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Just had a heart attack

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Re: Just had a heart attack

#151

Post by narag »

mindcrime wrote: post #27
vegancap wrote: post #12

Get well soon. One of the biggest causes of death, especially for males is being too stubborn or too scared to get things checked out. Me included. Have a speedy recovery!

This. I was so reluctant to call 911 at first, but i've been a firefighter and 911 dispatcher, so knew how important it was!

First, congrats. But this is strange, another firefighter? I remember fifteen years ago in a programmers gathering that we found out every one of us played a musical instrument. But this is a little stranger, it seems ludicast and you both worked in the same and had heart problems too.

Re: Just had a heart attack

#152

Post by JoeAltmaier »

selmnoo wrote: post #150
Taek wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have met two people in my life with over $250,000 in medical debt. Both were under 30, and neither had a job paying over $15/hr. They each seemed to be doing alright but had accepted that the medical debt was something they would never pay off. They both still needed infrequent care, and one of them was still building his debt faster than his income could keep up with. I didn't know what to think, and still don't.

The two people should just leave the United States, start a life elsewhere. Argentina, Germany, Thailand, whatever. I suggest the same thing to folks with unmanageable student loan debts with no clear answer in sight. I think it's unfair for society to have burdened such debts on people who didn't know any better, who weren't equipped with the resources or the knowledge to make the right decisions. What do you do? Be…

So, run out of money - steal? That's hardly moral. Its part of the entitled "I'm so sad I got into this hole, and somebody should let me out" culture.

Re: Just had a heart attack

#153

Post by noir_lord »

Had a friend at a shared office building a few years ago start feeling ill and sweating profusely.

I kept insisting he get medical attention and he kept saying he was fine, in the end I said either you go get medical attention or I phone an ambulance.

So he goes to a local NHS walk-in center (I'm in the UK) where the first nurse who saw him phone an ambulance, daft macho sod was having a heart attack.

Saw him not long since, he'd gotten back into cycling, looked incredibly well and had dropped 3-4 stone (42-56lbs) having just completed a 300 mile charity ride.

Moral of the story, if you start getting chest pains radiating into your arms, sweating profusely get your ass to the hospital ASAP or phone an ambulance, early intervention greatly improves the outcome.

Re: Just had a heart attack

#155

Post by bnegreve »

pdabbadabba wrote: post #117
sillysaurus3 wrote: post #88

You're quite lucky that you could afford that hospital trip. In the US, it would typically go like "My doctor made some tests and he said that it doesn't look like a heart attack but something is wrong with one of the lines on my ECG. He asked me if its ok to call the ambulance for doing more checks at the hospital. I said no, I can't afford that. So I died four weeks later." This isn't an exaggeration. Many people l…

This is an exaggeration, and it's an unfortunate one, since it distracts from the truth of what you're saying. As many have pointed out, a person who chose to be taken to the hospital would be taken to the hospital and treated whether they could pay for it or not. The result of this would be a serious amount of debt, but likely could be paid down with a monthly payment. The worst case scenario is bankruptcy, which su…

As soon as price enters the equation, you're not going to maximize your life expectancy. This is math.

> I think that anyone would agree, though, that either outcome is far better than dying young.

Right, but how can you be sure? Doctors are clearly overly precautions because they don't want true negatives. In some cases (e.g. if you need to support kids) it may be reasonable to risk that.

Re: Just had a heart attack

#156

Post by ludicast »

narag wrote: post #147
ludicast wrote: post #68

Good luck, and congrats on making it through the woods. Sounds like you are in good hands which makes all the difference. You are right on the money about calling 911. As men we tend to be slow making the call, and don't want to seem like whiners. I always think of the line from The Edge - "Most people in the wilderness, they die of shame". Had emergency surgery for aortic dissection myself in february (mentioned it…

Congratulation on your recovering. If you don't mind me asking, why is a fireman interested in HN?

I'm a software developer too. Was before I joined the FDNY (in 2003) and still am.

Most firemen have a 2nd job, mine just is a little more cerebral than most (though there are doctors and lawyers on the job too).

Always loved having this split brain. The split aorta, not as much :).

Re: Just had a heart attack

#157

Post by davidw »

sillysaurus3 wrote: post #88

You're quite lucky that you could afford that hospital trip. In the US, it would typically go like "My doctor made some tests and he said that it doesn't look like a heart attack but something is wrong with one of the lines on my ECG. He asked me if its ok to call the ambulance for doing more checks at the hospital. I said no, I can't afford that. So I died four weeks later." This isn't an exaggeration. Many people l…

Couldn't this whole thread just be about wishing 'mindcrime' a speedy recovery and healthy future, rather than wading into politics?

Re: Just had a heart attack

#158

Post by rballonline »

dontdownplease wrote: post #9
atko wrote: post #5

Glad you're okay and thank you for the warning. Could you provide any information as to what could be the possible cause of your heart attack? Your age, habits etc?

Looking at the picture on his LinkedIn profile https://www.linkedin.com/in/philliprhodes it does look like he may have been overweight. I suspect that is a huge contributing factor in this. I'm sorry if anyone get offended by this, but it does look like mindcrime could have been more proactive in looking after his weight. Now it's completely possible that mindcrime has some other condition which limits, or at least r…

One of the reasons I created my website http://meetandplay.com/ as after high school I stopped being active, gained 60 pounds programming and playing video games. As an adult you have to be really proactive to find sports to play they don't just fall in your lap anymore. meetup.com is also a good resource for healthy people doing healthy stuff like hiking, biking, climbing which I've used as well. My site is more for pick up games and locations to play. :)

Re: Just had a heart attack

#159

Post by sillysaurus3 »

waterlesscloud wrote: post #141
pdabbadabba wrote: post #137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is an exagerration to say that the situation you described was typical (though "too common" might fit). You implied that you could not obtain treatment if you cannot afford it. And now you're adding the largely fictional risk of losing your home into the mix. Yes, it is possible to lose your home in bankruptcy but only if the equity in your home exceeds your state's homestead exemption (often, but not always, $50,…

The important thing to note here is that the scaremongering is precisely what contributes to more deaths. If you're marching around saying lives will be ruined if you seek treatment , then YOU, not some other person, are the problem. Think carefully if the point you imagine you're making is worth that.

Right. I'm "scaremongering" by explaining the situation faced by many middle class families in the US on a forum for programmers, and I'm personally contributing to more deaths, not the poor healthcare system. Okay.

While it's true you may not lose your house (which I clearly articulated in my previous comment), there's more to life than a house. If you can't drive to work because you no longer have a car, then that's a huge problem. If you're putting your children through school, then suddenly you're jeopardizing their life by seeking to preserve your own unless the doctors know quickly and precisely what's wrong with you.

I don't understand why this is so controversial: People make suboptimal decisions, especially when the choices don't have clear outcomes. Here's some evidence that this actually happens in practice: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8551522

Re: Just had a heart attack

#160

Post by crag »

Justsignedup wrote: post #134
pdabbadabba wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is an exaggeration, and it's an unfortunate one, since it distracts from the truth of what you're saying. As many have pointed out, a person who chose to be taken to the hospital would be taken to the hospital and treated whether they could pay for it or not. The result of this would be a serious amount of debt, but likely could be paid down with a monthly payment. The worst case scenario is bankruptcy, which su…

You would be surprised to know that hospitals would treat the person with the cheapest drugs and not do the major heart surgery. Not all hospitals, mind you, I know Mt Sinai (NYC) will most likely treat the person fully, but some will give enough heart meds to make the person feel "okay" until he/she dies. Also, often after treatment, hospitals will just write the treatment as a "loss" and get a tax break. I've had f…

Actually we ALL pay for their treatment. In Florida, if you have no insurance you are taken to the closest public hospital (county hospital). They treat you (barely - don't expect a private room). If you can't afford to deal with the bill, the county pays. And then we all pay via taxes.

It's a serious problem.

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