As I am sure you have heard by now, James Gandolfini, a.k.a., Tony Soprano died June 19, 2013 of an apparent heart attack. He was 51. I really enjoyed him as an actor and am truly sorry to see him go.
But I gotta wonder if this was something that could have been prevented. Now I know, as my late son the doctor used to tell me all the time, all too often the first sign of heart disease is sudden death. For both males and females. But I also know that us “he-men” tend to ignore things that would send anyone else to the doctor and/or hospital to get checked.
- “Ahhh, it’s nothing. Probably just pulled a muscle working out.”
- “Oompf! I really shouldn’t have eaten that last meatball. Now I REALLY have heartburn.”
- “I wasn’t sure if that roast beef was bad or not. But the way I feel now, I think I should NOT have eaten it.”
- “Man, I just can’t seem to catch my breath after mowing the yard. I gotta start exercising.”
Those were some of the phrases and comments I heard from fellow cardiac patients during rehab some 16 years ago. After I survived what most doctors would call “A widow-maker”. Something like an 80-90% blockage in the Left Anterior Descending (L.A.D.) artery of my heart. I managed to make it to the hospital before it was completely blocked. Which apparently happened after they got me into the E.R. From what I remember, they said it only took one jolt to bring me back. But that was after the attending whacked the crap out of my chest. ‘Course I didn’t feel any of that at the time but I do remember this horrible, annoying, loud buzzing in my ears when I came back. That was when the attending says, “We’re gonna need to do some surgery. Possibly a stent.” Sure, okay, whatever, just stop that buzzing…..
The thing is, I had LOTS of warning signs that I ignored. I’m not talking about the whole heart-disease runs in the family, you’re probably genetically pre-disposed to heart disease, diabetics have more heart issues than non-diabetics, etc., etc.. NO, these warning signs were more like:
- Skipped heart beats, sometimes referred to as palpitations.
- Shooting pain on the left side of my chest.
- Shortness of breath from doing the most menial of tasks.
- Sharp, quick pains in the region of my heart. Like I got stuck with a needle. But they were so quick that I just blew them off.
- Sometimes all of these would happen as I was laying down to go to sleep. But again, they were always quick then gone.
I was only 42. I just knew it couldn’t be my heart. All the movies and TV shows I had seen showed men much older than me having heart attacks. All of them had numbness in their left-arm, followed by sharp, long-lasting pain in their chests. They usually made it to the hospital. Sometimes. So, I just continued to ignore these signs for well over a couple of months. BAD, BAD decision. My heart attack was nothing like I had ever seen in a movie or TV show. In fact, at the time, I figured it was food poisoning. That’s a story for another time, however.
My point is this: For all of you folks out there reading this, men, women, no matter how old you are, if you are having these kinds of symptoms, go get checked out. Or at least talk to your doctor and/or health-care provider about the possibility of heart-disease and heart-attack symptoms–especially if it runs in the family. Not only could you end up saving your life but also sparing your family and friends from a lot of grief. Only Mr. Gandolfini’s family will know if he ever complained of these symptoms or any of the other possible indications of heart problems. Maybe he never did complain. Maybe he figured he was “A MAN” and didn’t need to run to the doctor for every ache and pain. Or maybe this was indeed his first and only indication of heart-disease. We, the general public, may never know.
Rest in Peace Mr. Gandolfini.