Pay attention to what your body is telling you (I know this is not normal for men!) but this time it did save my life. Waking up at 2 am with indigestion I took some Pepto Bismol and moved to the recliner for a bit then back to bed only to repeat the same indigestion.

The next day during a dental cleaning appointment, it came back with jaw pain. “Hmm. This is not good.” After taking a baby aspirin, I went to my primary care doctor who sent me for a chest x-ray.

HERE IS THE LESSON –  GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM FIRST WITH ANY SUSPECTED HEART ISSUE

After a stress test and heart catheterization, it was determined I had a 98% blockage in the descending artery. This artery is often called the widow-maker because usually the first symptom of a problem is death.

After my ordeal when people find out what happened to me, they tell me their story of someone that did not survive. It usually goes like this, “Playing basketball in the driveway and just dropped dead. Or “He was a runner, thin and healthy.”

For me, it was a quadruple bypass with a six week recovery until I went back to work. But let me tell you, it was a full year until I was feeling confident with myself. By the way, I was 51 years of age at the time.  I’m 62 now and doing fine.

By Dan Lamley, member of the InsuranceExperts.team