Close call - how having a heart attack changes lifestyle patterns - includes related information - Heart Disease: Am I at Risk?

I really dodged a bullet." That's how Focus on the Family president Dr. James Dobson describes his frightening experience. On August 15, 1990, to his surprise and that of those who know him, Dobson suffered a heart attack--a mild one. But doctors had to admit that it was nothing short of a miracle for Dobson's heart to suffer as little damage as it did.

"I get up in the morning now and am so thankful to be alive and to have the opportunity to live and breathe," Dobson says. "When you look death in the face, everything becomes meaningful, especially your relationship with the Lord and with your family and friends. Taking a walk with your wife, looking at a tree, sitting in the backyard, watching a sunset--all these things take on new meaning when you've spent 13 days in CCU with a nurse sticking and prodding you, listening to your ticker and hanging electrodes on your body. It's a scary experience."

The day it happened, Dobson was playing his usual game of basketball "with guys 20 to 30 years younger than me." Suddenly he began to experience chest pain, a pain that was different from anything he'd experienced before. Dobson immediately knew something was wrong, but he wasn't sure what.

"I thought it could be a heart attack, but I didn't have the symptoms you hear and read about. I didn't feel like an elephant was standing on my chest, I wasn't dizzy, I didn't have shortness of breath, I had had no pain down my left arm or in my jaw. But there was a searing pain in the center of my chest," he recalls. "I didn't tell anybody where I was going. I just walked off the court, picked up my keys, and went to my car. One of the basketball players followed me and asked if I was OK. I said I'd be all right."

Dobson confesses that one of his "dumbest moves" was to drive himself to the hospital. Fortunately he made it to St. Luke's Hospital in Pasadena, California, but once there he was apprehensive about going in.

"I sat in the car right outside the emergency room, so that if I passed out, someone would trip over me. I waited for 20 minutes to see what would happen, praying and asking the Lord what to do. It's an ordeal when you go into a hospital and tell them you're 54 years old and having chest pains. The staff is obligated to send you through several days of tests, and I didn't want to do that if I didn't have to. I quickly realized it was necessary, and walked inside."

A Silent Attack

During the first 14 hours, doctors had no evidence that Dobson was having a heart attack. "I was in the midst of a myocardial infarction, yet two EKGs were normal. I could have gone in for a physical examination and passed it during the heart attack."

It wasn't until 11:00 p.m., when the first enzyme report came back, that doctors informed Dobson that he'd had a mild heart attack. Later an angiogram revealed minor damage. He described that experience:

"They put dye directly into the left ventricle of the heart. It's warm. You can feel it surge throughout the body. From the way it's expelled, they can measure the heart's pumping action. That index is called an 'ejection fraction.' This is the most important indicator of risk following a heart attack.

A person who has not had a cardiovascular problem typically scores between 44 and 65 percent pumping action in the left ventricle. I had 66 percent, so my heart was still stronger than the average person even after I'd sustained 10 percent damage to the middle area between the chambers, called the septum. A later test measured between 70 and 75. I am very blessed."

Doctors said what helped Dobson most was that he was in good physical condition. One of his main arteries to the heart was blocked 100 percent, but other blood vessels were able to provide an adequate blood supply.

Choices

"I had several choices," Dobson recalls. "One was to leave the artery blocked. My heart had sustained all the damage possible from that artery, so we could just leave it. The other was to have an angioplasty, in which doctors go back through the artery, thread a balloon into the blocked artery, expand it, and push the plaque into the wall of the artery, forcing it open. In about two thirds of the people, it stays open. For about one third, it closes down again, and they have to repeat it or take another approach.

"Another procedure, called an 'atherectomy,' requires the cardiologist to insert a Roto-Rooter device into your artery and grind out the plaque. At that time there was less experience with that, and they weren't sure whether the arteries tended to block up faster or slower afterward, so I preferred to go with something they knew a little more about [angioplasty]."

One of the heart disease risk factors working against Dobson was his family history. His father had had a heart attack at age 59 and died of coronary artery disease at 66. His grandparents and four uncles on his father's side had also died of coronary artery disease.

"I've lived with this. It's like a time bomb in my chest. Since I was a young man I knew it was going to go off, and for that reason I avoided talking about it." But today his attitude has changed since technology has made a big difference in the treatment of heart disease.

"If there is a bottom line to what I want to say, especially to men, it's avail yourself of today's technology. If you sit around and ignore your heart, you can die because you didn't take care of yourself."

Lifestyle Changes

With Dobson's heart attack being mild, he was able to go back to work sooner than usual, but he went back a different person. The first change he made was in his diet. Dobson admits that he grew up in a family that loved fatty foods. "Every happy moment in my childhood, everything fun, was related to food with fat in it."

Today, because of his heart attack, Dobson bypasses steak, foods with creamy sauces, cheese, and many of his other all-time favorites. "I've given up ice cream, which I loved. I've not eaten a doughnut, a beef hamburger, or an onion ring in three years. I loved pizza and Mexican food. I've given all that up, and I don't grieve over it anymore. But my weakness is nuts. I still struggle to avoid them." Dobson has also increased his fruit and vegetable intake and eats oat bran every morning.

Today Dobson stays clear of the basketball court, but is an advocate of exercise. "I exercise six and seven times a week. I spend an hour on a treadmill and an arm bike, and I love it." Also he and his wife, Shirley, walk at night.

Dobson has also altered his work attitude. "I've changed from this 'I'm indispensable' stuff. I'm only one man, and can do only so much. I've had to accept that, and accept a reasonable responsibility--do what I can and let the Lord do the rest.

"You just have to stop to smell the roses. Life is going so fast. There are a lot of messages in this experience for me and for other people--take care of the body the Lord has given you. You have only one heart, and when part of it dies, it doesn't regenerate."

Prayers Answered

During the angioplasty, doctors had a difficult time getting the artery open. The procedure was supposed to last about 30 minutes. Dobson was on the table, awake, for two hours.

"I saw the stress on the doctor's face. I've never seen anybody work so hard.

"They kept going out and telling my wife they weren't getting through, that the artery was so solidly packed that they couldn't get a wire through it in order to get the balloon in. I couldn't move or ask a question, so I lay there and said, 'Lord, You know where I am and who I am, and You know my need.' Two hours later they said, 'We're done.' 'You didn't open the artery, did you?' I said. They responded, 'We did. We were about to quit when we broke through.'"

At one low point during his hospital stay Dobson prayed, "Lord, I'm upset, I'm frightened, and I'm very lonely. Would You send somebody who can help me?" They rolled Dobson out for another test, and when he returned, a pastor friend was sitting there.

"I said, 'Jack, your church is on the other side of Los Angeles. Why did you take the time to drive all the way over to see me today?' He responded, 'I was praying for you, and the Lord told me you were lonely, and I came to see you.' The Lord took my prayer and verbatim conveyed to Jack what I had said to Him. It was that way through the whole experience, and I want to thank everyone who called my name in prayer."

Dobson says that without question, what meant the most to him through the whole ordeal was knowing that many people were praying for him. "There's just no way to describe it."

COPYRIGHT 1994 Review and Herald Publishing Association
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group