On Tuesday I took what could turn out to be my final major test of this experience. I had a stress echocardiogram (like a stress test but with an echo before and after the treadmill) to see how my heart would react to exercise. Pre-Op my blood pressure would rise at the beginning of exercise and then it would slowly fall. There are 5 warning signs which point to increased risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest and this is one of them. We were hoping that surgery would fix this problem but wouldn't know for sure until now. This test would also tell us if the obstruction in my left ventricle was gone.
I spoke with my doctor today and the obstruction is gone when I am exercising and at rest. My blood pressure also reacted normally which means I will not need to have a ICD(defibrillator) implanted in my chest. I am going to do one day of heart monitoring next week to make sure we haven't missed anything but according to all of this data I am in good shape.
I asked my doctor when I could get back to normal exercise and quit my cardiac rehab program. He told me whenever I was ready I could let it rip. So I drove straight to the gym. I went to the treadmill and walked for 15 minutes and then I decided to run. I ran for 10 minutes straight at 5 MPH. In my head I heard...."run howie run....". This may not seem like much but I can't remember the last time I could run for 10 minutes without stopping to catch my breath. I'm completely stoked and a little bit tired. I went from the treadmill to the bike and then I decided I'd give the rowing machine a shot. I'm not exactly sure why I thought that would be a good idea considering I haven't rowed a boat in 15 years. Tomorrow is gonna be brutal.
I will always have HCM and with it I will have limitations. I will need to be monitored by my cardiologists for the rest of my life. I will probably experience some symptoms for the entirety of my life but that is okay. I am alive and I feel pretty damn good. In fact I feel good for the first time in what seems like forever. Being able to walk up stairs again would have been good enough for me so being able to run is like winning the freakin' lottery(just in case I bought a ticket and then lost). Do me a favor and never take your health for granted. It is such a precious gift.
I'll keep the updates coming as long as there is stuff to update.
Later,
Steve
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3 comments:
We are so excited for you Steve. What fantastic news!
GREAT news! i didn't forget about the blog...we've just had some crazy internet stuff going on here at work. so it was great to catch up on the last two...both really great entries to read. course you know, now i'm thinking we'll be running AND drinking when i get out there! can't wait to get the full scoop on your new class too. so happy to hear you are doing so well!
nice Howie, nice nice nice! so good to hear everything is well. looking forward to seeing you powered by the restored heart down in Bend! take care brother. -Johnny
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