It started with a stop at a Five Guys burger joint in October.
Chuck Cooper thought he had heartburn. His food had been too salty and he had recently received a cortisone shot for his knee. Surely those were the reasons for his accelerated heart rate.
Cooper, 58, then went home to continue a bathroom remodel project. When he tried to lift some tiles, his arm hurt. He blamed the tiles' heaviness.
By 2 a.m., he was agitated, pacing around his home because he couldn't sleep. He thought he was so cranky because his pets were in his way.
He had an answer for everything that was happening, except the real reason — he was having a heart attack.
Fortunately, Cooper's wife declared that it was time to go to the hospital, telling him she was either calling an ambulance or taking him herself.
"Luckily, I listened to her because if I would have laid down and went to sleep, I wouldn't get up. I would have been done," Cooper said.
An ambulance arrived and EMTs hooked Cooper up to an electrocardiogram machine.
"The EMT says, 'Oh yeah, you're having a heart attack.' And she looked at the guy. She's like, 'We need to be there yesterday,'" Cooper recalled. He later found out that the EMTs had considered stopping to wait for LifeFlight.
"It was that bad — 100% blockage," Cooper said.
Once he arrived at University Hospitals Elyria Medical Center, doctors had to shock Cooper twice to restart his heart.
"After the second time, everything went white and quiet, you know? And after the second shock, I felt good. It was like all the pain went away. Everything was back to normal," he described.
Hidden signs
Dr. Yulanko Castro was the UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute interventional cardiologist who treated Cooper. She inserted a small catheter through his wrist all the way to the heart, where she was able to open the blockage and add a stent to keep it open and restore normal blood flow.
Castro said that Cooper's case is a good example of how heart attacks appear differently in different people. It wasn't a dramatic scene as heart attacks are often portrayed by Hollywood.
Cooper agreed.
"It wasn't like you see on TV, people grab their chest and fall down or anything like that. It was just pretty much I felt some tightness," Cooper recalled.
Castro said some heart attacks feel like heartburn that doesn't improve with antacids. Others may come with flu-like symptoms, shortness of breath or nausea. The point, Castro said, is that heart attack symptoms look different in everyone.
"Any discomfort that is chest pressure, belly pressure, symptoms that could be like heartburn that are persistent," Castro said, adding, "If you have this heartburn that you took your regular medication and still persists and you're not feeling well, definitely get it evaluated, especially if you're in the area where you have risk factors."
Those risk factors include age, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol.
People should also be mindful of their heart health during the holidays. More people die from heart attacks between Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 than at any other time of the year, according to the American Heart Association.
Castro noted the importance of routine during what tends to be an indulgent time of year. She reminded people to enjoy their holiday gatherings, but consume food and alcohol in moderation.
"If you have more than you're normally used to or if you get out of your regular routine or add more factors, that's what can kind of tip you over with your cholesterol, to be over with your sugars and things like that," Castro cautioned.
Castro also said she sees a lot of patients during the winter months who suffered heart attacks after more exertion than usual, such as while shoveling snow.
"We often hear somebody that's typically sedentary and does not move as much, doesn't understand that they may have underlying blockages in the arteries of the heart or underlying issues," she explained. "And then they seem to be forced to be shoveling snow, which is like a high effort when they're not used to doing some of that effort."
People traveling for the holidays also are at higher risk for blood clots, Castro said. Sitting for long periods of time, such as on flights or during road trips, increases your risk. Castro recommended getting up to walk around every two hours, especially for people with a history of blood clots.
Support leads to recovery
Cooper was able to make a swift recovery. He was out of the hospital in three days and attended his son's wedding one week after the heart attack. He returned to work soon after that, a heart monitor being the only sign of what happened.
Castro credited Cooper's recovery with a few factors — his overall good health, early detection and fast work by the EMTs and hospital staff.
"It takes a village overall," Castro said. "It takes a lot of work, from him, when he had symptoms to call for EMS right away, from EMS and a lot of things that helped in his favor."
Cooper said he's grateful his family was able to attend his son's wedding instead of his funeral. He's even found humor in everything that happened, which was evident when he changed his ringtone to Mötley Crüe's "Kickstart My Heart" or when he pretended to clutch his chest while being introduced during his son's wedding reception.
His advice to others is serious, though. Had he ignored his wife, he may not be preparing for the holidays this year.
"Listen to someone close to you, because they can tell your little idiosyncrasies and things that, when you're off, they know," he said. "Listen to someone. Put your pride aside and listen, because I should have went in earlier. I almost didn't make it."
