This page is an archive of some of the more interesting responses of my friends and family when they heard about my trip. (You should read about my medical incident first, if you didn’t arrive here from there!) From:  Evan O. To:  Chris Date:  Thu, 4 Sep 2003 Subject:  re: Hello Chris, Okay, so my literal reaction to your message was as follows: “… holy mother of f—ing f—ety what the f— f—! … f—! …” I immediately re-read your message and proceeded to elaborate with: “… huh? … f—! … what the … you’ve got to be … f—!! …” And then everyone in the office asked me to take my profanity outside. Seriously though, don’t kick yourself for not picking up the signs. You’re thirty. Thirty-year-old genius professors from Long Island are not supposed to have heart attacks. They’re supposed to invent flubber. And have mad-capped capers in flying cars and what not. And I am more than relieved to know that you are on the mend, as it were. Please keep me abreast of the situation. I will be back in NYC in a month or two and I am definitely sitting in on one of your lectures. Cheers, Evan

From:  B To:  Chris Date:  Fri, 29 Aug 2003 Subject:  re: argh

Wow…sounds like you inherited your dad’s heart health, unfortunately. In the balance, maybe this early ‘warning’ will prove to be worthwhile. Definitely. Look at me—my life definitely took a sharp turn towards healthy back in ’96. I was scared enough that I know I’m never going to stop the whole health thing, and I’m (knock on wood) sure that a positive side effect is that it’ll help reduce my danger of a ton of other potential problems. It took some time to settle into it all comfortably, but my quality of life definitely improved afterwards. Good to hear from you—take care of that cardiovascular system… B

From:  Jason M. To:  Chris Date:  Tue, 2 Sep 2003 Subject:  Re: visit

Chris, Holy crap! I am so sorry for you, Art, and your family. I’m so thrilled to hear you’re doing well now. I hope you folks were able to really enjoy the rest of your trip. Thank goodness you didn’t go on some exotic vacation to some place away from where you could receive excellent medical care. Wow…that’s all I can think to say right now as I’m sure you can understand. Have you had a chance to determine what the reason for the blockage was, i.e., high cholesterol, etc, or is this somehow a hereditary thing that just manifested itself earlier (is this similar to how your father’s heart attack occurred). So, since there was only 95% blockage, does that mean the damage is reversible, or is it too early to tell? Feel free to ignore my questions if they seem pestering. I look forward to seeing you both and am so happy to hear that you’re doing okay now. Take care. Jason

From:  Aunt Sandy To:  Chris Date:  Fri, 5 Sep 2003 Subject:  what a trip

Glad you’re home and doing well. Sorry to hear about your problems. At least you have your Dad as a good coach and Art to care for you. I told Crystal your Dad will have you jogging central park. I heard you guys also lost your luggage. Wow what a trip. Be well & tell Art we said hi. Love Aunt San

Where now? Onward to Victoria Back to cardiac animation Up to my medical incident Up to Australia ’03

Published September 2003 Updated 3 October 2003

Visitor comments You may leave a comment on this page.

1 Mar 2004 Iahti Wisconsin

I am 26 years old, and probably spend too much time on computer, searching and researching hearts. My husband, who is 27 years old, is a computer person too. But he had a massive heart attack while we were headed out of town for Easter. I just want to let you know how fortunate you are that you didn’t have permanent heart damage. I am very glad for you. He had 100% blockage, and then sufferen a pulmonary embolism the day we left the hospital, and he almost died again. We were just regular people with ordinary lives, but now, life is not so simple… do take care of your own heart… don’t ever overlook those warning signs!!

20 Apr 2004 J. San Francisco

I like the way you have detailed your angina/angiogram experience. I also underwent and angiogram where they found one blockage, and they inserted a Cypher drug-eluting stent. The chest pains happened on Nov 7, ’03 and I was also a young 37 year old then. I am still taking blood thinners (Plavix) and statins, but I can say that i am 99.9% normal. I now go bicycling, swimming etc. Sometimes tho, I whenever I think about the medical experience I encountered, and that it happened at my young age (for a cardiac patient), it just makes me wonder how much more I should take care of myself. Take it easy, but enjoy life…