Show notes:
0:00 Introduction
1:40 "What gets you up in the morning?"
2:05 Jeff dives into his story starting with the Death Ride in July 2021
3:30 By August, he was experiencing a deep burning in his chest
5:00 Sees his primary physician who recommends he sees his cardiologist
6:00 By that Thursday, he woke at 5:45am with all the sensations of a heart attack, 911 is called and the EMTs find a heart attack and he's wheeled out of his house to the ambulance with a pulse of 46
8:00 Jeff has a catherization and nothing is found
9:20 He starts cardiac rehab and was experiencing PVCs which became problematic in addition to vasospasms
10:10 Jeff tries multiple medications
11:00 Last day of cardiac rehab September 2021 where he had "the sensation" after climbing stairs in the garage
11:50 The cardiologist calls and calls Jeff to the hospital as he had just had ventricular tachycardia episode. As in RIGHT NOW. His spasm episodes were triggering the tachycardia.
13:45 Electrophysiologist casually mentions Jeff has a myocardial bridge but that it is benign but Jeff pushes back
14:30 Jeff asks for a bypass of the LAD that is bridged but the doctor says, "we don't do that"
15:00 Jeff's cardiologist says "it's beyond us" and recommends provocative testing
15:30 Stanford is recommended and he sees Dr. Tremmel
16:30 Jeff learns his myocardial bridge is 40mm long and when he is experiencing vasospasms in the LAD, it is 98% blocked
17:20 Jeff had unroofing surgery at Stanford January 4, 2022
17:50 prior to surgery, Jeff quizzes Dr. Jack Boyd on his success rate which is great coaching for listeners. Take note!
18:45 Boots recommends the Myocardial Bridge Facebook group which is a treasure trove of information
20:10 Jeff feels much improvement since his unroofing
21:10 Jeff connects with a marathon runner who also had unroofing in August 2021 and is doing well too
22:00 Jeff and Boots met through the Facebook group thankfully.
22:30 Jeff revisits why he gets up in the morning
23:00 how we have to be our own best advocate.
23:30 Jeff shares what he did to recover in addition to prepping for surgery including having the pre-surgery to surgery which is semi-comical.
25:30 Jeff felt the power of prayer
27:00 recovery was a little rough. He did not "dig" ICU at all. Sleep deprivation was an issue.
28:00 Jeff takes control of his recovery.
28:40 Boots shares her ICU story with Jeff.
29:20 Jeff is sent home and his wife promptly gets sick. He even empties the dish washer.
30:00 Minor blip and Jeff has to go to the ER and then comes down with Covid!
31:00 Jeff and Boots reminisce about the heart pillow
31:30 Boots asks Jeff what surprised him the most about open-heart surgery
32:20 Boots asks what has been most helpful?
33:10 Jeff laments how his wife was impacted
34:30 Grace, gratitude, appreciation for the medical community
34:50 He never felt sorry for himself. He just asked a lot of questions and did what he had to do to survive.
36:00 He believes there is a reason why all of this happened the way it happened.
37:00 Jeff shares about an important dream.
39:10 Jeff asks Boots if she had an important dream, and she shares the impact on her empathic and intuitive abilities.
41:10 Jeff and Boots talk about how heart surgery changes you.
42:00 Keep your sense of humor!
42:40 Survivors' guilt
43:30 Jeff shares his podcast, Imperfect Heart and how he hopes to change the conversation around myocardial bridging.
46:00 outro


Find Jeff Holden at My Imperfect Heart – Support for those with Myocardial Bridges.

Website: The Heart Chamber (theheartchamberpodcast.com)

Transcript: Joyful Beat | The Heart Chamber (theheartchamberpodcast.com)

The Heart Chamber (@theheartchamberpodcast)

Thanks to Michael Moeri for being my right hand man. Michael Moeri - Audio Editor, Podcast Producer and Marketing Director

Thanks to Denise Hardy for your support and believing in me. linkedin.com/in/denise-hardy-30a51086

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