About five months ago, I started having chest pains whenever I did anything that required even mild exertion. The pains were not severe, but I was concerned enough to see a doctor.   I have always been athletic and in great shape, so I assumed it was nothing.

Tests, tests and more tests

The first thing the doctor did was to request a number of blood tests.  He wanted to know about my cholesterol (both kinds), my blood count, and a variety of other chemicals in my body that are indications of my overall health.  Well, my cholesterol came back very high, and my blood pressure was also very high.  At one point it was 162 over 100.  Normal is any about below 120 over 80, so I was really not normal.

The next series of tests I underwent were a chest x-ray,  stress EKG and a nuclear medicine test.  The chest x-ray was a simple, standard shot of my lungs and heart.  The doctor was looking for any spots on my lungs, lung disease or structural changes in my heart, like an enlarged heart.  The x-ray came out normal.

I was scheduled for a stress EKG and nuclear medicine test.  I showed up at the office dressed in my best track suit and Nikes ready to sprint my way to a passing grade.  I started the test, walked a bit, and never broke a sweat.  Surely they can do better than this.  I am in amazing shape!!!  I never even felt my heart rate go up that high, then the test suddenly over.  No chest pain, no nuttin!  I am truly amazing for 56!!

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The nuclear medicine test consisted of a contrast dye which is injected into my veins.  Once the dye is pulsating through my body, a technician takes a great many different pictures of my heart and all of the blood vessels surrounding it.  I spent about an hour doing that, but I would not receive the results until my next doctor visit.

The Results

I returned to the doctor cocky as hell.  I was so confident he would just give me some antacids, slap me on the back, and send me home.  The doctor then proceeded to inform me that the chest x-ray, stress EKG, and nuke test revealed no problems.  I knew it.  I passed!!  Yay!!  It isn’t my heart!!!

“Wait” says the doctor.

It seems that these tests are not conclusive.  The only conclusive test is cardiac cathetarization.    That is a procedure where the doctor threads a probe from your femoral artery all the way up to your heart.  Once there, he starts looking for blockages in the coronary arteries that supply blood the heart muscle.  It is pretty routine, but a little scary.  Since the chest pain hadn’t gone away, I said yes.

Happy Cath Day!!

So, this past Thursday, September 2nd I went to the hospital to have cardiac catheterization.  I submitted to more blood tests, got naked, and slipped into a very stylish hospital gown that would not close in the back.  I was hooked up to a number of electronic instruments, had my temperature taken, had another EKG, and a nice man shaved me where they intended to insert the catheter (which is very close to where no man has ever touched me).

Next stop, the Cath Lab.

I was wheeled to the cath lab, and prepped even more.  The doctor arrived promptly at 7:30 a.m., and I was given some valium to relax me.   I was awake, but in a twilight state of mind.  I felt good, read that buzzed, as I relived 1975.    Shortly after my valium high began, I felt a bit of pressure on my thigh as my doctor inserted the probe.  After ten minutes or so, he told me he found a number of blockages in the arteries around my heart, but there were two significant blockages in the same artery that posed a threat.  One was 90% closed, while the other was 70%.   Even in my valium state of mind, I knew that meant I could have been months away from a heart attack.  I suddenly felt very mortal.

He told me he was going to put in a stent to open up the blockages, which he did.

My recovery

Shortly after the procedure, I was wheeled to recovery in the Cardiac Care Unit – CCU.  A number of people were there to help me move from the gurney to the bed, something I could not do myself.  I spent the night in the hospital, and the only complication I had to endure was some bleeding from the site of the injection, causing a big ugly bruise on my leg.

The good news is that I haven’t experienced any chest pain since having the stent put in.  I had experienced chest pain several times a day before the procedure, even while sitting.  So, I took this as a positive sign.

I came home yesterday, and decided to share my story with you.  I believe there is someone out there that may be experiencing this as well.  If so, get it addressed right away.  I had a friend who died 20 years because he chose not to get treatment.

I want to thank the nurses and technicians at Christus St Catherine Hospital and especially my cardiologist Dr. Mehta who saved my life and probably kept me from having a heart attack.  This experience has changed my life.  I will not have Wendy’s for lunch anymore.

The bottom line is to address your problems whether they are medical, relationships, or career, or spiritual.  I wasted a little time getting my problem addressed, but I never doubted that I would get things addressed.  I only have one heart, and had to get it fixed asap.

I hope you can take something from this story.

Have a wonderful Labor Day weekend in the U.S.

If you would like to know more, leave me a comment or email me at mike.anderson@directyourcareer.com

Mike

One of the secrets to Turbo Charge your Career is being fit. I am not talking about joining a gym necessarily. I am talking about getting physically, emotionally, and spiritually fit.

Pump Me Up
To be physically fit, all you need to do is eat food that is good for you. You know what that means. If not, go to http://thetennisdad.com/blog and my son Ryan will help you. Also, it means getting enough sleep, and limiting your alcohol consumption. I recommend you quit alcohol completely, but moderation is fine as well. And stop smoking. Today. For exercise, walk around the block to get your heart rate up. Use it or lose it!!

Emote with me baby
The next key is emotional fitness. This is a complex subject that I address in my book, but basically it means clearing up all of your emotional baggage. Address your relationship problems. Apologize to those you have hurt, get over the men or women who have hurt you, and resolve to address all future mistakes immediately. There is a lot to this to process, but making amends and dealing with mistakes quickly is very important to emotional well-being.

I See Dead People
The part of all around health is spiritual fitness. For the atheists, you can stop reading here. I have no interest in helping or hurting your cause. For the believers and agnostics, I want you to find a higher power. Believe that you are not the top of the food chain. Believe that an unseen force greater than you is conducting the orchestra. There’s more, but you will have to get my book or do more research if you want to learn about it.

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The key to health is that you must do all three of these things, and they must be done in this order:
1- Physical
2- Emotional
3- Spiritual

I know I have piqued your curiosity, so leave me a comment or email me at mike.anderson@directyourcareer.com

Have a great day!!

Mike

For many years, I have been against annual or semi-annual performance appraisals, sometimes called reviews.  The idea that once a year you and your boss sit down face to face and talk about how you did the entire previous year just seems unnatural.   The business guru Dr. W. Edward Deming agrees with me.

Surprise!!

I have had no bad experiences with reviews.  I haven’t had a bad review or a surprise review.  I simply believe that there is little if any value in this annual display of power whereby you are talked to by your boss about what should be discussed every single day of your career.  I cannot imagine what would happen if your boss actually said “Bill, on October 13th at 3:45, you came back a few minutes late from your break.  On January 3rd, the spreadsheet you gave me hand an error in it.  So, I have to give you a low grade, and therefore no raise.”

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Could you imagine the surprise?  Why wouldn’t he have told you in October, and in January?  Well, that is my point.  If he is a good manager, he would be communicating your performance everyday.  You would know every day where you stand.  What good is this ceremony.    It is a complete waste of time.

Evaluated Daily

Good managers perform reviews every single day.  Anytime you make a mistake, or conversely anytime you do something well, you should know it right away.   You should not be surprised by anything that would be said in a review, therefore making the entire process moot, or dare I say – BORING!  I think that if you are being evaluated each day, you should and would know at any given time where you stood.  Don’t you think that getting that information would help your performance each day?  Of course it would.  If you were told what to do to succeed, you would most assuredly do that more often.  And, if you were told not to make mistakes, you would do whatever you could to be more accurate.  Simple?  Yes, it is.  Unfortunately, too many bad managers need this formality to communicate with their staff.

Divide and Conquer

I think that the review process divides a team between those that get good reviews and those that do not.  Those that get good reviews, or what we used to call the pets are set aside from those that do not.  They are on a different list and actually perform as if they are not part of the “in crowd”.  It creates high school style cliques that cannot inspire team work.    The cool kids will stick together as will the not so cool kids.  There is no upside to foster these cliques, especially among adults.  The divide does becomes even larger as time goes on.

For Real Dude?

I do believe that the annual performance appraisal is a complete waste of time.   In a highly functioning company, you will know where you stand every single day.  I think that companies should abandon them completely dude!

I would love to hear your thoughts!

Have a great day!

mike.anderson@directyourcareer.com

http://www.directyourcareer.com