November 26, 2018 will be a date I will never forget. Even though my surgery was four months ago, I can remember it like it happened yesterday. That night was like any other, a trip to the gym with my wife for a spin class I had been doing for a few months. But this class will be different…
About 15 minutes into the class, I started to have a pain in my back. As first, I thought it was just my posture due to being hunched over on the bike. Then, I felt the pain move to my chest… and my whole chest felt like it was in a vice… and kept getting tighter and tighter.
As I left the studio, I thought I was just overheating and needed a break. I’m crashed on one of the sofas trying to figure out what was happening with me, and my wife finds me to ask how I feel. I tell her, “well, my chest is super tight, and my arm is starting to tingle”. 10 seconds later, we are on our way to the emergency room.
Events (over 36 hours) in a nutshell:
Emergency room, nitroglycerin, admitted to the hospital, CT Scan, Cardiac Cath, Double Bypass.
I woke up after surgery not remembering ANYTHING and feeling like an elephant was sitting on my chest. Little did I know at the time, this would be the most painful and life changing experience I have ever had.
And my story begins...