35-Year-Old Runner Thought She Had Bronchitis. She Was 2 Weeks Away From a Widowmaker

Runner's World ^ | February 28, 2019 | Emily Shiffer

[Bonemaker]

“When that becomes completely blocked, it can cause a particularly lethal heart attack referred to as a widowmaker.”

Listen to your body. If the LAD goes so do you. Probably what did that running fool Jim Fixx in.

[rlmorel]

LOL, didn’t think of that.

[Captain Peter Blood]

While I admire the fact she got help and is doing well, I don’t think I would be pushing things to go back to marathon running. Moderation is the thing she should be thinking about, don’t give up running but reduce and run less distance.

[rlmorel]

Good gosh, the most unfunny people in the world have to be dedicated Leftists...

I can just visualize that.

“Don’t you project your cis-genderness onto the rest of us!”

[V_TWIN]

Agreed. My da was a heavy smoker and drinker and never exercised after he retired from the military. He ended up with a 4 way bypass, COPD, emphysema...the whole 9 yards. 'Cause I exercised up "till I was 50 I thought I was safe but for some reason at that point I quit jogging. I now cycle several times a week along with walking. The diet modifications were the toughest though.

[V_TWIN]

Agreed. My da was a heavy smoker and drinker and never exercised after he retired from the military. He ended up with a 4 way bypass, COPD, emphysema...the whole 9 yards. 'Cause I exercised up "till I was 50 I thought I was safe but for some reason at that point I quit jogging. I now cycle several times a week along with walking. The diet modifications were the toughest though.

[V_TWIN]

I was fortunate in that I was able to tolerate a Radial artery access heart cath. In the wrist, across the chest and down. Beats that groin access any day.

[blam]

30 Minutes Of Morning Exercise ‘Cuts Blood Pressure’

[reed13k]

Makes me believe even more that the clotting is more related to inflammation caused by minor infections.

Dad was nearly the same - low cholesterol, low BP, lean, physical labor. He was 55ish, but his only risk factor was he did smoke. Ended up wit a quad bypass.

[mtrott]

Classic presentation of exertion induced angina, and highly predictive of a significant coronary artery blockage. You would think, after the Jim Fixx death, that people would be more aware of this possibility.

[Catmom]

And she doesn’t have a cholesterol problem.

I tell you, there has to be some metabolic factor they haven’t found yet that produces coronary artery disease. The cholesterol hypothesis seems more and more to be another instance of correlation doesn’t prove causation.

[Yo-Yo]

I had the groin.

[V_TWIN]

Bummer. Hoping you never have to but if you find yourself in that situation again ask about the radial. WAY less invasive. I was in at 7:00 am and home at 3:30 pm same day.

[Midwesterner53]

I’ve been through almost the exact same procedure. Nagging, deep chest pains woke me up one morning but I thought I could go on and it would pass off. Showered, went to work, stayed about an hour and decided to get home and visit the ER to get checks. 90% blockage and the same procedure in my forearm. That night I was very uncomfortable in the hospital but have felt great ever since, more than 3 years ago. Pay attention to pain. It’s there for a reason.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

Wow! Same with me. Had a heart attack driving between Naples, FL and Cincinnati, OH. 2012. Just me and a couple cats.

I turned around and drove back to Naples and slept it off. Then drove the next day to Cincinnati.

Wife made me an appointment to see a doctor who said 95% blockage.
Got a stent the next day. Doctors said I was extremely lucky it didn’t kill me. I had an unusually tight bend in the LAD that got filled with plaque.

I think what saved me was that I kept hitting myself in the chest after I stopped the car due to the pain. Hitting myself felt better than the heart attack.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Runners are relatively sane people. They just didn’t think that the remark fit the gravity of the situation.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

Damn, son! No ER’s between Naples and Cincy off I-75???

[rlmorel]

Well, I suppose it would depend on the manner of making the point. Everyone has different views of the gravity of a given situation.

[duckbutt]

Heredity....you can’t out run it. Trust me, I know.

---

I understand all too well. My 34 year old husband died of a heart attack driving home from work. The ME said his arteries were almost 100% blocked and that it was a heredity thing. His brother, a year older, died of a heart attack 6 months before. I asked if bypass surgery would have helped and he said, no....that the problem would crop up again.

BTW, he had hernia repair surgery 2 weeks before he died. Went through with flying colors. I asked why the dictors didn’t find anything wrong with his heart. He said because of his age and his physique (was very fit) they weren’t looking for a problem......

[SamAdams76]

Widowermaker doesn't roll off the tongue as easily.

I still prefer the term stewardess because it rolls nicely off the tongue. Flight attendant is awkward and generic. Even if it's a man who is serving me drinks and peanuts on a flight, I still prefer to refer to him as a stewardess. Except I'm not going to ask him for his phone number.