The Widow-Maker Heart Attack at Age 48

Patrick J. Fox

Description

“The Widow-Maker Heart attack at age 48” was written by a “miracle” survivor of a massive heart attack. He provides hope and a pathway to recovery for other heart attack patients and their loved ones facing the same daunting life changing, unexpected experience. His entire first year of life after suffering his heart attack; actually dying six times, is chronicled in this book combined with his ever changing physical and psychological feelings.

In writing this book it was the author’s goal to help other families and loved ones facing the same devastating unfamiliar territory as his family faced on March 31, 2008. His goal was to provide timeless support for the loved ones of the heart attack victim so that they might better be able to understand what the patient is going through and what they, as loved ones might do to help the heart attack victim better deal with their life changing experience. The genuine and heartfelt desire on the part of the author to provide insight to the heart attack patient in their post heart attack life is profound and dynamic as they too successfully recover.

The book provides much needed insight into critical topics that become part of the day to day lives of heart attack victims.  The author laments about the mental side of first symptoms of actually experiencing a heart attack, emergency room feelings, mental challenges associated with dying, physical and emotional thoughts of waking up in the ICU, first day emotional panic, first night death feelings, prescription drugs, family support, cardio rehab, physical and physiological ups and downs, “Mount Everest moments”, and stress prevalent in the first year of recovery. 

This book should be provided to every heart attack patient families or victim in the hospital, cardiovascular specialists and educators of heart attack health.

Sujets

• Santé et bien-être
• Santé du quotidien
• Vie de famille
• Relations familiales
• Santé au quotidien
• Santé au quotidien
• Self-help
• Famille

Informations

• Publié par: AuthorHouse
• Date de parution: 07 mai 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781438962818
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE WIDOW-MAKER HEART ATTACK AT AGE 48
 
Written by a Heart Attack Survivor for a Heart Attack Survivor and Their Loved Ones
 
 
 
 
Patrick J. Fox
 
 
 
 

 
AuthorHouse™
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.authorhouse.com
Phone: [phone]
 
 
 
 
© 2009 Patrick J. Fox . All rights reserved.
 
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
 
Published by AuthorHouse 06/25/2022
 
ISBN: 978-1-4389-6279-5 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4389-6280-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4389-6281-8 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2009904347
 
 
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
www.widowmakerheartattack.com
 
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to my entire family and all my friends. If it were not for their support and prayers I would not be here today. To all who are part of Christ Lutheran Church in Belvidere, Illinois, and all the administrators, faculty, staff, and students at Rockford East High School …
 
Thank you!
CONTENTS
Dedication
Introduction
Living a dream life
Lucky, unlucky day of my life
“You need to stay focused”
Very bright light
I can’t breathe
Why do I feel like crap?
Family members. But why?
“You were way dead.”
Ongoing discomfort
It’s time to go home
Horses of tranquility
My first days home …
Bedtime nightmares
First weeks and months home
Television Shows Become Difficult
Emotionally Difficult
Cardio Rehab
First Horseback Ride
December Bowling Ball
Prescription Drugs
High School Teacher
My son’s letter
One-year anniversary
Moving Forward
Walt Disney World
Guest Relations
P.O. Box 1000
Lake Buena Vista, Florida 32830
 
 
To Whom It May Concern:
 
Hello my name is Brandon Fox; I am a Walt Disney World Cast Member in the entertainment department. I started in the Company in the College Program and I have now gone seasonal. I even came down and worked during my college spring break. I bought this shirt for my father during my short work period during spring break (which is enclosed in package).
I arrived back home on March 24 th and on the morning of March 31 st my father, Patrick Fox woke me up and told me that he was ironing his favorite shirt to wear to work. I said; “Ok Dad, I don’t have to be up for another hour.” Then he thought it was appropriate to wake me up again and show me how good it looked. My father loves Disney and he was the reason I started to work in the company. He loves everything that he has from Disney; books, clothing, movies, etc.
Around 9:30 that morning my father was at work as a teacher at a high school and was feeling some back pain but he tried toughing it out. The pain became too much to handle and the school had to call an ambulance. It turns out my father was having a massive heart attack and was minutes from passing away. While the paramedics were trying to revive him he was dreading that they had to cut his shirt. After shocking him six times to keep him alive and implanting a stent in his heart they were able to revive him. After he woke up from surgery and become aware of his surroundings, he asked for the Chicago Cubs home opener game on TV and his copy of the SpectroMagic Compact Disc (CD). My father has the SpectroMagic CD on repeat; it is all he listens to in his car. He says that the music inspires him to heal.
I am writing this in an effort to help my father. I am requesting the possibility that you could refund the shirt and by chance send him a replacement. Thank you for taking the time to read this letter. The magic of Disney and his passion for Disney is what continues to help my father grow stronger. My Dad, Patrick Fox believes strongly in the Disney Company. He sponsors Disney CareerStart recruiting days at East High School, in Rockford, Illinois, in hopes to create an opportunity for students who have very few options for a positive future. Even an acknowledgement of this letter and words of well wishes would truly brighten his life at this time when it is hard to be optimistic. Thanks again and have a magical day.
 
Sincerely,
Brandon Fox
 
 
 
 
To this day, I find myself reading my son’s letter to the Disney Company on almost a daily basis. And to this day it reminds me that I did indeed go through a life-changing experience that some days I truly find difficult to believe.
INTRODUCTION
I have written this book in the hopes that my words and feelings might shed better light on the personal feelings, experiences, and changes in the life of a heart attack victim. In writing this book I can only hope that other families and loved ones facing the same devastating unfamiliar territory as mine did on March 31, 2008, might better be able to understand what the patient is going through and what loved ones might do to help the patient better deal with the difficult experience.
It is my intention that my experiences and corresponding words might also assist in making life just a little bit easier on the victim to better help the patient through the life-changing and emotional process of heart attack recovery.
This book is not meant to be a catchall for heart attack victims and their families. I have come to learn since my own heart attack the simple fact that all heart attacks are not created equal. I have had many good conversations with other heart attack victims since my own heart attack. I have found myself feeling jealous of those heart disease patients who were lucky enough to have warning signs and avoided the trauma and devastation of the dreaded heart attack all together.
The idea for this book came from my wife, daughter, and son as a therapeutic process for my recovery. In the days and months following my heart attack they were searching for as much information as possible to help them understand what I had been through, both medically and emotionally. They searched for books related to relatively young and healthy people having devastating heart attacks. Sadly, they found little or nothing on the subject, which is why I have decided to write this much-needed book.
While my family did not experience the heart attack themselves, they are nonetheless indirect victims. My wish in writing this book is that any family member of any heart attack victim might take some solace that they are not alone and that their day-to- day emotions are real and not to be ignored but rather learned from and grown upon.
I do not for one second think that I have come anywhere close to having experienced all the ups and downs related to a heart attack. On the other hand, I am happy and blessed to be in a position, I hope, to help those who are living through the same or a similar experience.
LIVING A DREAM LIFE
CHAPTER 1
My life has been much like the script of any Disney movie. The beginning of my life script started in Huntington, West Virginia. I have been forever proud to tell people when asked that I was born in Huntington, West Virginia. I would truly love to visit there someday, but regretfully I don’t remember anything about that city, as I moved from Huntington two years after my birth.
My most memorable years were spent in what I would call my unofficial “hometown,” Leesburg, Indiana. Much like the TV show that most baby boomers grew up watching, Leesburg was my Mayberry RFD . The streets were brick and the residents mirrored in a positive light similar to the townspeople of Mayberry—Barney, Aunt Bee, Gomer, and Sheriff Andy—in their pleasant and small-town attitude.
I am sure that my memories of P.O. Box 7 in Leesburg might be a little distorted with time, but the late Mr. and Mrs. Smith will forever be a very bright and memorable part of my young life. My years in Leesburg with my two brothers, John (one year older) and Jimmy (three years younger), and my two younger sisters, Kathy (two years younger) and finally Susie (six years younger), were in my fond memory very special years in the growth of our very close family. My memories of our family growing up in Leesburg and the special townspeople are of fun and are oriented around family.
We grew up decorating bikes to ride in the Fourth of July parade that would snake throughout the entire town. Perhaps my memories of Leesburg, Indiana, have something to do with my desire to move to Rock City, Illinois, where I currently reside. While no city can ever take the place of my memories of Leesburg, Indiana, in the late sixties, Rock City, Dakota, and Davis, Illinois certainly have been special.
It was during the Christmas holiday of 1969 that the Fox family took up roots in Leesburg and moved to Rockford, Illinois. My memories of the remaining years of elementary school at Gregory School were fun and very active years to say the least. My mom and dad were incredible, as they were as close to Superman and Superwoman as was humanly possible as they seemed to drop off five kids for basketball, baseball, football, Scouts, and friend get-togethers as only superheroes could accomplish.
I realized even in elementary school that when ask