By Judge Brian Addington, Gray

No, not the song. But literally, listen to your heart.

I’d been listening to mine for weeks starting in middle November and knew something wasn’t quite right. I first noticed it the week of November 10^th. Every time that I went up and down the steps in my home, I experienced pain in the center of my chest. It would last a few minutes and then go away with rest. 

This was a new pain for me. I’d had reflux pain before, but it was in my throat instead of my chest. I’d also had pulled muscles in my chest, but this was much different. It was a hot pain underneath my sternum. After experiencing this pain several times, I realized my heart was telling me what I already knew. Yet, at first, I didn’t tell my wife, Donna, or anyone about it. 

My family has a history of heart problems. Almost all my male relatives and some of the females have experienced heart and circulation symptoms. I was with my grandad in a car in November 1976 when he suffered a heart attack while my dad was driving. (This grandad was my mom’s dad. My grandad on my dad’s side died of a heart attack when I was seven.) What stuck in my mind all these years was his nausea and temperature. He had to exit the car and vomit, and because his body temperature rose so much, it fogged up the windows in the car. 

Fast forward to November 20, Donna and I were walking through the Christmas show in Charlotte, N.C., and I was carrying heavy packages. That pain returned as we were getting ready to leave.

Funny thing happened. We passed by a vendor selling heart and lung scans. Her interest was piqued, and we listened to the salesperson explain everything. The cost was just $79.00 for the two of us, so we bought it. Little did I know how important that would be.

On the 22^nd, I felt significant pain ascending stairs at home and told my wife I had to rest. I also used our being tired from travel to kind of hide my pain, but on Sunday the 23^rd after church I finally told her. Which was important, because in her mind, we’d just bought those scans, so why not go ahead and use them? I’d already planned to be off the day before Thanksgiving, so she scheduled us an appointment, and we had the scans (calcium test and look at the lungs) on November 26^th.

In the meantime, I’d been chatting with my primary care doctor, and he referred me to cardiology. The cardiologist made an appointment for me for December 3, but I had a full schedule of approvals that day in Morristown, so I rescheduled it to January 7, because I wanted to take the test results with me. 

Late on the evening of December 3, I received the results, which showed I had moderate heart blockage. I texted my doctor that night, and on the afternoon of the 4^th he prescribed cholesterol medicine until I could see the doctor. However, the pharmacy was closed by the time the prescription came through. I intended to get it the next day.

However, around 9 p.m. on December 4, I was talking to my best friend on the phone and started walking up the stairs. When I got to my bedroom, the pain was there. Twenty minutes later it was still there. I was able to go to sleep but woke up at 11:30 in pain. I went back to sleep but woke up again at 4:30 in pain and needing to use the restroom. Before I got back into bed, I suddenly got nauseas and hot. My mind drifted back to my granddad in the back of the car, and I realized I needed to go to the hospital. 

Fortunately, I finally listened to my heart. I received tremendous care while I suffered a heart attack. Every doctor who saw me wanted to see the calcium test results. One stent later and a few days in the hospital, and I was back at home resting. I worked last week, but I’m ready for a few weeks off over the holidays.

What I can say is this: If you feel pain in your chest, get it checked. It may be your heart or something else, but you really need to know. You don’t need to hear what I heard from the doctor: “You know, if you had not come in here, you would have died.” Trust me. Don’t put it off; just go.  

And I want to thank all who have reached out with emails, cards, chats, air hugs, and real hugs. It has meant a lot. Like Oz said to the Tin Man, “A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others.” This response has done my heart good.