Not your average Friday.

The weather is pretty lousy today, cold - gray - damp. I'm a bit behind in my work, and I expect I'll be even further behind in my bills soon. My dad has just been moved from a hospital to rehab, where he's expected to be for a week or so.

Overall, you'd think it's a pretty shitty day, but it's not. I'm here. A week ago (almost to the minute), that was not a given.

Last Friday, I was having a great day. Unlike today, the weather was perfect for me, sunny, breezy, and slightly cool. I had pulled the rider mower out of the shed, and was charging the battery so I could mow the lawn in the afternoon.

My birthday is coming up (next Monday), and I had just gotten an early gift the day before, an Amazon Kindle. I've been ranting about the Kindle to my friends, and family, for months now, and one of them figured that I just might like one. Needless to say, they were right.

On top of that, one of my favorite games, Mount & Blade, was being released that day. I've been playing it as a beta for about a year and a half, and it had finally reached 1.00. Their forums were going crazy, and I was one of many who were refreshing it, waiting for them to post a link for downloading.

Between the Kindle, the lawn, and the game, you could say I was just a little distracted (ok, a lot, but it was all good). That said, I still had work to do.

I was working on a version checking system for StoreMan5 for Miva Merchant. It was going well, and I was having a bit of fun with it. It's a stand alone script, so there are no rules (I'm usually confined by the Merchant API). I don't get that kind of freedom often, so I enjoy it when it happens.

Needless to say, I had a lot going on, but for the most part, I was really enjoying the day.

Sometime around 12:30, they posted the link for the game. I grabbed it, and installed it on my main machine. I gave it a quick 5-minute test drive, just to make sure it installed ok, then went back to work on my version checker.

I was getting into the zone, and lost track of time a bit, when I noticed that I had the strangest feeling in my throat. It was sore, but unlike any sore throat I had ever experienced before. It felt like my throat was burning, and closing, at the same time. I felt like I was having trouble breathing, but that was all in my head.

My first thought, which was a pretty strange one in hindsight, was that I hadn't eaten lunch yet, and maybe I just needed some food. I heated up some tortellini, made it through most of that - with no difficulty swallowing. My throat kept getting worse, and I just couldn't finish it.

The pain in my throat spread to my sternum. It was getting worse, and I instinctively grabbed a bottle of aspirin, and took a couple. I wasn't thinking about anything in particular, I just wanted the pain to go away.

The pain then spread to my lower jaw. It was relatively minor, and it sort of came and went, but I had never felt anything like this before. The one thought that went through my mind was "I don't know what this is, but I never want to feel like this again". That was when I decided I had better head for the emergency room.

Still having my wits about me (or, being a total nutjob, depending on your viewpoint), I took the time to drop a copy of the game onto my laptop, and pack up my Kindle before I left. Ok, that was probably pretty stupid, but I don't regret it.

When I got to the ER, they didn't make me wait long after I had described my symptoms. They knew, as you've probably guessed by now, that I was having a heart attack. They started out with blood tests, did an EKG, and hooked me up to monitors, an IV, and oxygen.

The EKG was fine, but the blood tests were positive, I was in the middle of a heart attack. The cardiologist called it an 'invisible heart attack', due to the lack of EKG activity.

(had to take a break here - seems reliving it isn't all that easy)

There was something about the way he said it, that I took as good news. My first reaction was something along the lines of "oh, good, then I'll be home tonight". He corrected me quickly, and told me I was likely to be in the hospital until Wednesday. Well, I beat those odds, but not by much, I got out Tuesday night around 8:30 pm.

The details of the weekend are a bit fuzzy to me. They continued to monitor me (a bit too much for my liking), but by Sunday, I managed to lose the oxygen tube, and the blood pressure cuff (both of which were annoying as hell). On Sunday afternoon, I was allowed to stand for the first time, and get out of bed so I could sit in a chair. It was a nice change.

Sometime over the weekend, I asked a nurse if it was safe for me to play video games - I get quite wrapped up in them, and Mount & Blade is a particularly exciting game. She said the damage had been done, and I could take a shot at it, just stop if I felt uncomfortable.

Even with her permission, which made my day, I wasn't really able to play. Still had a bit of fear, but mostly I seemed to be in a state of shock.

It wasn't just the game either, I had bought a couple of books for the Kindle, and could barely focus long enough to read a page. About all I could watch on TV was the news, and even then, I barely heard a word they said. I think I was also dreading the coming week - when I would be transfered to another hospital, and find out how they would treat it (drugs, angioplasty, stents, bypass... Being the coward that I am, I hoped for drugs).

That news came soon enough. Monday, around noon, I was picked up by an ambulance, and transfered to AtlantiCare. Within three hours of getting there, I went in for cardiac catheterization.

This is a test they use to find out how much damage there is, and where it's located. Due to the similarity to angioplasty, if they decide to go that route, they can do both at the same time - and that's what they did (along with three stents).

Obviously, the procedure went well - I was released the next day, and I'm here, typing this. That said, I wouldn't recommend it, no matter how bored you happen to be. It was not fun.

Right now, I'm trying to rearrange my life a bit. Getting used to a collection of drugs, making minor changes around the house, doing lots of paperwork for the hospitals and doctors, and trying to rest a bit.

Overall, I feel great, and I'm looking forward to getting back to work, and starting on an exercise program (it has to wait for a couple of weeks - doctors orders). Until then, I'll do a bit of light work, a bit of gaming, and some more reading on the Kindle (just finished my first book on it, and I'm as hooked as I thought I would be).

For all of the pain, fear, and just plain discomfort that I went through in this past week, there was one thing that made it all tolerable - the people. The crews at both hospitals couldn't have been nicer, better informed, or more reassuring. They were thrust into one of life's most horrible events, and they damn near made it pleasant. For that, I thank them all.

Before I go... to those of you who aren't in the greatest of shape, here are the factors that were the greatest contributors to my heart attack:

1) Smoking - if you do, quit. If you can't quit, at least cut it down as much as possible.

2) Lack of exercise - I'm not terribly overweight, but I am overweight. Worse than that, I'm not very active. I'm changing this already, and will do more when the doctors let me.

3) Cholesterol - if you don't know what your levels are, get them checked. In my case, it's genetic. There's not much I can do about it, except take drugs to control it. I should have started on them sooner.

4) Hypertension - I have high blood pressure, and I was taking meds for it. This was a minor factor, but combined with the above, it didn't help.

If you've read this far, I thank you for your time, and please... do us both a favor, and do what you can to avoid repeating my mistakes. Yes, I had a heart attack, but I was extremely lucky, it was a minor one. I dodged a bullet, you may not be that lucky.