The Emergency Room Scare That Changed My Life

It was a cold Midwest week in February 2015. Ann Arbor was dusted in snow and it was freezing cold. Little did I know that the next week would change the rest of my entire life.

I had moved there a year prior after my (then) employer was so kind to relocate my family all the way from Australia. I was still relatively fresh into my role and had a lot to prove! Those were the days when spending 5 days in the office was just usual business and occasionally some work needed to be done on weekends too.

I was in my early 30s and felt on top of the world.

This particular Monday there was this annoying itch in my throat. Initially not an issue, a cup of hot tea and I’d felt like new. During that week it got progressively worse until I was in bed with high fever. Now, I’ve had a cold and the flu before and I knew, with enough rest and fluids, I’d be up and running in no time at all.

So while my body was telling me to rest, I was still doing some work here and there, answering some emails, sending out some instructions to the team etc.

More annoyingly though, we had this amazing manager offsite planned in California at the beginning of the next week. There was no way I’d miss that. So while my body was screaming for rest, my mind was fighting against it. I needed to function, I had work to do, money to make, people to impress.

Later that week, after a few days of things not getting better, I finally decided to see a doctor. He did a quick swab test and diagnosed me with strep throat. A bacterial infection not uncommon in families with little kids in pre-school. He gave me antibiotics and instructed me to rest up.

Of course I ignored that. Antibiotics were for weaklings and after all, I had work to do.

Saturday morning, I am waking up drenched in sweat. I check the time, it’s 4 AM and I don’t feel so good. Only 2 days till my flight to California - I need to function! Get better, body, dammit!

There was also this strange stinging in my chest and my back. It felt unusual, but after a week of fever and all sorts of aches, what’s another pain anyways. So I tried to go back to sleep.

Nope, that did not work. I was just feeling too crappy. So I decided, rather rationally in my mind then, to drive myself to the hospital for a quick checkup. At 5 in the morning the roads would be clear and I’d be seen quickly. Back home before breakfast.

The dusting of snow from the previous day had turned into a proper snowstorm at that time, luckily my old rusty BMW had all-wheel drive. When I walked into the ER, a friendly nurse greeted me and asked me what was up. I told her about my symptoms and she smiled “Don’t worry honey, when we have a proper cold all sorts of muscles can spasm up and cause pain”

I immediately felt better.

Soon after I was asked to a little room, where they took my blood pressure, oxygen and just for good measure, an EEG.

The nurse was friendly and we were chatting about winter, little kids and stuff when suddenly the mood shifted. Her friendly smile vanished and she started barking out orders. Before I knew there were a few more people in the room and I was on a stretcher. My clothes were stripped off and I was put in one of those sexy gowns with the butt exposed.

Before I could even ask what was going on, a doctor appeared and informed me tensely that I was having a heart attack.

A what!??

Yes, the EEG lines were showing it clear as day. My heart was in acute distress and muscle tissue was likely dying this very moment.

Due to the snowstorm, their cardiology team was not in yet and we would have to wait.

At that moment, something strange happened to my mind. I didn’t really believe what they said but their serious demeanour really scared the shit out of me. All I could really think of was my wife and the kids. I was not ready to pack it in yet.

So as I was there on the stretcher, cables and equipment were connected to my body, infusions were being given and I had to sign some paperwork. It all felt incredibly surreal.

After some waiting the cardiology team finally arrived and quickly wheeled me into some sort of procedure room. A really cool room. Some Sci-Fi looking equipment was hanging from the ceiling and some big 70inch TVs all along the wall. They were prepping me for a heart catheter.

It’s a pretty cool procedure where they run a little probe through a blood vessel right into the heart to get some images of the damage. This usually happens under anaesthesia.

The friendly doc informed me that he’ll administer the drugs now and I could still hear myself protesting “I think I am getting a little dizzy...” Suddenly it was very dark.

And snap, it was bright again, I raised my head and confusedly asked where I was and what was going on. Apparently my body has a special power to churn through these drugs rather quickly and I woke up mid procedure.

The TV screens were now switched on and I could see X-Ray images of what appears to be the inside of my heart. Really fascinating stuff. The doc was so kind to ask me, whether I’d rather sleep some more or watch. Curious me, opted for watching.

A few minutes passed and the head doc joined me with a big smile - “Guess what - you don’t have a heart attack! Woohooo, should we call your wife?”

OMG, I don’t think I’ve ever felt more relieved in my life!

No heart attack!! Yeah!! Hold on, what was all the fuss about then? It turns out that a strep infection, if untreated and paired with a high amount of physical or mental stress can find other tissue in the body to hang out. In my case, that was my heart muscle tissue. Which then led to an immune response in which my immune system started a small war right inside my heart to get the baddies out.

As a result, the muscle tissue got inflamed, which made the heart grow in size. That then led to the chest pain, suboptimal performance and weird EEG readings.

I still had to stay in the hospital for a few days where all sorts of treatments were done. 3 Months later, they were doing some more tests to ensure the valves were all working as intended. They did. Phew! Got away with a cool story.

So why the heck am I writing out this medical nightmare!?

It’s because something became viscerally clear to me: health is the most important thing above it all.

We all know this intellectually, of course, it makes sense. However having been through a scare like this, really puts things in perspective. I was not taking care of my body (or my mind), I was eating unhealthy, I was not working out much, I was working way too much.

Even worse, when I finally came down with an infection, I did not even give my body the necessary rest then.

So this whole ordeal really helped me to make a simple decision. I will put my health right on top of the priority list and there will be no meeting, no pitch, no offsite, no investment round, no layoff, no event (etc) more important than my health.

This story happened exactly 10 years ago. I am now in my early 40s and have not compromised on my rule yet.

So as you are navigating these ‘interesting’ times of change both in the workplace and also just generally in society - please do not ever compromise on your physical and mental health. It’s just not worth it.

Imagine there is this golden key. This key can make your life absolutely beautiful, filled with joy, energy and bliss. That golden key is your health. Treasure it!

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Productivity Tool Tip:

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Here’s a quick video-tour how it works and a referral code if you’d like to give it a try for yourself!