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Catchy title, eh? I've advised a few friends about a bullet that I dodged last week, and decided to go ahead and share it here as well, in the hope that it'll help someone else.
Last Wednesday I was sitting in my home office (probably reading posts in this forum) and for no reason at all, I felt a shortness of breath, and both arms felt very heavy. I took my blood pressure, using our home BP monitor (my wife suffers from low blood pressure), and I was shocked to find it 180/130. Off to see the doc, where he confirmed the reading, and sent me straight to the ER, where I was admitted and they started running tests.
During the night, the testing showed that my condition was unstable and deteriorating, so the next morning they ran a heart catheter up my femoral artery and discovered the LAD artery at my heart was 90% blocked in one place, and 50% blocked in another. They did an angioplasty and put two stints in these places, and my blood pressure immediately dropped to normal (110/75) and I felt fine; better in fact than I'd felt in 10 years!
As we caught it in time, there was apparently no heart muscle damage, and with a change in diet & lifestyle, and getting on some good meds, my life should return to normal - and hopefully even better than the "normal" that it used to be. Most people aren't so lucky; if you Google "LAD and Widowmaker" you'll see what I mean.
I'm convinced that having that $79 blood pressure monitor in my house is what saved my life, because if I hadn't seen how high my BP was, I would've blown off the symptoms and in all probability, I wouldn’t be writing this today. I never go to see a doctor unless I'm really sick (last time was 2005), and additionally, I didn't feel any chest pain, numbness, or pressure, so I really didn't think I had a problem until I saw the BP reading.
So if you're 40, or over, PLEASE do yourself and your family a huge favor and get one of these monitors, and check your BP yourself periodically. Even if you're a lot younger than 40, consider getting one of these for your mom or dad, and showing them how to use it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, now pick one of these BPM's and buy it: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...=Blood+P&ih=6_0_0_0_1_0_0_0_0_1.134_298&fsc=3
Last Wednesday I was sitting in my home office (probably reading posts in this forum) and for no reason at all, I felt a shortness of breath, and both arms felt very heavy. I took my blood pressure, using our home BP monitor (my wife suffers from low blood pressure), and I was shocked to find it 180/130. Off to see the doc, where he confirmed the reading, and sent me straight to the ER, where I was admitted and they started running tests.
During the night, the testing showed that my condition was unstable and deteriorating, so the next morning they ran a heart catheter up my femoral artery and discovered the LAD artery at my heart was 90% blocked in one place, and 50% blocked in another. They did an angioplasty and put two stints in these places, and my blood pressure immediately dropped to normal (110/75) and I felt fine; better in fact than I'd felt in 10 years!
As we caught it in time, there was apparently no heart muscle damage, and with a change in diet & lifestyle, and getting on some good meds, my life should return to normal - and hopefully even better than the "normal" that it used to be. Most people aren't so lucky; if you Google "LAD and Widowmaker" you'll see what I mean.
I'm convinced that having that $79 blood pressure monitor in my house is what saved my life, because if I hadn't seen how high my BP was, I would've blown off the symptoms and in all probability, I wouldn’t be writing this today. I never go to see a doctor unless I'm really sick (last time was 2005), and additionally, I didn't feel any chest pain, numbness, or pressure, so I really didn't think I had a problem until I saw the BP reading.
So if you're 40, or over, PLEASE do yourself and your family a huge favor and get one of these monitors, and check your BP yourself periodically. Even if you're a lot younger than 40, consider getting one of these for your mom or dad, and showing them how to use it.
Thanks for taking the time to read this, now pick one of these BPM's and buy it: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_s...=Blood+P&ih=6_0_0_0_1_0_0_0_0_1.134_298&fsc=3
