--#224be
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August 16, 2010 5:09 PM
See, deprecatory prayer works, too. Half of Tennessee is pointing to the sky.
Posted by: Zeno
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August 16, 2010 5:09 PM
Glad to hear you're mostly okay, PZ, but sorry to hear about your move to Cardboard Food Land.
I had a similar episode about thirty years ago, which was shockingly young to be experiencing such a thing. (I am no longer shockingly young, of course.) It was utterly and completely a false alarm, signifying nothing except excessive anxiety. The "you got nothing" diagnosis cheered me up immensely and drove away the dark clouds. (And I was even happier a few years later when I left the job I had at the time.)
Posted by: Ray Moscow
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August 16, 2010 5:10 PM
You're a smart man, PZ. Glad you got it checked out and that it was a false alarm.
I have a similar crap family genetic history and have to watch my BP and cholesterol. So far I'm OK, but ...
Posted by: ian.monroe
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August 16, 2010 5:10 PM
It doesn't have to be bland at all. Thats what spices are for. I weekly make some quinoa vegetable curry for lunch at work and load the stuff up cumin, turmeric, mustard, "curry" powder, fresh ginger. You don't have to be totally dorky/hippy and make quinoa (though I'd recommend it, its a really easy and yummy slightly more healthy alternative to rice) but Indian spices make it easy to eat healthy.
Posted by: Adamvs Maximvs
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August 16, 2010 5:10 PM
Glad to hear you're doing fine (well, reasonably so).
Might I suggest starting to weight lift (if you're doctor approves it first). Cardio is great and all, but my mom was having heart issues and general ill-health as a result of not having done anything exerting in 40 years (plus a bit of family history).
The doctor had her start walking, and eventually jogging a bit, but improvements were minimal. She finally caved into me badgering her to try weights and she can't believe how much better she feels (and looks!).
It's pretty miserable for the first few weeks, but once you get into it you feel better all the time.
Though who am I kidding. You were only spared out of HIS grace. Change your heathen ways!!! /sarcasm
Posted by: xhakhal
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August 16, 2010 5:12 PM
Happy to hear you're A-OKAY! And good luck with the diet changes and so on :)
Posted by: Left_Wing_Fox
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August 16, 2010 5:13 PM
Very glad you did the sane thing for a boring weekend. Lost someone I loved at the age of 21(!) to a pulmonary embolism. Glad to hear you avoided a similar fate.
Posted by: AreUNorml
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August 16, 2010 5:13 PM
I'll be praying for you :)
Posted by: Mattir-ritated
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August 16, 2010 5:14 PM
Glad to know you're ok - wouldn't want to overwork the PhyberSquad.
Posted by: otrame
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August 16, 2010 5:17 PM
PZ, as time goes on you will find yourself taking more and more pills every day. My mother complained about this. "I don't remember the old people taking all these pills when I was younger." To which I replied "That's because most of them were dead." Strangely, I find I enjoy life more and more as my body starts having some issues (all minor so far, thank Cthulhu). Hope you do too. Remember what my ex the cardiologist always says: After the age of about 50 you have to keep moving or it will catch up."
@46, no I think the two hearts in question would suggest that PZ was perhaps a Temporodominus gallifrans rather than Homo sapiens.
Posted by: daveau
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August 16, 2010 5:17 PM
If you can do it, I can do it. (Diet and exercise, that is.)
Glad you're still with us.
Posted by: Timberwoof
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August 16, 2010 5:19 PM
PZ, we met briefly after your talk at Stanford; I mentioned my concern about Texas school board determining school books for all. When I read "when I felt a peculiar tightness in my chest. That's odd, I thought, I wasn't exerting myself that much. And then I felt a slow ache building in my left arm," I knew there was trouble to come.
I just turned 50; I play hockey just about every Sunday morning, I walk a mile to the burrito joint, and I take stairs instead of the elevator. A decade ago I had minor heart surgery, so I run an exercise EKG every couple of years just to make sure. My doctor just gave me a Healthy Human Award and even rolled his eyes at me when I told him I was worried that I might have trouble finding a boyfriend. (I'm lucky that I have a doctor with whom I can have such discussions.)
When I was in high school and college, I thought I was a wimp; I still proudly call myself a nerd. But something happened along the way, and I can also call myself a jock. I am healthier now than I was in my 30s.
So. Walk. Walk a lot. PZMeyers, you know that we humans are built for walking. Get yourself some good running shoes and, under the care of a cardiac physician, walk! If you encourage your body with the right stresses, you will get better. If wimpy me can stop slap shots and breakaways from guys twice my size, then you can regain your health. Use it or lose it.
Posted by: Dania
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August 16, 2010 5:19 PM
Glad to hear that the Poopyhead is OK!
Posted by: Eamon Knight
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August 16, 2010 5:21 PM
Glad to hear it came out (mostly) all right.
So, this is when the Christians all start praying for you, right? For the nice ones, it's just an eccentric way of expressing good wishes. For the nasty ones, it's because God is really pissed at you, so take this as a warning shot across the bow. For the ones who are merely patronizing assholes, it's God's way of getting your attention about how much you neeeeed Jeeeezuz! (Which is really just a thinly-disguised version of the previous one)
As for cardboard: WTF? My wife has been cooking (yes, she's always cooked and I've always washed -- it's been working fine for us for 30 years) mostly vegetarian with occasional fish or chicken for the past six years (the impetus being when I was diagnosed with diverticular disease, so she decided to get serious about diet for both our sakes), and there needn't be anything bland about eating amazingly healthy food. Think: chick pea curry, pad thai, pasta with stir-fried greens and chopped tomatoes -- and as much garlic, chili peppers and what-have-you as your palate can stand.
Posted by: tominwv
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August 16, 2010 5:21 PM
I was on the verge of diabetes a couple years ago and was given the choice of medication or lose weight. I chose to lose weight and dropped 50 pounds in eight months by altering my eating habits to something mind-numbingly boring, um healthy. I ate so much salad that one of the difference between me and a steer in a feed lot was that my food didn't arrive on a conveyor belt. Anyway, I quickly learned that being good will make you batshitcrazy, so I allowed myself to be bad occasionally without the guilt. My numbers are good and the weight is still off; this does require a lifetime committment. Eating healthy isn't the end of the world, and may help to put it off for a while.
Posted by: PZ Myers
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August 16, 2010 5:21 PM
My wife is Scandinavian. When she goes looking for recipes, "spice" is an alien word. I'll try to tell her to use a few of those exotic flavoring agents on the cardboard, though!
Now that a bunch of people are mentioning it, though: not once in the whole episode, not even when the doctor was scaring me with the possibilities here, did I even think about any gods. I don't think a deathbed conversion is likely if Jesus doesn't even cross my mind at any time in the whole frightening, anxiety-inducing hospital experience.
Posted by: Pierce R. Butler
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August 16, 2010 5:22 PM
... I have to change my diet to more cardboard and blandness...
The upside to all this is that we'll be seeing a lot more posts on creative ways to serve crackers!
Posted by: otrame
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August 16, 2010 5:24 PM
@63
*snerkle
One medium-sized internet for that one.
Posted by: vanharris
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August 16, 2010 5:24 PM
I'm pleased to hear that you're okay, PZ.
Some commenters mentioned cycling. I had a scare a few years ago. I cut out the fatty food, which was difficult at first but I soon got used to it. Then I took up cycling. I'm in my 60's & now belong to a cycling club & ride time trials up to 25 miles. I'm one of the slower guys, but what the heck.
I lost a lot of weight - the best part of 10 kg. My blood pressure (100 over 70) is like that of a young man, & my resting heart rate is in the mid 50's.
So get checked out & get a bike, if you get the all-clear. You can't beat it.
Posted by: NewEnglandBob
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August 16, 2010 5:26 PM
Your diet does NOT have to be cardboard and bland. Use onions, garlic, bell peppers, paprika, oregano, basil, parsley, etc., etc. (not all at once). Nuts, fruits, veggies, good low fat diet salad dressings and other creative cuisine ideas can make for delicious meals. Bake, broil, marinade (low fat).
Posted by: TritoneSub
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August 16, 2010 5:27 PM
I am glad you emerged relatively unscathed. I had an episode of 'splodey heart a bit over a year ago at age 45. Now I'm in end stage renal disease to boot. I'm not afraid of dying even though a cold grave and nothingness is what I expect to find. I'm doing what I can to forestall the inevitable but there's nothing so special about my existence that it warrants much hand wringing. Everything that lives dies. Worms gotta eat too.
Posted by: Steve LaBonne
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August 16, 2010 5:28 PM
Eh, the pills are not so bad (I've been taking quinapril and HCTZ for my blood pressure and pravastatin for my cholesterol for years- no big deal, and they're all cheap generics now) and as for food, what Eamon Knight said- no cardboard required. (If an Irishman with a bit of French Canadian, like me, can have wide culinary horizons so can a Scandinavian!) Good luck!
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/hairychris444#96384
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August 16, 2010 5:28 PM
Owww, good luck sir.
Posted by: vancityskeptic.com
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August 16, 2010 5:29 PM
Eek!
Glad all is well.
Posted by: otrame
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August 16, 2010 5:30 PM
TritoneSub
Sorry you are ill, but remember Dum vivamus, vivimus.
(While we live, let us live)
Posted by: Rafa
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August 16, 2010 5:31 PM
I'm 29 and I'm taking beta-blockers due to a VERY thick heart septum. Every time a go to a doctor, all I hear is "bla-bla-bla-SUDDEN-DEATH-bla-bla-bla". A bit scary, but It's ok. I got it from my father as well and, just like PZ, I wouldn't trade it in for anything.
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, Quel Dommage
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August 16, 2010 5:31 PM
A few years ago I slipped on a patch of ice and cracked a couple of ribs. Do not be a middle-aged man walking into an Emergency Room holding the left side of your chest. You'll be hooked up to an EKG before you can explain the real nature of your problem.
Posted by: blf
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August 16, 2010 5:32 PM
“Spices, dear, spices. Doctor's orders.”
(Dr Myers, that is.)
Posted by: Utakata
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August 16, 2010 5:33 PM
The problem with me is that I have symptoms of all sorts nasties like these, which turns out to be symptoms of a chronic anxiety disorder I have that's pretty good mimicking many of these "warning signs" especially when I go into panic mode. You have no idea how many times I visited medical huts...I mean facilities only to be given a false alarm status by staff and gently sent on my way. So if I have an actual sudden heart issue...I may not see it coming. You know...the boy who cried wolf analogy. :(
Posted by: tradewinds
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August 16, 2010 5:33 PM
Stay well, we so need you.
Posted by: Walton, Marquis of Carabas
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August 16, 2010 5:33 PM
I'm glad to hear you're okay, Professor Myers.
Posted by: thegazprom
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August 16, 2010 5:33 PM
Very glad to hear you're okay and I am sure with a few life style changes you will live a long, happy life! Good luck!
Posted by: nejishiki
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August 16, 2010 5:34 PM
looks like you'll need to switch to eating low-fat babies.
Posted by: Crommunist
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August 16, 2010 5:35 PM
See now I feel responsible for keeping you at the TM out until 4 am and pouring sleeves of the Backhand of God all night.
The good news is that if you move to Vancouver, we have lots of great places to walk, lots of hippie places that make healthy food interesting, and it's warm enough all year that you can be active outdoors all year. Doooo eeeet
Posted by: Aquaria
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August 16, 2010 5:35 PM
So glad you're okay, PZ. I suppose you'll add more walking to your routine.
I agree about how blandness sucks. And blandness to me is vegetables. Boring. How can any vegetable compare to bacon?
But you do what you gotta do. Maybe you can sneak the bacon in by putting it on salads. The best accompaniment to boring lettuce and boring carrots and boring cucumbers which together add up to colossal boredom is not boring bacon.
Posted by: KG
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August 16, 2010 5:35 PM
Glad to hear you're OK, PZ, and you were very wise to get to hospital stat! I recall hearing that Douglas Adams had a pain in his left arm the day before he died, and didn't get it checked.
I've been on anti-hypertensives on and off (depending on the state of medical opinion) since my mid-20s, 30+ years ago, and a few years ago added a statin on my own initiative (according to my GP I had a 1 in 20 chance of a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years, not enough to prescribe them, but I thought it way too high!). And I cycle to work most days. Get on those drugs, and get on yer bike!
Some 25 years ago, I was working on medical expert systems, and attended a course for nurses and paramedics on cardiology. The course was taken by the 60-ish senior consultant, Professor Douglas Chamberlain. Every week he would run up the nine stories (18 flights) to the lecture room, and strongly encourage us to accompany him - which was completely knackering. I just googled him, and he's still alive and scientifically active.
Posted by: lumbercartel
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August 16, 2010 5:36 PM
Basil: the other green leafy vegetable.
It's a slippery slope: push her over with the ginger, coriander, mint, and cumin (all used north of the Baltic) and before she knows it she'll be writing to me for another batch of mesquite smoked chiles (and sure, you can have some for the asking.)
Posted by: Steve LaBonne
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August 16, 2010 5:37 PM
Ever tried South Indian food? Yummmm. (And I love bacon!)
Posted by: randydudek
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August 16, 2010 5:38 PM
Just wanted to chime in with everyone else and say glad to hear that things are largely ok.
Posted by: Steve LaBonne
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August 16, 2010 5:39 PM
We have a thread winner!
Posted by: Sven DiMilo
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August 16, 2010 5:40 PM
All's well that ain't ended yet. Glad you're well.
Posted by: Ye Olde Blacksmith
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August 16, 2010 5:40 PM
You know that this is going to get quote mined all over jeezuzland. ;-)I'm really glad to hear that you're all right.
Posted by: lucyv
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August 16, 2010 5:40 PM
Will join the chorus of relieved readers.
I hope you are allowed back in control of the stove soon.
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/CmcUpM0h2eQXK59uQE5a80Vb74cwyvFNMMk-#20c72
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August 16, 2010 5:41 PM
Also glad of the good outcome!
To butt in with my 2 cents: I learned to love whole grains (particularly brown rice) and all sorts of beans and, as others have advised, SPICES!!. My cholesterol went from 235 to 205 with no other dietary changes (which means I still eat beef, pork, butter and too many sweets.) I abhor oatmeal, but am a big salad lover.
Also, no weight loss. Which makes my Dr. goggle at my 'numbers' being so good. (My only bad one has been my cholesterol and it's so improved, he isn't concerned with my being "borderline.")
My best tip is to integrate one dietary change at a time, if you can, until eating that way is second nature. I am currently working on whole grain pasta. The main leap is to get my hubby on board, which is why it has taken me so long.
-dwarf zebu
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/SaqGVG0xvJEQVwURVamS3DTCdvov0BLhXK1jOsYPPJQ-#b4893
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August 16, 2010 5:41 PM
PZ, you haven't lived until you've had an intenstinal obstruction.
I am quite familiar with beige walls, thank you.
You handled it the right way, but man, take up cycling. I have made it a point that I will keep my kids, now 13 and 16, the heck away from motor sports.
It seems like Morris would be a perfect community for cycling, much like Davis, CA is. I have about a 113-60 BP, heart rate in the 40s, impossibly low cholesterol levels, work out pretty hard 3+ times/week, am about 4 months younger than you... And I'm still fearful of cardiovascular disease.
My 79 Y/O father has Parkinson's. It sucks.
MikeM
Posted by: Ye Olde Blacksmith
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August 16, 2010 5:44 PM
Until I moved to Finland from Texas, I never knew that you could actually eat a plain boiled potato. Surprisingly, my family and I have learned to enjoy them quite alot now. Adding some dill to them is nice, as well.
Posted by: TWood
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August 16, 2010 5:47 PM
Now you've done it. Thwarted God's divine plan for you. Mysterious ways and all. What if you and Hitch are supposed to be martyrs for the apocalypse? The retribution will be even more divine!
I'm really glad you're okay.
Posted by: Caine, ghetto féministe
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August 16, 2010 5:47 PM
What an experience, it had to be frightening for a moment or three. Glad it's mostly good news, PZ.
Posted by: lumbercartel
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August 16, 2010 5:48 PM
Indeed -- and a great deal [1] of bacon's flavor is the smoke used to cure it. So find another carrier for the smoke flavor.
Sure, it's bad for you. Carcinogenic at the very least. But let's keep our priorities straight!
[1] IMHO all of it, but I'm told by others that to them pork has flavor. Coulda fooled me: salt and grease is all I get.
Posted by: Dhorvath, OM
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August 16, 2010 5:49 PM
Not a lost weekend, doing anything else could have been the loss.
I have been through several similar scary situations and twice ended up in emergency with chest pains. (They don't take these things quite so seriously at my age, but I was still a priority case.)
Diet is a huge part of this, I spend all kinds of time exercising and my weight didn't react to anything until I got the diet under control.
Glad to hear you are ok.
Posted by: daveau
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August 16, 2010 5:50 PM
For November-April in Minnesota, I'd suggest cross-country skiing. You might find cycling a little rough.
Posted by: DominEditrix
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August 16, 2010 5:50 PM
Good to hear you're OK, PZ, but the diagnosis does not have to mean that your food must be bland. A lot less fatty, and lower in salt, but there are all sorts of lovely and tasty and healthy things out there to eat. When the Biophysicist had a TIA a few years ago, we just tweaked our diet a bit, without losing flavour.
We do, however, have a monthly bacon bash, during which diet restraints are lifted, lest we go mad.
Posted by: ambulocetacean
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August 16, 2010 5:51 PM
Yikes! Take care of yourself, PZ.
Posted by: SolidSquid
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August 16, 2010 5:52 PM
I highly recommend looking at recipes for vegetable curries, such as:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/gordon_ramsay/article1660230.ece
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1306/easy-peasy-lentil-curry
and http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/quickvegetablecurry_92583
All very healthy, but at the same time a ton of flavour. In fact, as long as you avoid the curries with coconut milk in them (like kormas) pretty much all curries are healthy and tasty, and usually pretty easy to make too.
Chilli you can eat too and still have it be fairly healthy (well, depending on recipe and portion size)
Actually, just take a look at http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/search.do?keywords=&filterItem=&filterItem=&filterItem=&filterItem=&filterItem=&filterItem=&filterItem=&filterItem=dietFat&filterItem=&filterItem=&x=64&y=12 for quite a lot of low-fat meals (and there's other filters available too). Curry I'd mainly recommend though because it's one of my personal favourites
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawkJ9tGayBG6RDqWZgUhtKquDNyarkmU0f8
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August 16, 2010 5:52 PM
Glad you're okay.
Posted by: Chgo_Liz
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August 16, 2010 5:52 PM
So glad to hear that you were merely bored, and then sent down a healthier path for the future!
When I was finally diagnosed in time to not-die from an inherited endocrine disorder, the specialist mentioned that I would have to make a first appointment with the hospital's nutritionist, because that would be a part of my new health regimen for life. I mentioned that I was a long term vegetarian, to which he replied that I didn't need to make the appointment after all, because I was already eating healthier than what the nutritionist would have recommended.
And yet, I still got the same disorder as every one of my cousins on my mother's side of the family.
Genes and environment: do what you can to positively change the latter, because there's not much you can do about the former.
Posted by: Aratina Cage
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August 16, 2010 5:55 PM
Scary! What a relief that you were so close to the hospital and that it was not a heart attack.
Posted by: Audley Z. Darkheart OM, purveyor of candy and lies
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August 16, 2010 5:59 PM
I'm so happy that you're okay, PZ! I know how tempting it is to just go home and "sleep it off" when you've got some scary symptoms. I'm super glad you decided to do the opposite.
pixelfish:
In case your doctor/technician/nurse/whatever hasn't warned you, the barium shake is prolly gonna give you the shits for days after the test*.
Just givin' you a heads up. ;)
*Nobody warned me and I almost crapped my pants right there in the ER.
Posted by: littleoutrage
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August 16, 2010 6:01 PM
Ah! Be safe you wonderful, sensible science man.
Posted by: SteveV, Death's Pissant Haberdasher
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August 16, 2010 6:01 PM
Well thank fuck for that!
Now, everybody, DON'T MENTION BACON!
Oh shit
Posted by: James R. Palmer II
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August 16, 2010 6:02 PM
If you die can you leave your blog to my Science Research teacher James Danch in NJ. I think or infer though not known directly that he shares some of your sentiments on politics, science, and he is a biologist with knowledge of adaptation mainly reptilian.
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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August 16, 2010 6:02 PM
I've managed to lose nearly ten pounds and cut my LDL while raising my HDL by simply jogging the four blocks I have to walk to and from work each day. So, that's an ~140m jog to the bus stop, a ten-minute bus ride, and another ~100m jog from the bus stop to work. Then I
comment on Pharyngulawork for eight hours, and do the same in reverse. At no time do I even break a sweat, and I'm the kind of person who'll break a sweat if I change my socks too vigorously. I also went back to making stirfries at home more often, and jamming that wok full of as much bok choy, kale, peppers, celery, broccoli, and cilantro as will fit. (I've decided I need a much bigger wok.)Quinoa, as ian.monroe mentioned, is a good choice, and pretty easy to cook. (I realised I'd inherited some from a former health-conscious Tassie roommate of mine when I threw what I thought was barley into a home-made minestrone and it was cooked within minutes.)
Another innovation of mine is to use a cup of frozen mixed vegetables puréed into liquidity whenever I need a thickener for soups or stews. Instant vegetable flavour and fibre. I use a similar technique to turn mashed potatoes into my version of Kenyan irio. If you're into making your own hamburger patties or meatloaf, you can also substitute oats, beans, or high-fibre cereal for breadcrumbs as the filler (yes, I have eaten All-Bran® Bran Buds burgers.)
Just some ideas on modifying your diet without actually modifying your diet.
Have you considered adding a little curry powder to your lye when making lutefisk?
Posted by: Joe Fogey
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August 16, 2010 6:05 PM
Wow! I'm glad it wasn't serious. I had one of those experiences too - mind you in those days I used to smoke as well.Eleven years on I enjoy food and beer - just not so much of either. It's still a good life.
Posted by: SteveV, Death's Pissant Haberdasher
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August 16, 2010 6:07 PM
Really glad you went to the ER, PZ
Keep well.
Please.
Posted by: Patricia, OM
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August 16, 2010 6:09 PM
Whoa! That's scary. Glad you're OK!
Posted by: Capital Dan
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August 16, 2010 6:09 PM
Found you some salad forks:
http://www.amazon.com/WMF-Bistro-Party-Fork-Set/dp/B001ECQR00/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_3
Little bites, PZ.
Posted by: Alison
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August 16, 2010 6:10 PM
Glad to hear it was nothing! I'll second (or whatever number it is) the Indian food. . .and Thai. Definitely not boring.
Posted by: Cannabinaceae
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August 16, 2010 6:10 PM
W.U. had similar symptoms a year ago (hey, almost to the day, as above), and a similar result (walk into E.R. mention chest pain: wham! bam! we'll drop everything else ma'am!).
Fortunately, as with PZ, no heart attack - in fact, when she mentioned how much she runs, how she usually comes in ranked pretty high in the half-marathons and such, you could almost see the sighs of relief in the staff, generating similar response in the husband.
We attributed it to a vacation we had just returned from, part of which involved days of driving on twisty little roads1 from SF to Crescent City, requiring an unprecedented amount of steering wheel manipulation, and thus chest muscle exertion.
Unlike PZ, W.U. has always eaten sensibly. In fact, since her (non) event (for different reasons2) I've taken to sensible eating where before I didn't really pay too much attention to the diet.
Oh, and now I exercise regularly, to help with (2), but which also seems to keep the blood pressure at the "optimum3" level without drugs. It had been creeping up.
All different! Mainly, so I can drink un-sensibly yet still maintain at the "just below overweight" level where the spare tire is the size of a bicycle tire, not a car tire. 115/75, baby! Had been 125/85Posted by: Chgo_Liz
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August 16, 2010 6:11 PM
googlemess @ #90:
Barilla makes a whole grain pasta that cooks up to look and taste like regular white pasta. I've never met a kid who won't eat it...that should tell you how well it passes for the less-healthy norm.
Barilla PLUS
-17g protein
-360mg ALA Omega-3
-7g fiber
per 100g portion
Posted by: The Countess
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August 16, 2010 6:14 PM
PZ The Count and I are simply happy that you're okay and what happened to you ended up being nothing really serious. By the way, The Count is a gourmet cook of healthy if rich food, so if you need recipes the TrophyWife can cook for you that aren't bland and cardboardlike, we can help you out there.
Posted by: lorianneparker
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August 16, 2010 6:15 PM
Oh, and for everyone reading this: if you feel some persistent twinge that you suspect might be a sign of some problem, but you think maybe if you just lie down for a bit and the symptom will go away, don't. Get it checked out, even if it does mean you get to spend a weekend in a bed surrounded by beige walls.
Excellent advice, PZ, and I am glad you are ok. Last summer I had two heart attacks (I am only 38, female, and have no risk factors). The first I ignored, thinking it was the swine flu (both arms ached, pain across chest, and I threw up). I ignored it and went to bed! The second one happened four days later; luckily I got to the hospital. They were caused by a couple of SCADs (spontaneous coronary artery dissections). It would have been easy for me to avoid the hospital even the second time if I kept thinking, oh but I am the least likely person I know to have a heart attack (I do yoga, exercise, have low cholesterol, etc. etc.)
So, yes, folks: if you have any symptoms of heart attack, don't ignore them. And women, be aware that heart attack symptoms for women can often be much different from the "classic" symptoms of men.
And you still have many plates of yummy (and still healthy) food ahead of you, PZ!
Posted by: skeptifem
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August 16, 2010 6:15 PM
One of the techs at my work died last year, he was 39 I think. he thought the pain would go away if he took a bath and he died in there.
glad to hear yer troponins were negative. stay healthy!
Posted by: TrineBM
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August 16, 2010 6:16 PM
So glad to hear that you are OK!
You need to behave a little nicer/more boring when the body does things like that to you. It should be worth it though. And a piece of chickenbreast with lemonzest, fresh sage and a little cured italian ham ... yummmm. A little bit of wholewheat bread, salad with lightly boiled (max. 1 minute) broccoli, fresh lettuce, roasted almonds and dried cranberries. You'll forget it's healthy.
(I know how fast ER's react when they see a heart problem. I went to the ER an early morning six years ago because I'd had a high fever for a few days and suddenly I awoke in the middle of the night with my heart racing. At first they took everything v.e.r.y. c.a.l.m.l.y - Then they measured my resting pulse to quite a bit over 200. Suddenelyeverythingwentveryfast and I was in another ER room where nurses grabbed heartstarters, called doctors and sprayed nitroglycerin in my mouth. I was so shocked I couldn't stop bawling.)
Posted by: mlee97ibm
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August 16, 2010 6:16 PM
Glad you're ok PZ, but your Comment "Get it checked out, even if it does mean you get to spend a weekend in a bed surrounded by beige walls." is unrealistic for many, maybe most.
We don't have universal medical care here in the US. and the quality of the plans that Americans do have varies widely. As a university professor I'm sure your plan is one of the best, but I dare you to post the "Before Insurance" price of your Hospital stay. It is sure to be an amount that would bankrupt most people. Just think about how much your typical Walmart cashier would have to pay out of their pocket even if they were paying for the insurance. Would you be cautious and check everything out if it meant that you had to spend your child's college fund on it?
Posted by: Rorschach
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August 16, 2010 6:19 PM
Dianne the quack,
I'm waiting with bated breath for the link to the studies showing this.
Glad you're ok PZ ! You will be pleased to know that your TIMI score, from what I can tell, is 0, and your risk of cardiac death or ischemic events is therefore under 2%.
Posted by: Brownian, Most Vicious & Petty of Pharyngulites
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August 16, 2010 6:20 PM
Not at all. I spent a winter cycling (not last winter though): fat tires and extra layers for those inevitable falls are necessary, but beyond that the only issue is wind chill and rednecks who think the most ludicrous thing ever is someone on a bicycle in December. Use an old bike though; the cold will wreak havoc on your gears, chain, and cables.
Skiing is a better workout, though.
Posted by: Birger Johansson
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August 16, 2010 6:21 PM
-Maybe one of those congressmen who prayed for disease to befall a Democrat before the health care vote got a P Z Myers doll and put needles in it? ...naah. That would require some Republican actually kept in touch with science-oriented blogs, and their authors. Fat chance.
"My wife is Scandinavian"
If she is from north Sweden, she might introduce you to the wonders of fermented herring (the most *acquired* taste in the world) or -if she is Icelandic- fermented shark! According to the "disease is caused by demons" theory it would scare the cardiac-disease-demons straight back to hell.
We use the stuff to load the catapults when the raiding parties from Stockholm come too close to the city walls. On the subject of culinary munitions, see also rock-hard "dwarf combat bread" (Pratchett´s "Discworld").
Posted by: bcoppola
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August 16, 2010 6:24 PM
Gah, go out to do some yard work and run to Walgreens for some milk and this blows up!
Did not read thru all 100+ comments but I see Indian food was mentioned. It's tasty and light on the meat and full of healty veg, but also full of ghee, aka clarified butter. Not exactly 'heart healthy'. Also, FWIW, the stuff often goes right thru me. So there's that possible side effect.
'Course, being in academe and biology, you might have a registered dietician/nutritionist somewhere in your social/professional network so you probably don't need advice from us.
Also FWIW, over the past several years (starting right around my 50th year) I've become a "born again" bicyclist. Started out thinking I'd just tool around the neighborhood but one thing led to another and now I'm one of those Lycra-clad guys on a skinny tired road bike. I've even done a few centuries. So if that appeals to you at all... Heck, a few Pharyngulites, not to mention the Trophy Wife, spawn, and the UM Morris community, might find it, um, amusing to see you in bike shorts & a florescent stretch bike jersey.
OK, yeah, you probably can get professional fitness and exercise advice pretty easily too...nevermind...
Anyway, glad it was a false alarm.
Posted by: Kel Munger
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August 16, 2010 6:29 PM
Glad you're feeling better, P.Z., and that you made a saner choice than going home to wait it out! It's strange how denial kicks in when it's a physical symptom in ourselves rather than someone else.
My wife the scientist (toxicologist) found herself becoming dizzy and having a hard time moving her left hand. She checked out symptoms on the online database at work and decided she might be having a stroke while she was in fact having a stroke.
Did she notify any of her various colleagues, grad students, etc.? No. Did she call 911? No.
She called me to come and get her so we could go to the doctor's office. We went to the ER instead, where they saved her life.
Of course, it turns out that a certain amount of emotional detachment and denial of severity is common with strokes. She made a complete recovery, btw.
And it also turns out that middle-aged (she was 47 at the time) people also have many more strokes than we often realize, but assume it must be something else because "old people have strokes." So in addition to P.Z.'s lesson about the warnings of a heart attack, also watch out for sudden changes in vision or weakness on one side, and get thee to an ER!
Posted by: Benjamin "pardon my French" Geiger
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August 16, 2010 6:30 PM
Last time I went into the hospital, I was lucky enough to have my computer already packed up, so my coworker could simply drop it by. It helps quite a bit with the boredom. So did a few books (same coworker loaned me a Terry Goodkind novel, and I had a couple of books of my own).
Cool part was that one of the admitting nurses was an atheist; he asked me what the A on my laptop lid meant, I (hesitantly) told him, and he replied that he was more of an anti-theist.
The worst part for me was that I was on strict NPO orders for two days. I don't care that I was getting sufficient nutrition directly into my veins; I was HUNGRY, dammit.
Posted by: Nepenthe
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August 16, 2010 6:31 PM
Huh. I had a very similar weekend, except mine started on Friday and involved having a foot long needle stuck into my spine. And I was begging for that too, so I must have been sick something awful.
Being old sucks, or so I hear. Right now I'm gunning for making it out of my 20s.
Posted by: Benjamin "pardon my French" Geiger
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August 16, 2010 6:32 PM
Oh, and I guess I should probably say that I'm glad PZ is okay, even though it really goes without saying.
Posted by: lumbercartel
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August 16, 2010 6:35 PM
Umm, yeah. Lost a colleague a couple of years ago to stroke.
She was 30. (I didn't ask her family if she'd been to the chiropracter.)
Posted by: Jeanette Garcia
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August 16, 2010 6:36 PM
Pz, Glad to hear you are not terminal. I had a 'silent' heart attack a few years ago. I thought is was bursitis. Luckily I quit smoking about 14 years ago. I still like my libations, a glass of wine with dinner and once in a blue moon a little bit more. I eat right, chose the stairs at the library and park my car a distance from my destination. I am not fond of exercise, but I do dance around the house to oldies but goodies to get my heart rate up. Listen to your body, and you will be fine. We don't want to lose you any time soon.
Posted by: gillt
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August 16, 2010 6:38 PM
The first thing that came to mind when you revealed that you're a flaneur was Stephen King's encounter with a minivan on his daily walk. Heart attack or roadkill, the choice is yours!
Posted by: maureen.brian#b5c92
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August 16, 2010 6:44 PM
Glad to hear that you are safely through this, PZ.
Posted by: Nerd of Redhead, OM
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August 16, 2010 6:44 PM
Glad to hear you didn't have a real problem. My BP has been creeping up, and I'll have to deal with that.
Posted by: echidna
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August 16, 2010 6:44 PM
Always a relief
To find out all is ok
Take care of yourself.
_____________________
Waxing poetic
inspired by Cuttlefish
The Master of Verse
Posted by: Ivar Husa
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August 16, 2010 6:51 PM
So many good wishes are coming your way. Mine too. Another response option would be to call 911, rather than to risk the walk to the medical center. Give them your cross street location, but worst case (can't talk), they can locate you from your cell phone signal to the nearest 100 yards or so.
Posted by: Gregory Greenwood
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August 16, 2010 6:51 PM
Glad to hear that the situation seems well in hand. We loyal members of the Pharyngulite horde are all very relieved that you are not off to see Cthulhu just yet.
On a more serious note, my mother suffered a major haert attack about ten years ago and ever since has had to live with a chronic heart condition. she often jokes that she has to take so many pills that she rattles when she walks, but she has been living with the condition for years without suffering many day-to-day problems courtesy of the wonders of modern medicine.
Despite this, we still sometimes have to deal with quacks and their newage 'alterative' remedies. They get short shrift, as you can imagine. I have lost count of the number of times we have been excoriated for our 'closed minds' or even 'negative energy'. I usually respond with the question;
"If homeopathy/crystal therapy/watever newage rubbish they are selling that week is so effective at treating serious trauma, how come it has never saved any car crash victims?"
They usually shut up at this, but every now and then you get one who actually comes out with the bald faced lie; "well, if the mainstream medical establishment just gave our therapy a chance..."
Damn, but I hate those disingenuous snake-oil salesmen.
Posted by: echidna
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August 16, 2010 6:58 PM
The obvious response: Do what Barry Marshall* did. If it can be proven to work, it becomes mainstream medicine.
*from wikipedia:"Marshall is well-known for proving that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori is the cause of most peptic ulcers, reversing decades of medical doctrine "
Posted by: Cath the Canberra Cook
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August 16, 2010 7:03 PM
Good to hear you're OK. I have heard that beer is similar to red wine in the heart-healthy stakes, so cheers! I raise a toast to your health, good cephalopod overlord!
Actually I'm eating the toast since it's breakfast time for me and I have to go to work soon. Grainy toast, with lots of different grains and seeds. I like it like that - it has character.
Everybody will no doubt want to share diet tips, so that will be an exciting new source of woo and pseudoscience to check out. I'm rather partial to the low GI concept, which is backed with plenty of research at Sydney University. Monthly newsletter at http://ginews.blogspot.com/ It's quite interesting that wholemeal isn't necessarily always best - white basmati rice and al dente pasta and sourdough bread are lower GI than milled wholegrain products. So as long as you get enough fibre from your fruit, veg, legumes & cereal, you can still eat normal pasta.
Posted by: llanitedave
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August 16, 2010 7:03 PM
In defense of the fresh veggies:
It ain't cardboard. Use fresh greens, cook them minimally, try as many varieties as you can, and don't be afraid to spice them up.
We like to sautee or steam kale, beet greens, chard, mustard, and collards, while the romaine lettuces and spinach we usually eat raw. We cook with olive oil rather than butter, throw in stuff like pine nuts and apricot chunks, and various forms of seasoning, bake zucchini and beets, and use lots of onions, garlic, rosemary, and other herbs.
Like it or not, it's not bland and its not boring. Toss in small amounts of pork and poultry, and it makes for delicious meals that WON'T kill you.
Healthy eating is not a form of punishment.
Posted by: azumahazuki
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August 16, 2010 7:09 PM
I'm really glad to hear you're okay...considering Hitchens' state too, we can NOT afford to lose bright shining lights of reason. Not in this world, which is opening up new vistas of collective insanity as we speak.
My GF and I do a lot of healthy cooking. Can definitely recommend low-GI diet and cycling, too. And what everyone's saying about the fresh veggies and the spices is true; chilli peppers especially are an amazing extra dimension to food and I can't imagine life without spicy food.
I've heard ginger and garlic are good for the blood and cholesterol, respectively, and that tea (especially green and white) is good overall. You can get decaf green and steep 4 bags in a 1/2-gallon pitcher in the fridge to brew it. I can go through one of those a day, and it may help you too.
Stay healthy! The world needs you!
Posted by: pixelfish
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August 16, 2010 7:12 PM
OurDeadSelves,Mother of Death: Thanks for the heads up. My BF told me to expect bloating and feeling uncomfy, but not the other.
Posted by: HappyHax0r
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August 16, 2010 7:12 PM
PZ, best wishes, speedy recovery. Lifestyle changes are hard, but i'm sure you'll survive, and we'll all (we includes you) be better off for it.
Posted by: twinarp
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August 16, 2010 7:14 PM
Should be very grateful you didn't end up like this guy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zD_8UlF10Oc
the advice is good though, in both cases.
Look after yourself.
The world needs more PZ Myers.
Apologies to Mark Crislip.
Steve
Posted by: Audley Z. Darkheart OM, purveyor of candy and lies
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August 16, 2010 7:20 PM
pixelfish:
Well, your bf was half right. ;)
Expect weird flavors for the barium shake, too. I had a choice between fruit punch and butterscotch. The butterscotch was (not surprisingly) disgusting and I had to drink two of those fuckers.
I hope all goes well for you.
Posted by: arensb
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August 16, 2010 7:20 PM
I bet what really healed you was the glass of homeopathic remedy they gave you to wash down the pills.
Posted by: Tomato Addict
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August 16, 2010 7:20 PM
I made the mistake of passing out IN a hospital. They didn't keep me, but I got plenty of attention in the ER.
Good call on going to the hospital. It's one of those easy decisions that could make a difference.
Posted by: Mousekewitz
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August 16, 2010 7:21 PM
PZ, glad to hear you're doing well, I hope things keep going well for quite a long time!
Posted by: aynsavoy
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August 16, 2010 7:21 PM
Glad to hear you're okay!
My $0.02 on the diet matter: before giving up beef and pork and dairy, you should turn a skeptical eye to the doctors' orders. The links between cholesterol and heart disease are tenuous at best. Eating high-cholesterol food does not necessarily lead to heart disease, and having low cholesterol is not a sure-fire precaution.
That said, thumbs up to South Indian food and lots of spices, regardless of the state of one's health! (Unless you have an ulcer or something.)
Posted by: Tigger_the_Wing
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August 16, 2010 7:24 PM
Welcome to the poorly heart club, PZ - one club I wish didn't have any members at all, least of all you!
You may not remember meeting me in Canberra (the weird woman a few months younger than you, dressed in Pirate regalia with a decorated wheelchair) - I gave you a toy FSM, which, I hope*, meant His Noodliness was poking you with His tenatcles in the direction of the medical centre*!
lorianneparker @ #117, well done for not ignoring the second one! Given similar symptoms thirteen years ago, aged 39, I chose to go home to bed. I was driving my taxi at about 3am. Stupid, I know - but one of the effects of a malfunctioning heart is reduced oxygen to the brain; and one of the results of that is reduced ability to make sensible choices. In any case, subsequent events and visits to doctors only resulted in a diagnosis of indigestion/acid reflux. It took ten years for the real cause to be diagnosed by angiogram - coronary artery spasms, aka unstable angina. Still, that was better than the thirty-two years that it took for my 'panic attacks' to be correctly diagnosed as paroxysmal atrial fibrillation. I was only diagnosed because I had a combination AF/angina episode at work (delivering mail), but kept working until lack of oxygen made me temporarily blind (I had to stop because I couldn't read the addresses any more. Stupid, I know. Especially as I was riding a motorbike at the time). It still took eight months after that for the right tests to be done to obtain the diagnoses. Utakata (@ #75), take note - it might be that the medics are wrong on this one, and haven't done the right tests on you.
Sometimes, medical resistance to the idea that young, slim, fit and female people can even get heart disorders means that even if one does the right thing one gets the wrong diagnosis. Oh, and my cholesterol levels had been high all my life, but no-one seemed to think that it was a problem because I was skinny. Huh.
MikeM @91, yeah, intestinal obstruction = beige walls with a vengeance. My sympathies.
Hang in there, PZ! We need you here! Eating well does not have to be boring!
*Not really, godbots. The FSM is parody, OK?
Posted by: hkdharmon
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August 16, 2010 7:28 PM
I am glad you are OK. Heart attacks suck. I wouldn't wish the one I had on my worst enemy. I recommend avoiding them.
Posted by: Carlie of the lacy, gently wafting adjectives
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August 16, 2010 7:31 PM
I'm glad you're ok, and I feel for you with the onslaught of advice you're likely to be buried under now. Stay well, ok?
Posted by: kaylakaze
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August 16, 2010 7:32 PM
Unless you live in the United States, in which if you do so, chances are good you'll either go broke and end up a street person, or never be able to get medical treatment again, unless you want to be a slave owned by your current employer. Obviously, that doesn't apply to everyone, but to enough people to be important.
Posted by: AJ Milne OM
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August 16, 2010 7:36 PM
... also: sleep when the baby sleeps, don't eat yellow snow, always pack a toothbrush, haggle, beware of strangers bearing gifts... and... umm...
Trust me on the sunscreen.
(/Seriously: it's good to hear you're okay. Or mostly okay.)
Posted by: Aunt Benjy
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August 16, 2010 7:44 PM
Glad the sane decision won out. Too many of my acquaintances are not here now because they ignored obvious symptoms and went home to sleep it off.
A lost weekend is better than the alternative.
Posted by: Doc Bill
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August 16, 2010 7:46 PM
Take care, PZ.
No advice, you've got plenty of that!
Posted by: chigau (◦_◦)
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August 16, 2010 7:52 PM
...advice...
always wear clean underwear
...
eat your vegetables
...
keep a stiff upper lip
...
Live long and prosper.
Posted by: JeffreyD
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August 16, 2010 7:55 PM
Glad it was a relatively easy and treatable warning. You will get used to the drugs, I take four pills each morning. Since I put them in a day of the week holder, they are an easy part of my morning routine - bathroom, cigarette, coffee, healthy things. See, no problem.
Posted by: Brian English
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August 16, 2010 7:55 PM
You're just after lots of comments from your loyal minions?
Glad to hear you're OK. Don't give up drinking beer, there's no point living if you do that...
Posted by: alkonost
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August 16, 2010 7:56 PM
I agree with what others have been saying about Indian and Thai food, which can be quite delicious. Eating healthy doesn’t necessarily equal privation.
Have you been getting enough sleep? I know your work is fairly demanding, and sleep deprivation is linked to heart problems. In your interview with Carin Bondar, you pretty much stated that you only get 5.5 hours a sleep a night. I remember reading that, and wondering how you function.
I hope this doesn’t come off the wrong way. Goodness knows, I need to take better care of myself, too. I’m just glad to know that you’re okay, and that you have a support system in place.
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/cemAX6cih9TgU2BOcZGfj1yv.Ps-#8fef5
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August 16, 2010 7:56 PM
GrumpyPathDoc @ #7: I just got diagnosed with atrial fibrillation myself after getting my first checkup in nearly three years. Here I thought I'd have my dad's heart and longevity, since I have that side of the family's hair -- still brown at age 56. My older brother went white at this age, favoring the hair on my mother's side of the family. He has that side's heart trouble, too, but ignored it -- twice! -- and yet lives to be chagrined for doing so. Glad stents were invented. Apparently I have heart issues, too, but I won't ignore them. Gotta cut down on the caffeine and chocolate, too, though. Damn!
-- Slaughter
Posted by: robin andrea
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August 16, 2010 7:58 PM
I had an interesting conversation with my cousin the other day. Today is the 19th anniversary of her husband's death. He died at the very young age of 48 from complications of non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. So, what is relevant about this very wonderful man? He was an atheist. My cousin and I were talking about Christopher Hitchens, and she told me that she wanted to write him to say that she spent all of her time at her dying husband's bedside and NOT ONCE did he ever call out to God. Seems like people are wondering about this these days. It's not necessary. We can exit the planet with our reality intact.
Glad you are really okay. Like a lot of the other comments said, Eat good food. Be well.
Posted by: natural cynic
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August 16, 2010 8:01 PM
Legumes. And, until you get used to them, they will accompany your lectures with sound effects. They are good, though.
Eat colorfully. The only white food to have is cauliflower. In most cases, the darker, the better, especially greens. Since you're a liberal, it's OK to eat arugula, radiccio, spinach, red & yellow peppers, hot peppers and other colorful veggies. The pale stuff is not as good. And if you have synesthesia, they might even taste colorful.
Get sweaty often. Go the long way and don't just stroll. Exercise hard enough so that you can carry on a conversation with some difficulty. And push some weight. The best exercise is table presses. As in pushing yourself away from second helpings.
My angio story: Because of my risk factors [30 years + type 1 diabetes] and the fact that I had insurance, I has a stress test with thallium scam that showed ischemia, so the next step was angiography. I was supposed to be relaxed to consciously sedated, but my cardiologist totally knowked me out. I was ready for an interesting procedure, but the next thing I knew, I was wondering why my crotch was cold and clammy. I missed all the fun. There was a 60% blockage the whole length of the LAD artery. No stents were put in because of the extent of the blockage and because no part was more occluded. Went on a low fat diet - essentially an omnivorous version of the Ornish diet, upped my statin dose, added a fibrate, and a higher dose of BP meds. A year later the stress test and scintigram were negative with a total cholesterol of 99, LDL 54. Ornish has demonstrated that coronary artery blockage can be reversed if you push it correctly. But now I'm backsliding into just a healthy diet. :(
Entropy is catching up, especially with my kidneys and feet, but I keep moving my body with muscle power.
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawmRjbXoDgCq4N0aNWT2Z2RtB4Mm9CbDVys
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August 16, 2010 8:06 PM
Stairs instead of elevators.
Park your car farther away and walk.
Use olive oil for cooking.
Beware of high fiber diets. They can give you so much gas that the pain mimics a heart attack!
Also, some blood pressure meds can sap your energy and make you feel rotten all over. Since there are so many available, you may have to sample different ones to determine what feels best for you.
Posted by: SteadyEddy
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August 16, 2010 8:07 PM
Glad to hear you're okay PZ. I think I'll have a big bowl of oatmeal tomorrow morning...
Posted by: wanderinweeta
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August 16, 2010 8:10 PM
Glad you're ok. And welcome to the Counters' Club; we're all calorie counters, carb counters, cholesterol counters, exercise counters, pound counters, pill counters, etc.
And hopefully, year counters, decade counters.
(And next time, dial 911.)
Posted by: BillMetrey
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August 16, 2010 8:11 PM
PZ, I hope you read this!
I struggled with a low grade chest pain that radiated down my left arm for ten years before its successful resolution. Like yours, my pain would go away when the offending activity ceased.
As you, I paid attention and sought medical care the first time I felt The Pain. My primary care physician subjected me to several stress tests, including treadmill and the injection of a substance that causes all of your blood to travel through your heart within a very short period of time. All tests were negative for anything that might cause The Pain.
I even had an angiogram with the intention of placing stents. Zero. Same with soft tissue scans. All tests came back negative. Ten years of this!
February, 2009, I experience a different pain. While playing Wii tennis, I felt sharp, stabbing pain in my chest. I ignored it for three days. Friday, February 13, 2009, I called my wife at work (she works for the CSH at the UofM in the Twin Cities) and told her what I was feeling. Knowing what her response would be, I picked her up and we drove to the hospital ER. Abbott Northwestern Hospital has a procedure for people who enter the ER complaining of chest pain. You WILL have a heart CT scan, in addition to the standard tests they give you. All of my tests were within the normal range, until they performed the heart CT scan. They found it! Blockage in three areas and one was in a location where a stent could not be placed. Monday, February I had triple bypass surgery.
My recovery was swift because I paid attention and did not have a heart attack.
Today, I have my life back and I am exercising again. I was a professional athelete in my youth and I have been fairly active all of my life.
It is important to note that I now have NO PAIN!
I tell you all of this to say that you should be alert. Simply because the doctors tell you that you are safe and okay, if you feel pain again, please continue to complain and make noise. Don't let them tell you to come back when you have something they can find.
Good luck!
Posted by: McCthulhu is taking ∞ to eat all the pi
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August 16, 2010 8:13 PM
I'm waiting for the Anderson Cooper interview so PZ can tell Jebusites which orifice prayers can be directed into and how far...
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawm7Lkkdg4CIy1B8h65Id6DQsHtXrK2STZk
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August 16, 2010 8:17 PM
Man... I don't belive in "luck" but darn, it was a good thing you were close enough to the hospital when it hit. It seems that once again sanity trumphed insanity, a not too chocking result.
I'm glad to hear that you are alive and well, and that your problem is manageable.
My best wishes to you and yours.
A bit of family history and rant:
My grandfather died due to heart failure. His heart slowed down over the years and finally stopped. He had a pacemaker, but there is a limit to how long they can push your heart to continue beating. He was taken to the hospital where he passed away. Nothing really dramatic. The body just sort of stopped.
My father has noticed early symptoms and he will eventually need medical assistance, and most likely a pacemaker. And so will I in the future.
Am I depressed over this fact? Not really. Discouraged, that I essentially have a clock unwinding in my chest? When I think about it, sure. But not depressed. Why?
I belive science will develop a more efficient treatment or better pacemakers. Science is working, and working well; just look at the extra years my grandfather got to live thanks to the old and primitive pacemaker. He got to see his children grow up and got to see his grandchildren, all four of them. And since I know science progress I know I will have as much or more time than he got. Scientific endeavors gave him maybe 15-20 years. What will future science bring?
Medicine works, science works and a couple of pills a day or being a cyborg (part man - part machine!) is a small price to pay for an extended time with our loved ones.
Posted by: AlisonS
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August 16, 2010 8:19 PM
Delighted to hear you're OK. Heart-healthy food can be absolutely yummy. Think of spicy stir-fries with lots of different types of veggies and use less meat and more fish. There are some wonderful cookbooks by Anne Lindsay who is recommended by the Canadian Heart Institute. Her latest is book particularly good. The lemon frozen yoghurt with berries is ambrosial. Vegetarian cookbooks by the Moosewood Restaurant offer a great array of tasty meals.
Posted by: TWood
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August 16, 2010 8:20 PM
LOL #156
So, PZ, were you wearing clean underwear?
Posted by: Hempenstein
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August 16, 2010 8:23 PM
Far better a lost weekend than a last weekend!! Very glad you're still in the saddle.
With the TWife a Scandinavian, you should already have been getting things (like fish) with dill*, and baked things like coffee breads with cardamom, the Swedish national herb and spice, respectively. If you haven't, that should be one of the first deficiencies to correct.
Also, it's not unusual at all to see Swedes in their 80's out on cross-country skis, just as another suggestion...
*throw a handful of dill in with the water when you boil potatoes, too.
Posted by: pt
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August 16, 2010 8:23 PM
What a tragedy to have to give up good food. I've already started the process, and I'm 25. I don't know how I'm going to resist the rest of the sweets/treats I love so much. Giving up pizza and chocolate is one of my greatest fears, up there with dying. I know I'll get diabetes or a heart condition some day. But I just can't get myself to eat healthy.
Posted by: CalGeorge
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August 16, 2010 8:30 PM
Glad you are okay, PZ.
If you are watching your meat/butter consumption, I've enjoyed a lot of nice meals out of this book:
Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook
http://www.theppk.com/nomicon.html
Posted by: Tigger_the_Wing
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August 16, 2010 8:31 PM
#163
Really? Wow! Perhaps that is a large part of my problem! I'm taking verapamil SR 240mg and diclofenac sodium 75mg every morning plus, in the evening, isosorbide mononitrate 120mg, aspirin 100mg and rosuvastatin 10.4mg. I wonder if any of those are contributing to my exhaustion, or whether it is entirely due to the constant pain of the ankylosing spondylitis and osteoarthritis and subsequent poor sleep? The low dose of diclofenac just about keeps the inflammation in my cervical vertebrae under control so I can actually walk (otherwise it presses on my spinal cord and I become semi-paralysed). It isn't enough for pain relief. I was on celecoxib but it didn't work.
I was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnœia last year caused by allergic rhinitis but that has been effectively cured by a steroid nasal spray that I only need to use every couple of weeks now, having got it under control. But I never have much energy; and exercising when I start off feeling exhausted usually results in a complete collapse from heart problems.
Time to go back to the cardiologist and rheumatologist (lovely ladies, both), methinks.
I'm glad hubby earns enough to pay for decent health insurance, but it doesn't cover the Ank. Spond. Pre-existing, you see. Costs a week's wages every time I see the rheumatologist. I don't know how you U.S.A.ians cope, I really don't. I miss the National Health Service back in the UK (about the only bit about the UK I miss, apart from family).
Posted by: OmiOne
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August 16, 2010 8:32 PM
Good it wasn't serious.
Posted by: Cobolt
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August 16, 2010 8:37 PM
Glad to hear you're all good PZ.
Not sure your full disclosure was a good advert for checking yourself in to an ER though. Blood extractions every four hours sounds more like a medieval torture chamber.
Posted by: nrankin
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August 16, 2010 8:39 PM
So glad everything's okay. My late husband died after the same symptoms.
Posted by: PS9
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August 16, 2010 8:39 PM
I'm glad to hear both that PZ took it seriously and that it wasn't serious. I've felt a similar pain once in my thirties, though it turned out to be nothing and I was in perfect health at the time (semi-competitive running).
It really is foolish for people to be eating massive gobs of fatty food. Human civilization is less than 7,000 years old and major evolutionary change takes 10,000 years. Gathering-hunting humans are evolved for a time when all animals were wild and the amount of fat and sugar in the monthly diet was the same as people now eat daily. We all need to cut out the junk and start eating better.
Posted by: jidashdee
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August 16, 2010 8:43 PM
It seems a lot of people are under the impression that Indian food makes for a healthy meal. I know that PZ won't take that at face value, but others reading this might.
Indian food, like any regional cuisine, can be prepared in a healthy way or in a really horrendously damaging way. Your average Indian restaurant is not at all concerned with your health. They want you to enjoy yourself and come back and that's all.
It ain't called "Butter Chicken" because it's made with angel tears. Indian food in restaurants is usually prepared with tons of ghee (a kind of clarified butter), oil, and rendered animal fat. Don't think that it's healthy just because it's nice and spicy. Indian food is the favourite cuisine of the English. Have you seen the English lately? They're not exactly in danger of blowing off the island in a strong breeze.
That being said, it is delicious. The dessert technology badly lags Europe, but the entrees rock. If I had to pick a last meal it might be calamari and beef carpaccio to start, butter chicken as the main and finished off with crème brûlée, coffee, and a Remy Martin XO.
Yum.
Posted by: thoughtspiral
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August 16, 2010 8:47 PM
Yikes. Glad you're okay. I kinda like the idea of you still being around to desecrate crackers in another 50 years.
Posted by: ronsullivan
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August 16, 2010 8:49 PM
Good thinking there, Professor. Glad it worked out.
You already know the strategy for taking back the kitchen, right? Arm yourself with cookbooks and research. Got a sub to Cook's Illustrated yet? Tame, but sufficiently wonkish. Also: Next spring, when you know you'll be home more than you were this year, a truck garden.
What they said above on B/P meds. Be hard to please on this one. You've got the charm to make it work.
One of the most liberating things I ever read was in some med text I was thumbing through at 3 AM on a slow night: something to the effect that we make sex hormones out of the sterols we also make. Just sayin'.
Posted by: Xenithrys
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August 16, 2010 8:55 PM
PZ: I'm very late in adding my voice to the chorus who are relieved you're OK. The reason I'm so late is that I spent much of the last 24h supporting an elderly relative through a similar experience. The difference from your experience is that the ambulance, emergency room, tests (ECG, enzymes), and an overnight stay in hospital were all free (in New Zealand). The tests weren't quite as comprehensive as yours, but enough to be sure that no heart attack was involved, and they'll look at gall bladder next (still free). (I know the service isn't really free, but I think our somewhat higher taxes are a fair price to pay for a civilized society where everyone has access to medical treatment in an emergency.)
Posted by: Illuminatus
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August 16, 2010 9:00 PM
Not having a heart attack is the worst excuse I've ever heard for not updating your blog. For shame, Myers.
Posted by: Arancaytar
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August 16, 2010 9:01 PM
Scary! Douglas Adams this way at 49; what a relief that you got away with only a fright and a wasted weekend.
Oh, and if it's cardboard you want, I hear they have these tasty little crackers in church. =D
Posted by: Steve LaBonne
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August 16, 2010 9:05 PM
Oh, absolutely. I hope nobody was suggesting eating at Indian restaurants.
And India has many, many regional ciusines. Among vegetarian ones, delicious South Indian food can be prepared in a healthy way (just be VERY sparing with the coconut milk). Gujarati food- delicious but about 50% ghee by weight- not so much.
Posted by: Ellie
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August 16, 2010 9:06 PM
As someone who has recently had to make drastic dietary changes, I can reliably inform you that there is NO excuse for eating cardboard and blandness.
My three new favourite foods are home made guacamole (mash an avacodo up with a crushed garlic clove, tabasco to taste and half a lemon juice, 5 mins to make), home made salsa (half a punnet of cherry tomatoes and squeeze out the pulp, stir in finely chopped corriander, red onion, chilli and lime juice all to taste, 10 mins to make plus 30 mins in the fridge to mature) and dahl (boil red lentils in stock [300mls to 75g dry weight of lentils]with pickled habaneros to taste until almost sticking to the bottom of the pan, then stir in 1/4 of a tin of plum tomatoes per 75g dry weight of lentils and cook until the excess liquid has been absorbed and the lentils are cooked (30 mins). I cook up a big batch of the dahl and have a portion cold with yoghurt stirred in for lunch. It's fabulous.
The only one of those with any fat in it at all is the guac, and fat from avocado actually brings down cholesterol levels, so it's all good :)
Posted by: jcwelch
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August 16, 2010 9:07 PM
I for one am quite glad you were sensible, and that nothing was wrong.
You make the world a more interesting and lively place. We've plenty of dullards to go around, just kick a tree, twelve fall out.
We need more of you, less of them.
Posted by: rnnelson
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August 16, 2010 9:13 PM
I have to break my three-year strong lurker status to say:
glad you are OK, stay out of the cross-hairs, and please continue to feed the light.
Posted by: Susan
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August 16, 2010 9:20 PM
Well, thank goodness! I'm glad you went the sane route, and hope you and the TrophyWife(TM) reach a tasty compromise.Posted by: alkonost
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August 16, 2010 9:25 PM
@jidashdee—I agree that Indian food is not always healthy, and I should have clarified my earlier statement.
Yet I do think both health-conscious and vegetarian Americans latch onto many aspects of Indian cuisine, because the spices make it a tasty alternative to what PZ Myers is envisioning. And why go to a restaurant, when you can cook it yourself, and have more control over the dish?
Posted by: https://me.yahoo.com/a/rbM1rNE2wIJ9uD2Qf3PzYfkmHjU-#b85e5
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August 16, 2010 9:26 PM
Hey, Dr. Myers, how about a post on diet woo----such as that filling these comments?
Posted by: PZ Myers
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August 16, 2010 9:31 PM
I've already got some crank on twitter telling me to subscribe to Mercola's newsletter. No way; I will not trust the advice of a kook.
Posted by: Sajanas
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August 16, 2010 9:41 PM
My girlfriend recently read Eat, Drink and Be Healthy by Walter C. Willett MD, and it has about a hundred pages of ways to make healthier dietary choices without necessarily sacrificing flavor (mainly through liberal use of garlic and olive oil). A favorite of mine is a salad with a handmade vinaigrette, sundried tomatoes, olives, and artichoke hearts. Good food doesn't have to be bland, just green, and with whole grains.
Posted by: jidashdee
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August 16, 2010 9:45 PM
@alkonost
Yeah, I figure that most of us are on the same page on this, but it might not be apparent to some readers. We've all compartmentalised our lives and specialised to such a degree that some people, through no real fault of their own, are completely ignorant about nutrition. I only learned about proper nutrition after leaving Canada for the U.S. and ballooned from 6'2" 185 lbs. up to 225 lbs. at the age of 26. I had no choice but to learn - it was an emergency. Luckily I was able to get it under control and am happily a nice lean 190 these days.
I guess my main rule here would be to never trust a restaurant of any kind to provide you with a really healthy meal. They don't give a shit if you drop dead into your dessert as long as your credit card gets processed before you do it. If you want it healthy then you'd better make it yourself with good ingredients. Not everyone has the time to do that though, and that's a real shame. Life is full of trade-offs but your health should never be up for grabs.
Posted by: Epikt
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August 16, 2010 9:49 PM
jdhuey:
Isn't that how Gene Roddenberry took the Final Beam-Up?
Posted by: tradewinds
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August 16, 2010 9:49 PM
Although a dog wouldn't probably fit your life style, I find it the best way to get exercise. Pooch demands 3 dog park visit a day. Just do lots of walking in your case.
Posted by: seemeisie
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August 16, 2010 9:51 PM
I feel for you, PZ, I really do. I know what its like not being able to eat yummy fatty stuff.
My doctor thinks I either have gallstones or that I'm "fat intolerant" -you know, like lactose intolerant but for fats. Either way, it means horrible pain when I eat fatty foods.
*sigh*
Posted by: Nick
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August 16, 2010 9:52 PM
See, proof positive that their is a God. He sent you a warning message. Of course, he hasn't explained why he invented heart disease in the first place. But then, if he had invented a perfect universe, what would he do all day?
Posted by: Lynn Wilhelm
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August 16, 2010 10:07 PM
I did wonder what you were up to this weekend. You are allowed to have a life, but we do seem to expect to always have you here, posting away.
It's weird what this "online world" (not just Pharyngula) is like, everything's so personal, we sometimes find out so much about others and learn it so fast.
Thank you for letting me in on your private life. And take care of yourself, I'd like to hear from you for a long, long time.
Posted by: dinogami
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August 16, 2010 10:18 PM
Very glad to hear you're OK! I had a similar thing happen to me (at 39!) last year while sitting in an evolution class I was part-teaching. I very nearly got up, excused myself, and called an ambulance, but I wasn't having any raised heart rate or anything that made me suspect a heart problem (not that I'm medically trained or anything...). The ache in my shoulder didn't go away for a few days, so I went to see my doctor and she diagnosed me with a hiatal hernia. She prescribed over-the-counter acid reducers quite a day and recommended some dietary changes. It's only flared up once since then. My doctor mentioned that hiatal hernia are very often confused with heart attacks because the symptoms are very similar.
Posted by: Eamon Knight
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August 16, 2010 10:26 PM
Someone waaaay upthread says: Chilli you can eat too and still have it be fairly healthy (well, depending on recipe and portion size)
Textured Vegetable Protein (we use Bob's Red Mill brand) makes an excellent sub for hamburger in chilis. Toss in the kidney beans, chopped onions, garlic and as many chili peppers as your buccal mucosa can endure, and the only animal fat will be the shredded cheddar you melt on top when it's served.
About the only beef we eat these days is when we go to a local gourmet burger place, and have locally-farmed elk. It's a treat, but I don't miss not having it every week.
Posted by: Tigger_the_Wing
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August 16, 2010 10:29 PM
Eh? Elk ≠ beef, unless there is some strange breeding going on over there.
It is, however, red meat like beef is. We rarely eat beef these days if we can avoid it, eating kangaroo instead.
Posted by: Hank Fox
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August 16, 2010 10:37 PM
PZ, I'm reading Christopher Hitchens' autobiography Hitch-22, and yesterday I was wishing I could tell him I really love the fact that I get to live on the same planet, at the same time, as him.
I feel the same way about you, only more so.
Take care of yourself.
Posted by: Eamon Knight
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August 16, 2010 11:07 PM
@202: Yeah, I guess it's not really beef if it didn't come from "un boeuf". But as you say it's still "red meat" (tastes like reeeaaalllly good hamburger) and after all elk is also an ungulate. So I think of it as an exotic kind of beef.
I wonder if we can get imported 'roo, here at the Anti-antipodes. Sounds interesting. We can get locally-raised emu, which is sort of like an odd (but good!) combination of chicken and beef.
Oh, and DW just informed me that above, I missed mentioning the tomato paste, the pinch of cinammon and the tablespoon of cocoa powder.
Posted by: theflyingtrilobite
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August 16, 2010 11:16 PM
Glad you're okay!
I was away this weekend myself and just saw this post.
I'm glad you're well PZ, and glad you decided to relate this story with an aim to help others. Stay cool, man.
Posted by: Kaessa
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August 16, 2010 11:38 PM
Glad you're ok, PZ. We'd hate to lose you!
Posted by: Betelgeuse
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August 16, 2010 11:44 PM
Glad to know you're alright PZ! Good job thinking on your feet ;)
Echoing the 101 recommendations for exercise, try to find excuses to walk that extra mile, along with fitting in some kind of regular activity. If you like it and have the time and can do, swim! It really is the best- working out wise, and relaxation wise. I cannot recommend it enough, if you think that might be your thing.
Also, bland equals boring? Nope.
Try quinoa of course, but also wholegrain couscous and brown rice. Throw out the white bread. It is utter trash. Bring in some yummy seeded, wholemeal breads and enjoy the crunchiness and texture. Anything polished, refined etc you can afford to lose.
Use sprouts that you cook a bit. If you like Mung Beans, soak them and let them sit until they're soft and chewy (not even sprouted is fine), cook them till they're soft, add chopped tomatoes, a sprinkle of onions, pepper, salt and a dash of lemon juice for a delicious evening snack.
Try lots of couscous based mediterranean dishes which involve chickpeas, kidney beans, sometimes a slight sprinkling of chicken, courgettes and bell peppers.
Wherever otherwise great recipes use cream, bring in some low fat yoghurt if you can stomach it and enjoy the yumminess. Yoghurt can disguise a LOT of things. And its amazingly healthy on its own. Make dips out of yoghurt rather than use Mayo for example. You'll find a million recipes online. Look for Greek recipes to begin with.
Wrt Indian foods, avoid the Butter Chicken of course; and also avoid anything that has the word 'Malai' or 'Shahi' in it. Those will have tons of cream or butter or grease in them.
Indian food can actually be incredibly healthy if you just know what to do with them (throw out the ghee/butter/oil, they taste better, if not the same). Don't eat it at a restaurant, make it at home if the Trophy Wife is happy to give you a hand.
When I cook Indian food I start off the frying of stuff in a teaspoon or two of oil, thats all. Nothing burns, it always works, and the end results, after all the spices and veggies et al are delicious.
Good luck with the new regime! I hope the spice usage thing works out :).I promise that in a while you'll love it.
Posted by: Tim
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August 16, 2010 11:45 PM
You don't need my dietary or lifestyle advice, so I won't proffer it. But I want to assure you that all my prayers* are for your well-being.
*I feel I ought to advise you that the last sincere prayer I uttered was before your birth. :)
Seriously, it sounds like you are reacting rationally to a somewhat scary episode. Persevere!
Posted by: Vyapada
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August 17, 2010 12:02 AM
Glad to hear you're ok!
Improving your heart health needn't be bland or boring or even low fat... there's quite a bit of research showing improvements with even low carb diets.
e.g. a recent one: http://www.annals.org/content/153/3/147.abstract
Given the small amount of body mass lost they weren't particularly restrictive diets, but a weakness of the study appearing in the abstract is that they didn't seem to be deliberately matched for energy intake.
Posted by: Markita Lynda: Healthcare is a damn right
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August 17, 2010 12:03 AM
That's why *everyone* should have health insurance. Glad to hear you're OK, PZ.
On foods:
* A few drops of "Liquid smoke" imparts a smoked, baconish flavor.
* Experiment with eating less sugar to reduce cholesterol.
* I second the recommendation for Anne Lindsey's books on healthy cooking.
On exercise: one of the most powerful ways to stay healthy. You can find walk or walk-run training plans on the Web. Bicycling has a net positive effect (cycling risk/benefit research) and swimming is a pleasant and effective way to get fit.
My SO had a strained rib muscle, which gives heart-attack like symptoms: bustle in the Emergency Room, indeed.
Posted by: Hekuni Cat, Champion of Oriana
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August 17, 2010 12:21 AM
I'm very glad you got proper medical treatment and are feeling better, PZ. Here's hoping your reasonably good health and new diet/lifestyle changes will ensure it continues for many years to come.
My mother tried your "sleeping-the-pain-off approach". In her case, it was a failure. Fortunately the pain became bad enough she was forced to seek medical treatment for her heart condition. The ER staff scolded her for neglecting the problem as long as she did. Fortunately, she recovered nicely despite her negligence.
Posted by: largefriendlyletters.dontpanic
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August 17, 2010 12:33 AM
I had my own Is-It-Or-Isn't-It pain incident sometime in the middle of my 3rd year of being 42. Went down to the medical office at work and they couldn't decide so they suggested I go to the ER. After 4 hours in ER they couldn't decide either, but wanted me to stay overnight for observation. Well, who am I to suggest otherwise, I'm not a doctor (okay, well, I am, but not that kind) and though I knew the copay on the insurance would be painful it was still better then dead. So I stayed. Big mistake on my part -- almost killed me.
I suffer from vasovagal syncope -- specifically I really, really don't like needles and all that. Turning completely white and passing out tends to freak people out; had three previous ambulance trips to ER for episodes (including one from my wife's doctor's office after he described the amniocentesis procedure). I'm sure I mentioned it in my time in ER, but I don't know whether it went on my chart. I was doing alright w/ the blood draw every 4 hours until the 4am round. The nurse was either very tired or not very competent as it took 3 tries. I kept thinking "If I don't feel better in a minute, I'll push the call button" until I was almost unable to do so. Apparently the monitors check that your heart is beating, but the fact that you have essentially zero blood pressure doesn't immediately trigger anything.
In the end nothing was resolved -- it probably wasn't a heart attack. But the overall experience left me a bit more worse for wear than
weekend in a bed surrounded by beige walls (had that too) and a stinging copay.
seemeisie, that "fat intolerance"? My wife suddenly developed that over the course of a few days. Really came to a head on Friday night (of course). And after a very painful weekend a CAT scan seemed to indicate gallstones. An few more days and a laproscopy gallbladder surgery cleared that up. Again, your copay may vary (or be non-existent). And that's a definite problem. We pay 10-20% + yearly deductible and I think it came to at least something like $2200-2400 out-of-pocket. I forget the exact sum -- there were like 15 different bills (each doctor, lab, medical center, etc.) which is another problem with the system. Certainly not chump change. Can't imagine doing it without insurance.
-Don't Panic
Posted by: Samantha Vimes
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August 17, 2010 12:42 AM
Sedentary and high blood pressure go together-- get up and move about for a while every couple of hours. Even if you're just strolling through the halls of the college, chatting with colleagues, or doing some light housekeeping at home, it's much better for you than sitting for several hours straight.
Posted by: Marie the Bookwyrm
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August 17, 2010 12:57 AM
Re the link at 112--is it just me, or do those forks have a squidly look to them?
P.Z., congratulations on being smart enought to go to the hospital. Glad to hear you're mostly okay and Taking Steps. I look forward to reading any, many more blog posts from you.
Posted by: Hairhead
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August 17, 2010 1:22 AM
I had a scare a year ago. Jogging to lose weight, I get a sudden pain in the middle of my back. Go to the doc, who suspects an ongoing heart infarction, sends me to hospital. After many blood tests and hours on the EKG and X-rays, I have my answer.
It's not heart disease or a heart attack.
Its . . . osteoporosis! (Atypical, they tell me.)
The pain in my back, which I had had for fifteen years, was my vertebrae crumbling! So I've been on Fosamax for 14 months now and I haven't had a back spasm in nearly a year.
Funny how things go . . .
Posted by: devnull73.myopenid.com
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August 17, 2010 1:42 AM
You see, the problem is that we're all falling apart because we're godless heathens who hate Jesus.
I myself have a history of intestinal stricturing/scaring caused by crohn's disease, and my hatred of moral behaviour.
Posted by: SaintStephen
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August 17, 2010 1:54 AM
Very VERY glad you're okay, Professor Myers.
If your magnificent writing energy could be somehow converted into cardiovascular exertion, the UMM track coach would be giving you a serious look-over for the 400 meters event.
(Assuming, of course, that there IS a UMM track coach...)
Posted by: Charlie Foxtrot
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August 17, 2010 2:43 AM
Good to hear its worked out alright, PZ. Stay fit!
Seems like there are a lot of US Pharyngulites sharing heart-problem accounts, but not many Aussies... so I can only deduce, PZ, that you need to eat a lot more Vegemite!
Posted by: bbreuer
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August 17, 2010 2:50 AM
Good to see/read you're ok. My mom had a similar experience late last year, early this year, got a stent, but is now good again. There are a few dietary changes (mainly due to diabetes) but she takes them in stride, and even snatches a piece of cake here or there. So, I hope things go alike for you, or better.
If you need to stay on a special diet, that might be your chance to take over the kitchen again!
Posted by: Franklin Percival
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August 17, 2010 2:59 AM
thegazprom #78
"Very glad to hear you're okay and I am sure with a few life style changes you will live a long, happy life! Good luck!"
We don't want him happy, he can live as long as he likes but we want him angry, multiple frequent colour changes, rippling frills, that kind of thing!
Posted by: DLC
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August 17, 2010 3:10 AM
And distance runner Jim Fixx died of a heart attack.
Oh, and... I'm sure the Religionistas will be emailing in myriads to tell you that their supreme being was telling you to get right with him/her/it or else, and reminding you that you're really not an Atheist, just Adolescent
and being truculent. Now buckle down and worship what they tell you to, Or Else.
Back in a more reality-based world: I hope it wasn't anything serious, and that you go on being a Pain in their necks until Goats On Fire!
Posted by: Cactus Wren
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August 17, 2010 3:21 AM
Just chiming in with another "I'm so glad you're OK". I had to look up the Mercola you mentioned in #192, and proceed to laugh my ass off. (For those who haven't bothered, Joseph Mercola is an advocate of the "Paleolithic diet" -- the notion that we can extend our lives by confining ourselves to foods eaten by our ancestors who had an average life span of forty.)
Posted by: Dianne
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August 17, 2010 3:22 AM
The bad news is that all my bad habits were exposed and measured, and it turns out I have moderately high blood pressure, which is already responding to drugs
Erm...why didn't you know about this already? High BP should be picked up on a routine physical. Have you, by any chance, been avoiding routine check ups even though you knew you had a family history of heart disease? Stop it! And if you haven't already done so go get a colonoscopy. If you post in 5 years about the metastatic colon cancer you have because you didn't get one I'll have to come to Morris and personally tell you that was stupid. Same goes for all the other 50ish guys and gals reading this. Also get over yourselves and have a breast and cervical or prostate (as appropriate) exam already.
Posted by: Thebear, just an agent of peas
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August 17, 2010 3:41 AM
I second (third? fourth?) the motion for indian style meals. Also you should look into french style bean and lentil casseroles (often with bacon, but you can get a long way with very little bacon).
Mind that the "cut down the fat" advice mainly works because that's the easiest way to cut down on easy energy. If you replace fat with sugars you've gained nothing.
So even though the trophy wife is scandinavian: Just say no to heaps of boiled potato.
Some flavourful suggestions that's Scandinavian:
* Smoked or salted (or both) cod (best with heaps of butter of course, bot a little butter and some chopped.
* Smoked salmon
* Rutabaga mash - put a lot of nutmeg and pepper in it, or vanilla. Very good with any lean meat (extremly good with any fatty meat, but that's another issue)
* Beetroot soup (sour cream can be switched for mediterrean-style youghurt)
*finnish rye bread (100% rye requires sourdough though - and is not for the faint-of-colon)
* Green pea pure from fresh or frozen peas (from dried peas is more genuinly scandinavian, but it tastes like cardboard)
Posted by: jaf
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August 17, 2010 4:30 AM
You don't live any longer eating tofu and salads, it just feels like it.
Posted by: davem
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August 17, 2010 6:17 AM
Tis:
ditto that. A few months ago, I broke my sternum. They didn't let me go until the next day, after X-Rays (inconclusive), no less than 3 ECGs, and finally a CT scan.
Posted by: Louis
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August 17, 2010 6:29 AM
For fuck's sake PZ!
1) Glad to read you are not dying, are basically healthy and a few minor changes to diet will sort you out.
2) Get well (i.e. better) soon, glad to hear you on the right path.
3) DO NOT FUCKING DIE!
I cannot emphasise 3) enough. It's very important. I am trying very hard not to do 3) myself. Before I was born I was dead, just like everyone else. It's completely dull. There's no afterlife/beforelife/reincarnation in fact it's worse than that, there's no internet when you're dead. I mean it. Not even LOLcats.
To the assembled decent Pharynguloids: No dying either. It is, as mentioned, exceedingly boring. I'm keeping my eye on you. If any of you sneak off and die, I'll fucking kill you. Don't make me come over there.
Louis
Posted by: rossnixon
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August 17, 2010 7:00 AM
PZ, you should check out resveratrol.
Everything I read about it suggests that it improves ones health and lifespan. From memory it is a kind of polyphenol, as found in red grape skins - but I think they get bigger qualities from Japanese knotweed - at least the formulation commonly sold in New Zealand does ( http://abouthealth.co.nz ) - I have no connection to the company. I don't believe in Naturopathy, but this formulation sure seems to hit a lot of your health problems in the bud!
Posted by: Janey Mack
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August 17, 2010 7:19 AM
Sorry to hear you had a boring weekend, but ever so glad to hear that your prognosis is good. Must concur with Louis's #3 at message 227.
Posted by: Canuck
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August 17, 2010 8:51 AM
I am very glad that you are still alive - and I hope for many more years. I lost my husband 18 months ago to a neglected heart condition - and I am carrying too much weight myself. A 5'2" light-boned female should not weigh 195 lbs.
To that area - what if you thoroughly dislike Indian food - specifically curries. Can any of your posters suggest flavours/spices that would make a paucity of food satisfy the mouth. I am a lover of eggs and butter, and whole milk. I eat a lot of cooked vegetables and very little meat fat, but I simply eat too much.
Posted by: Andrew
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August 17, 2010 8:52 AM
From the benighted shores of the UK (and home to the NHS) an extract from one's diary...
(I should add that I have had an MI,was voted "sickest patient to walk out of the CCU" , have had multiple angiograms and angioplastys, have 16 stents and am now in heart failure - but still it's a laugh isn't it?)
Dear Diary,
7.30am The alarm goes off and I am catapulted awake. Thank God for Radio 4. I don't do these times in the mornings anymore, it puts you under far too much stress.
7.35 Brush teeth, trying not to swallow any water - the joys of having to starve yourself for 12 hours are vastly overrated.
7.40 Take all my normal tablets (with minimum amount of water).
7.45 Off I go to pack my overnight bag and wait for idiot younger brother.
8.00 Brother arrives to whisk me in luxury (in his van) to the Cardiac Lab.Brother is one of those optimistic people who like to set out early...
8.20 Somewhat early (like half an hour) I arrive at the unit and am greeted by all who know me (i.e. everyone as I have been here a lot over the last 14 years), given two open backed gowns and left to change ... there's nothing like the fear of exposure that you encounter wearing these gowns...
8.30 Off for an ECG and 6 vials of blood.
8.45 Sign consent form for additional plumbing (i.e. bypass) if things go horribly wrong.(Everyone else gets a comforting explanation about what is to happen.Me? I get the form, a pen and "sign here")
8.50 Asked by Kate, the unit Sister, if I could go over with some of the people, who haven't had the thrill and fun of Angioplasty, what they were going to hear and see...
9.30 Off to the lab (leaving a group of whimpering people - perhaps I was too descriptive?)
9.32 The fun starts, there is nothing like laying naked on a narrow bed, with a nurse shaving bits of you that you don't really believe should be shaved, that are then painted with an antiseptic wash that I swear they keep in the fridge ("Oh a lot a people say it's cold" - wouldn't that indicate that there *may* be a problem with it's temperature?) to get the day off to a really good start. Sensors to monitor me are stuck on (at all the hairiest places on arms, legs and chest). Then I'm draped with a sterile sheet, with a cunning hole cut into it..
9.40 Various bleeps, whines, movement of the bed I'm lying on, plus movement of the scanner head and the fact that screens all round the lab now read "ANDREW SHEPHERD XXXXXX" indicate to those in the know that something is about to happen.
9.41 And so it does, Dr J Creamer (for some reason it is not comforting to have a doctor who's initials are JC) enters the room to a storm of apathy.
9.43 The equipment and bed start to move purposefully (and not before time they cry) and we start the first fun bit, cutting down to the artery. We start, thankfully, with a good shot of local anaesthetic... so good in fact that a jet of it hits me in the face. There is, you will not be surprised to learn, a problem. After so many angiograms and angioplasties the skin down there is mainly scar tissue and resembles elephant skin (no jokes please, I have heard them all)
9.45 The music starts, music carefully selected by our doctor and meant to establish an aura of calm and comfort... His first choice? "Another one bites the dust..."
9.50 Much muttering, pressure in the groinal area, various proddings and more muttering...
9.59 "Houston, the sheath has landed." The sheath is a plastic tube about 4" long that sits in the femoral artery and allows the guide wire, catheter and any other bit of plumbing they feel like shoving in be passed up to the heart via another bit of ironmongery called a shunt.
10.05 We start the day with pressure studies, so yet another piece of equipment is wheeled in. Sensors are passed up into the chambers of the heart and other parts of the coronary arteries and measurements taken.
10.20 They then warn me they are going to give me a drug to constrict the blood vessels and that it may be uncomfortable... Well, the bastards lied. Uncomfortable means... Ohh, you know, not comfortable... this was like the worst angina attack I have ever had plus a horrendous combination of headache and migraine just to add the finishing touch.
10.30 "There, that bit's over"
10.40 We do a few visualisations of the problem area (which turns out to be problem areas)
10:47 "Mmmm, you seem to be sensitive to the dye"
10.48 That means every time they give me a shot of the dye to make the arteries stand out I get angina pain, which means they have to give nitrates for that...
10.55 More muttering (there was a lot of muttering)
10.59 Radiation screen removed (there to protect doctors and nurses) and JC tells me that the blockage is a little more extensive that they originally thought and that he would be using stents. Oh Good...
11.05 Muttering and pointing at screens as they work out were all the other (13) stents are...
11.15 We are all happy now and implantation can start. Onward!
11.20 I am not happy, I suddenly get tremendous angina pain, which won't respond to the usual drugs and I start to move about - which is not "A Good Thing" as I can easily pull the wires and catheter out which would be "A Bad Thing" . Still, dimorphine finally puts a stop to it. Ahh dimorphine, the drug of choice....
11.30 Restart and 2nd stent in place and things seem to be going better, mind you the pink hippos are damn distracting as they tap dance in the corner...
11.40 3rd stent in, at least the elephant that wondered in looking for his friends went over and had a word with the hippos to keep the noise down...
11.50 All done! We now have the simple task of sliding across to a trolley while making sure that I don't move my right leg.
12.00 And so into recovery.
12.05 Were I am offered food and drink -Huzzah! - but I have to say it isn't easy to eat or drink when stretched out flat on your back... and a nice dry turkey sandwich is not ideal, still the coffee was nice and they did have bendy straws.
12.15 To my surprise I am moved down to the CCU for overnight monitoring (my surprise is that it has happened so quickly - due to the pain episodes I am later told, not that that they moved me)
12.25 To my even greater surprise I am in a side room in solitary splendour.
12.30 Surprise is no longer enough and I am forced to rely on astonishment as the ward sisters and staff nurses come in to greet me. I know I'm a nice chap but do I really stand out from the stream of patients that flow into this unit?
12.35 Wired up again like a christmas tree (thankfully they don't insert the thermometer - trust me you don't want to know) but because of the pain episodes and my problems with the dye they are slightly concerned about my kidneys, slightly meaning that they stick a catheter in me to drain my bladder. Delicacy forbids saying where the catheter was inserted... (bet you can guess...)
The next 8 hours are spent laying, staring (to start with) at the ceiling and then as the hours pass my head is slowly raised and then I could almost sit up. Blood was then extracted, tested and the great removal of the sheath could take place, a quick squirt of local, a sharp tug and hey presto, you are gibbering like an idiot as they didn't wait "quite" long enough... Still, it was out and we then only had another 4 hours connected to the monitor... but still connected to the catheter...
One of the team stops by to see how I am and casually mentions that the stents implanted were of a new type, cost approx. £1500 *each* and are coated in a derivative of a cancer drug, meant to stop the artery wall from growing over. They are only used in the more difficult cases - should I feel flattered?
Posted by: jack.rawlinson
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August 17, 2010 9:08 AM
Glad to hear you're okay, PZ. As you say, this is a warning and should be treated as such. No need to go Spartan on your lifestyle, just watch the old calories and fats a bit more and maybe sacrifice a bit of Pharyngula time to the gym... :-)
When I was in my early forties I had a mystery pain in my chest one night and as it hadn't really eased after an hour I was persuaded by my then wife to call the hospital. As soon as they heard my age, sex and problem they went into overdrive. The sirens blared outside my house less than five minutes later, I was put on a trolley (I insisted I was fine to walk but no... not allowed!) and wheeled into the ambulance where the checks and the wirings-up started before I even reached the emergency room. I spent the whole night there, ECG-ed, blood-tested, BP-tested and so on and, fortunately, given a clean bill of health and the diagnosis that my pain was probably some sort of stress-related cramping.
Since then I've continued to enjoy my bad habits but I've leavened them with some good ones too. I watch my weight, force myself around the gym several times a week, walk pretty much everywhere where walking is an option and try to at least balance my diet with plenty of the good stuff.
Posted by: Demonax
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August 17, 2010 9:16 AM
One can get great ideas hiking it's evolutionarily approved.
Posted by: Cosmic Teapot
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August 17, 2010 9:29 AM
Glad to hear you are OK Professor Myers.
Posted by: Jules, Bride of Death
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August 17, 2010 9:30 AM
Glad to hear that you are all right, PZ.
Lucky for you, squid is actually pretty good diet food.
Posted by: fauxrs
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August 17, 2010 9:40 AM
Went through the exact same thing about a month ago. Same result - nothing whatsoever to do with the heart - acid reflux in my case. but 24 hrs in the hospital and the blood draw every 4 hours.
Glad your results came back negative.
Posted by: Thebear, just an agent of peas
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August 17, 2010 9:48 AM
Like I said further up: French style lentils and beans are very filling. You can also do lentils in a greek style tomato sauce (key spices: Parsley, oregano, allspice and a very tiny pinch of cinnamon - add cloves if you add bacon or other pork and some cumin (jheera) is good, but brings it closer to India).
Posted by: irenedelse
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August 17, 2010 10:13 AM
PZ, glad to learn it was only a "warning"! Take care, please. As many others pointed, spices and herbs do wonders if you have to get on a low-fat diet. Hope you won't have to endure beige walls again until very, very later.
Posted by: https://www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawlnIRAbplACi_BPTgcEUVyGMM3F8gGETus
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August 17, 2010 11:02 AM
One thing I love about herbs is that they will grow quite heartily in little pots in the kitchen window. I get fresh herbs pretty much year round this way. I am not a great cook, so they make all the difference.
Studies have shown that beer is actually beneficial to your health.
http://ca.askmen.com/sports/foodcourt/45_eating_well.html
Eat, drink and continue to be merry!
Posted by: Louis
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August 17, 2010 11:09 AM
Re: my #227,
Erm I messed up. I should point out that I am in fact trying very very hard to DO number 3 on ly list. Not, as erroneously stated, to not not die (i.e. to top myself asap). Anyone taking the pills away/cyanide out of the lab/banning me from high building etc can stand down. I am not actually suicidal!
I am a crap typist without coffee, this is true but correctable! Hell I'm a crap typist with coffee!
Either way I hope the message comes through: not dying = general good.
Louis
Posted by: Silič O'Nopolitanopoulos, Färschdbischuf Beesknees aus Ulm und Klein Elguth, Elector Pharynguline.
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August 17, 2010 11:09 AM
Don't you dare die on us!
Who'll refresh The Thread if you're gone? (But just in case, please show Mary how to do it.)
I hope they're not taking you off the beer as well.
As for cardboard and blandness: You live in Minnesota! Just eat the local cuisine instead of the fancy stuff.
And please don't die.
Posted by: cicely (Inadvertent Phytocidal Maniac)
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August 17, 2010 11:25 AM
Relieved to know that it worked out okay. If it weren't over-familiar, and if the Trophy WifeTM didn't object, I would offer a virtual *hug*.
Posted by: Mike Mixer
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August 17, 2010 12:29 PM
I had the same thing happen to me in 2005. Sitting on the couch, eating a bowl of oatmeal(no butter, little sugar, very healthy) when I started to feel the tightness in the chest and radiating pain up the arm. I made the mistake of mentioning the fact to the ex-trophy wife who was an LPN. Do not, under any circumstance, attempt to dissuade a nurse who gets both alimony and child support from you from taking you to the hospital if your dumb enough to admit chest pain to them. I said I hate hospitals and I got the momma bear growling "Deal with it" back. Five foot nothing of pure drill Sergeant ordered my ass to the car unless I preferred an ambulance and getting strapped to a gurney which, by the way, she would personally cinch up herself. After 3 days of poking and prodding the doctors finally found a tiny shadow in one small branch of a vein on my heart that may or may not actually be something but other than that I was fit as a person could be carrying enough weight for another one of me. Haven't had a problem since but my dad had a heart attack and emergency bypass surgery last year so I guess I better get a clue and pay better attention.
Posted by: psycchick
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August 17, 2010 1:16 PM
VERY glad you're doing well.
Posted by: kilternkafuffle
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August 17, 2010 1:30 PM
My grandfather died after a series of heart attacks and my dad used to have an irregular rhythm, so that's what I plan to die from myself =)
Best of health, and hope you enjoy the leafy new diet, dear PZ!
Posted by: Bad Earl
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August 17, 2010 2:29 PM
This "wake up call" is a great opportunity for you. You've gotten a lot of good advice, so just enjoy your new, healthier life! (I had my wake up call eight years ago with a pulmonary embolism. I lost 75 pounds, I now drink lots of water, take an aspirin every day, and I walk a lot.)
Posted by: Tualha
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August 17, 2010 5:33 PM
Regarding blandness in diet, see if your local stores carry something called Uncle Sam cereal. (Nothing jingoistic, the founder just looked like Uncle Sam.) It has high fiber and very low sugar, but manages to taste very good anyway (to me at least, YMMV).
I should mention they have a little QC problem right now; the bags aren't airtight sometimes. I've told them about it repeatedly; whether they're working on it is anyone's guess :p
Posted by: cuco3
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August 17, 2010 6:12 PM
Well, a "wake up" call beats hell out of a "don't wake up" call.
Posted by: Markita Lynda: Healthcare is a damn right
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August 18, 2010 1:52 AM
Thebear, Try ultra-filtered milk, e.g. Natrel. The 2% tastes like whole milk, the 1% tastes like 2%, and so on.
Get smaller plates. Seriously. We tend to fill our plates and then eat what's on them.
Go for volume and fibre: oranges, not orange juice.
Flavrs: tomato & oregano, squash & dill soup, carrot & ginger soup, chicken with lemon juice? Cajun? Vegetarian chili? Chinese? Japanese? Thai?
Posted by: seemeisie
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August 18, 2010 6:21 AM
@ largefriendlyletters.dontpanic #212
That was what the doctor first thought, but there weren't any visible in the ultrasound. Who knows, maybe some infection killed the important cells in my gallbladder -kinda like what happens in the pancreas for Type 1 diabetes.
At any rate, I live in NZ so all the tests that the doctors are doing on me are 'free'. Good thing too, because I'm a student and can't afford jack shite.
Oddly, my repetative stress injury isn't covered by state health; it would be if I were an employee (it'd be counted as a work injury) but because I'm a student I sort of slip through the gaps. So now I'm teaching myself to pippette left-handed.
Posted by: Monty Burns
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August 18, 2010 2:17 PM
What would really help is eating crackers. If you eat crackers, you'd end up with Jesus in your stomach. Eventually, after you digest Jesus, he would end up in your heart...
*grabs coat, runs for thread door*
Posted by: Jadehawk, cascadeuse féministe
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August 18, 2010 8:29 PM
glad you're ok, and glad you had the sort of health insurance that allows a weekend at the ER/hospital to only result in a boring couple of days, and having to eat healthier food.
Posted by: sir.bob
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August 18, 2010 10:57 PM
I'm glad it was nothing, and I'm glad you had health insurance, so all you had to worry about was your health. I am just a couple of years younger than you, and not in as good of shape. If I had the same experience, I would have no choice but to go home, hope it wasn't a heart attack, and call a friend to have them check up on me for a while, to make sure I don't end up sitting in my apartment dead for a week like a friend of mine did.
Posted by: meh1963
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August 19, 2010 12:28 AM
PZ, glad you took care of yourself....and that you were sufficiently insured to do so.
Please continue to take care of yourself. And I wish you luck with eating better and exercising....it's surprisingly difficult in this culture but worth the effort. Plus, I really like your writing....
Posted by: Markita Lynda: Healthcare is a damn right
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August 24, 2010 4:32 PM
DLC wrote:
Distance runner Jim Fixx lived nine years longer than his father did, thanks at least in part to his running.
Posted by: Markita Lynda: Healthcare is a damn right
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August 24, 2010 4:42 PM
Tritone Sub, sorry to hear about your condition -- that sucks. Anything one can do?
On diet, salads with dressing can be very fatty, so the healthiest food in the pub is often the "bangers & mash"--sausage, mashed potatoes, and beans. Goes well with beer, I've heard.