Ken,
You truly are a miracle man. The odds of surviving even one cardiac arrest outside a hospital is only a little more than 10%. You did it 7 times. If you do the math, that makes the odds around one in ten million, and that's not even including the fact that you had a cardiologist along for the ride.
I had a heart attack four years ago, at age 67, followed immediately by emergency quintuple bypass surgery, ventilator induced pneumonia, antibiotic induced c diff, two weeks in a medically induced coma with 50/50 survival odds, another week in the hospital getting my bearings, and three weeks in inpatient rehab learning to walk and feed myself again. Compared to you, though, my situation was like a vacation.
Like you, I was very athletic and fit at the time of my heart attack (and really my entire life). I did have high blood pressure but it was under total control through medication. My blood lipids also were pretty decent. Unfortunately, my family history wasn't. Like you, I felt and still feel a deep sense of gratitude to all who saved my life and to just being alive, especially for my wife and daughter.
By the way, I quickly recovered, even in rehab, and even more so when I finally got home and continue to do all that I did before athletically. It takes a little time, but you'll quickly get there, especially at your young age.
Welcome aboard,
Ira
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Ira Reid
Hoboken NJ
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Original Message:
Sent: 02-21-2022 14:59
From: Ken Murphy
Subject: Hello
Hi,
I just joined the group, and I'm looking forward to connecting with people here.
My story in a nutshell: this past Halloween, a few weeks after my 50th birthday, I was mounting biking in a remote area when I had a heart attack, followed by a series of cardiac arrests. I was an organized ride and I didn't know most of the people, but through outrageously good luck one of them happened to be a cardiologist. My first arrest happened before any responders arrived, and he performed CPR until I could be medevac'd. I kept arresting and was defibrillated a total of seven times, in the field, in the helicopter, and at the hospital. I don't remember anything between arriving at the hospital and waking up in ICU three days later, but they performed an angioplasty when I arrived and treated me with therapeutic hypothermia. I had a second angioplasty a few days later and was released after a week.
Prior to all this I'd been very active, I ate well, and had good lipid levels for the last couple years (I had been borderline for many years before that). So this was pretty unexpected. It's been a big adjustment but I've been making a good recovery, and have started getting active again (little by little). I eventually learned what a close call that was, so I'm feeling incredibly fortunate to be alive, and very grateful towards all those who helped me.
I don't know a lot of people that have been through similar experiences, so looking forward to meeting some people in this group.
Ken
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Ken Murphy
Oakland CA
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