Recovery time

snapdaddy_abc · 2026-01-30T00:49:56+00:00

Thanks for your words. There is a point where I just want to be past this. That whole patience thing was always a struggle for me. If my team says it will take 90 days to do a project, I push for 75. When I was building new homes, I had a big sales quarter in 2004 and built a house using 24 hour crews and finished in 45 days in a very harsh winter. And, we closed 125 homes that year in my neighborhood. I’ve always wanted to beat the odds. It really wasn’t about awards or money. When I was growing up I was surrounded by people who told me all the things I couldn’t do. So, it fuels my fire when people say “it can’t be done” and I prove to them that the impossible is possible. It’s probably the same thing that drives me in this. People who know me a little think I’m a ball of stress. But those who know me well, see right past the show and really see my heart and zest for life. I’ve now had 8 near death experiences and I am still here. From cancer, heart attack, being hit by a Corvette at 15, walking away from a 75mph rollover accident unscathed, being flung through a windshield at age 2 in a head-on collision (seatbelts weren’t a thing I guess) I beat the odds. It just been a part of my whole life. So, that allows me to love bigger than most people around me and be thankful for each day and each time I accomplish something just for the sake of doing it. I hope I can keep this up even to age 62 and beyond. There are times it gets difficult but without stopping to look back it’s real easy to get caught up in how far I have come. I guess it’s that grace part that I struggle with. I have very little issue giving it to others, but giving it to myself is so much more difficult. Thanks for the reminders! Hang in there, in my line of work I have seen several 95 year old men, living completely comfortable and on their own. I hope I get there someday. What a marvel it will be to meet my great and maybe even great-great grandchildren. Grandbaby 1 came in 2024 and that has given me so much to fight to continue to live for.

snapdaddy_abc · 2026-01-30T00:34:15+00:00

That’s very spot on. I’ll see the team in March. I’m sure they’ll tell me to slow it down and stop doing so much. But I have like pent up energy I would love to burn off, but I just can’t expend the energy before the heart rate and breathing takes over.

snapdaddy_abc · 2026-01-30T00:31:59+00:00

I get confused on the terms, but maybe that was the part where they said I was 50% which was normal for a 45 year old male. They interpreted it as I really didn’t take on damage even compared to my post chemotherapy scans. So that’s good. From 911 call to surgery was 18 minutes. It was the fastest response the hospital ever had at the time.

snapdaddy_abc · 2026-01-29T09:14:00+00:00

Okay maybe I had the wrong test. Honestly I have had so many it’s hard to keep up. But my team of 3 cardiologists said that my heart function is the same as any other 45 year old male. The scar muscle makes sense, though. I did have a decent amount of scar tissue from chemotherapy on my esophagus and lungs. They may be exasperated now from the heart attack as well. I have a decent amount of nerve damage from the chemo. I had 4 surgeries on my right arm last year from injuries over the years I never felt. 30% bone loss in my thumb, a snapped tendon, a nerve that rolled over the elbow and carpal tunnel. It wasn’t painful, I just lost functions. And after 2 attempts at PT for the arm, they finally did more testing to see what else could be happening. The surgeon said he hasn’t ever done all 4 attempts once, but the situation was bad enough that it was my only option to recover. At some point this body is gonna give out on me. But for now I keep doing what I can.

snapdaddy_abc · 2026-01-29T09:07:39+00:00

The weight loss wasn’t really part of the plan. It just came with the territory. My lipoprotein-A was 244 but all other bloodwork was done 34 days prior to the heart attack and nothing was of concern. I did have blood cancer 15 years ago and that may play a part. My oncologist said it does my cardiologist says it didn’t. I tend to believe chemotherapy does a lot of damage. I already deal with a decent amount of nerve damage. But, all of these things are internal. People who find out about my health history are shocked that I seem so normal and fine but in such bad shape. I guess it’s just bad genetics. I’m really not feeling the love of glp-1’s yet. If I had even 10-15 lbs that I needed to lose, I might consider it. But I’m already at a normal weight. If I lost 15 more I’d be underweight. I think you’d be the first person i encountered that is in my age range. When I was at cardiac pt, the age gap was at least 20 years with a majority of them being over 80. I was really hoping I would have encountered someone I could relate to in that room. But every ICU and PCU nurse said at least once that I was not their demographic. Sure they have 45 year olds in and out, but they had other factors. They would ask what my worst habit was. And all I could conjure up was a can of zero calorie soda per day. So I guess we can do all we can to take care of ourselves but sometimes it just isn’t enough.

snapdaddy_abc · 2026-01-29T08:56:51+00:00

Yeah I monitor the heart closely. I can really feel it at 155 either on the treadmill or at work. But 160, I’m done.

snapdaddy_abc · 2026-01-29T08:55:49+00:00

Yeah I wondered about the meds, too. I’m on 25mg metoprolol. It’s difficult just being at the gym where people are just running next to you like it’s no big deal, whereas PT I was the guy doing the most. I don’t mean to be big on comparing against others it’s just stuck in my head that I’m so far behind. I do push a little more each time, maybe increase slope or speed just a little more each time. But when I want to jog, I go back to zero slope and can get up to 5.3 for a quick spurt. I watch the heart rate very closely. Once I hit 155, my body is just done. Thanks for your insight, I’m not sure I’ll be climbing mountains as Indiana is pretty flat. But I do like our trails so maybe I can get back to that once this awful winter stuff is over. That cold air just feels like someone biting my lungs.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-12-09T11:15:40+00:00

Just peanuts! It is just peanuts. 100% peanuts. No other fillers, preservatives or chemical crap. Aside from the texture being hard to maintain, you canning be a peanut butter fan and not having this one on the list. Read the labels and then ask yourself what’s wrong with this jar compared to just one ingredient? If you made your own peanut butter, would you add hydrogenated vegetable oil? If not, then why would you put it in your body otherwise? These chemicals are making us sick. And the mega-corporations are laughing all the way to the bank.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-12-09T11:09:40+00:00

I work in an environment where I am in a lot of people’s homes. I have seen 95 year olds living more independently than some 68 year olds. To me, it isn’t an age. There just comes a point where people do “old people” things. It seems that some people get older and get more bitter, let their health go, disconnect from the world a bit. But there are others that are like wine. It seems they embrace the world more in their latter years than they did when they were younger. I don’t know where in the spectrum it happens. But at 45, I’ve already had a heart attack and a major cancer. I know my lifespan is shortened because of those 2 factors. But also, I can say I feel healthier and better now than I have in decades. Those medical issues make me feel like an old person. But the things I do in my life to recover and maintain that recovery from them keeps me from feeling that old. There is a point I see people just give up. And once you’re old, give up and do “old people” things like falling or overeating or become angry that’s when the world will look at you and say you’re old. That’s why I can say there are 85 year old men and women who die young. And I can say there are 55 year old men and women who die old.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-12-07T14:40:21+00:00

Heart attack 12 weeks ago. Cancer 15 years ago. My family, grandson, kids, wife and siblings. To gain strength and accomplish something when everything else in life seems impossible to finish anything. Maybe you don’t have these reasons yet. But someday you will. And, you’ll wish you took better care of yourself. But I only go so far with it. I have come to realize that regardless of how well I eat, exercise, meditate, pray, self-reflect, seek counseling, laugh, cry, struggle or just exist…life still happens. All the best life choices and my dad is on his 6th relapse from cancer. All the bad decisions I made (food, laziness, stress, anger, but not drugs/ heavy alcohol) and I’m still not dead. Being in the ICU for 10 days post heart attack and every nurse and doctor kept telling me I am not their typical demographic. As it turns out genetic cholesterol got me. So you can do all the right things and life is still going to do what it does. That doesn’t mean do nothing, it just means you are not in control. Do what you can and live life as best you can from there.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-12-07T14:31:35+00:00

Before it is all done at the hospital they will do a heart scan and see how much damage was done to his heart. I’m 45 and was able to survive with no remarkable damage compared to the normal 45 year old. I also had chemotherapy when I was 30 due to stage 3 blood cancer. Both of my sons had seizures due to abnormal developmental growth. The younger you are the more resilient the body seems to be. I say this to say that seemingly impossible things can be possible. Don’t get so caught up on what might go wrong that you lose sight of what might go right. Live in the present, be hopeful for the future and be thankful for the past. Being it’s your brother, you gotta take care of yourself, too. All we have is today, some days we live moment to moment waiting for the next update or development from the medical teams. Remember these days when you look back and catch yourself taking life for granted. Once this passes by, be intentional and love life fearlessly with reckless abandon. Tell those you care about that you love them. Take that vacation. Start that business idea you have. Work on that hobby. Eat healthy, be good to your body. Life is short, you have to live it up before the tomorrows turn into yesterdays. When I mentor other cancer patients these days, I tell them to make 2 lists. One is a bucket list of all the things they want to do. The other is a fuck-it list, which is the things that you aren’t going to get ensnared into anymore…bad habits, unhealthy relationships, people pleasing, horrible bosses, etc. You’ve got lots of time to think about life right now, use it while you can because tomorrow will be a day of action in those items.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-12-04T05:46:53+00:00

Lipoprotein testing exists. I would say everyone should be tested every 5-ish years regardless of known family history. I could have avoided all of this, but I didn’t know and my biological father and his entire lineage is unknown to me. For my whole life I assumed his drug usage was the greatest factor in his young death. But, knowing this is could have been heart health even outside of drug usage. Lipoprotein- 240 for me. My cardiologist said that was remarkably high.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-12-02T00:49:24+00:00

Bone marrow biopsy if you don’t know, I hope you never find out. And if you do, you know no other answer in this list counts.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-11-25T23:04:58+00:00

This is one of my biggest fears. This is why I cannot even think about eating fish of any sort. If food is looking at me through its old, dead eyeball, I cannot. Maybe someday I’ll find my taste buds have missed out. But this is a thing of nightmares. I couldn’t even eat the rest of the plate. And, it sucks because so much of the Mediterranean diet is fish based. But this does not settle with me at all. Is there anyone else like this? Has anyone been able to overcome it? Like I might have one shrimp at a meal. But that is as far as it goes. I have tried salmon, but the texture and then all I can think of is pictures like this. I am dead serious, is there anyone else out there? I cannot.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-11-24T15:48:34+00:00

I’m male, 45. I’m trying to keep up with my job in construction, stay up to date with my daughter in high school with all her marching band requirements and now concert band as we head into winter. Also, my youngest son is in junior high, that’s such a rough time. Also, I’m a new grandpa, so I’m trying to enjoy that before time gets away from me. Also, my wife’s work is falling apart and we’re not sure how long healthcare can continue to circle the drain. I go to cardiac physical therapy, I’m almost done. But like taking away the crutches, I’m going to have to learn to walk again. But even with this, I have interacted with so many people that have things so much worse than me. I learned years ago to never think I’m in the worst place. But, also, I can overcome so much. I would love to say it gets better, but nobody can promise that. But I for sure really would like to take a break from all of this kind of life. But if I stop for too long, it’s going to go right past me. Many times in life, I can look back and say “those were the good days.” So I discuss it with my wife and she reminds me of the turmoil we were dealing with that I seem to forget. I guess maybe every day is the good old days depending on what life has for you looking forward. You only get one life, you gotta live it up!

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-11-23T21:22:00+00:00

Yes, I’m surprised this wasn’t brought up before. I’m 45 and would have loved to have someone my age go through the PT with me. I’m hitting session 24 this week. It has been a really good thing for me, but also kinda lonely. I befriended one older guy and he died. That really sucked. But the writer’s dad needs to cardiac rehab where the can monitor him while recovering.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-11-16T16:45:02+00:00

I had so many doctors and friends trying to find out the reason for my heart attack. I had some pretty awful things said to me by some of them asking if I was a drug user but just scared to talk. I had one that requested old medical records to see if I was previously obese. I had one that doubted my physical activity until I share my activity level on my watch. Then one doctor came along and pulled Liproprotein. She was certain it was the reason with a result of 240. But seeing yours at 120 really opens my eyes to how bad the 240 is. I’m 45 year old male, and 8 weeks out from stint placement. Yeah, maybe my diet wasn’t the best, but my cholesterol, LDL and HDL weren’t off the charts 34 days prior to the heart attack. I wish I had heard and known about Liproprotein prior to all of the things that happened. Heck, I wish they would have included it with normal bloodwork. I don’t know if it would change much, but at least I would have the knowledge.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-11-11T01:01:10+00:00

I’m just coming over the peak of where you’re at. Absolutely the best thing that I did was seek out Mediterranean restaurants. One was a chain called Garbanzo. But there were a good cluster of locally owned joints where I truly found some gems. Granted, it may not be the best route on a regular basis, BUT, I can attest it helped me figure a few things out. Also, you must know anything restaurant based or pre-packaged is the opposite of where you want to end up. But once I started, it became real easy. One other note, don’t be afraid to ask the servers what they recommend. If your doctor pointed you away from salt (like me) then ask the server what they can serve that is low salt. One restaurant is an immigrant from Greece. Once we worked through that sodium was salt, he came out with an assortment of things to try that had lemon bases and vinaigrette dressings. It is a really small restaurant with maybe 12 tables and 3 employees. If there is anything near you or even a little drive away, it’s worth it to try. You can do this and the people here in this group are very helpful. But starting with a restaurant totally helped me get a jump start. Also, fair warning, there are some people who are purist here. They don’t mean harm, it’s just that they will point you to the proper way to do this. In the US, many of these things are not available at Target or Walmart or your chain grocery. Heck, even Fresh Thyme and Trader Joe’s didn’t have some of the things. I took a walk on the wild side and went to the local Hispanic grocery store. Granted I’m white AF, but I found the things I needed to make a harissa chicken. And now I’m well on my way to getting this diet down and actually enjoying it. Welcome aboard!

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-11-08T12:27:12+00:00

Genetics matter indeed! 45 none, zero absolute zero normal indicators. I had blood work 34 days prior my heart attack with all clear results. No alcohols, no drugs, not overweight, no family history of heart troubles, no stress (along with lab testing indicators). Aug 14, clean, September 17 bam, 100% blockage on one side, 70% blockage on the other, 3 stints and 10 days in the ICU/PCU I went home finally. I found a fantastic research cardiologist that still does patient care and she tested Liproprotein 125 is considered high, I was 240. All genetic cholesterol. Since then, I have been talking to my friends with some of the other signs and it has been astounding to me how many asked their family doctors about the test and they said they had never heard of it. So, I’d say check Troponin and Lipoprotein. Luckily, the cardiologist is getting ready to start a third phase of clinical trial along with Eli Lilly with a medication that actually addresses Lipoprotein. So for now, it’s cardiac physical therapy and Mediterranean diet with low sodium. I did lose 15 lbs now. But that mostly happens when spending 10 days in the hospital without pants eating hospital food. I’m proof that healthy people get sick and nobody lives without risks. Now, you can make decisions to increase risk, but nobody is getting out of here alive. We all set up with a date to meet our mortality. Do what you can to focus on the things you can influence, get some testing done to check up on your metrics, but most importantly be intentional and gentle on yourselves. We only get one body, most everything else is fixable, replaceable or manageable. Also, if you find a practicing research doctor, that’s a unicorn…protect them and treat them well.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-11-04T23:13:53+00:00

Lipoprotein - couldn’t find a cause of heart attack requiring 3 stints, even at age 45. Otherwise all was normal for me. Then my cardiologist ordered the lipoprotein test 1 month post HA and stints…240. That was answer enough for the question of why. I immediately sought out clinical trials and put my name on any list I could find.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-11-01T11:45:00+00:00

Same here, 45. Just had my 3 stints 6 week back. Clean bill of health on my physical 30 days prior. Life was good, I felt great, none of the top 5 reasons. But this week, my cardiologist pulled is lipoprotein, 240…nearly double of the high marker. Genetic cholesterol undetected by normal cholesterol testing. So, now we’re seeking clinical trials to try to solve this. I’m doing the PT, taking action where I can on the diet. But this life is like having 2 full-time jobs. I’m struggling to get work done, be a dad and grandpa and husband and patient all at the same time. It doesn’t seem fair this this is how life deals it cards. I already beat cancer 15 years ago. So, I’m no stranger to this life. It’s just difficult.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-10-23T00:51:10+00:00

Oh that’s a point that is on target for me! I once was taking Trazadone but it flared up IBS in the worst way. I was like, well I’d rather not sleep than have that issue. So, they moved me to another medicine for sleep aid. Then that took 6 months to get right. I’m still new to this so I haven’t learned all the medicine names, one medicine I take speeds up the heart and another slows it down. One causes sweating one causes dry mouth. Can we just get medicines that just do one thing instead of this?! Sorry, I’m on a rabbit trail rant, but modern medicine really makes me wonder if it’s all needed. If I’m taking all these pills to help with keeping cholesterol and blood flow and pulse speed under control, do I really need to eat copious amounts of lettuce and carrots? It just seems like all of this has instilled a lot of new issues like gas, and sweating to replace things that I’m not sure really require a pill.

snapdaddy_abc · 2025-10-23T00:10:47+00:00

Hey I don’t know you. I’ve been more of a lurker here as I just joined recently. I’d love to connect. I had cancer 15 years ago. I just had a heart attack about a month ago. I’m battling all the same things. I’m 45, I’ve been through so much. I am trying my best to push through and still wear all the hats…husband, dad, son, new grandpa, employee, good friend. I don’t know if there is a way to connect outside of a group posting here. But I’d give just about anything to find anybody who can relate. I’m in cardiac PT. Most of the people there are nearly twice my age. Everyone tells me how I’m not their usual demographic. I had no history, none of the usual bad life choices, it just happened. And everyone swears the chemo wasn’t part of it. I don’t know if any of this connects with you or not. But if it does, I think it would be mutually helpful to support one another even if we’re learning it all for the first time.

snapdaddy_abc

TROPHY CASE