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Houston - This "Movember" is all about raising awareness about men's health issues. The head of security at Memorial Hermann Southwest is thankful he went to work when he was feeling sick because it ended up saving his life! Now he shares an important reminder that heart disease is the number one killer of men.
Denis M. Hyams, Junior wasn't feeling so great only six months ago.
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"I had a couple of episodes of like heartburn, and I woke up a couple of times and took a took a pill, Pepcid or something like that, and figured out just go to work. And kind of work through it," says Denis.
His colleagues at Memorial Hermann Southwest mentioned he looked pale. Then, when he started getting cold sweats, he walked over to the emergency room. He was shocked about his diagnosis and what medical workers told him.
"You're basically having a heart attack, and so there I was trying to process that information," states Denis.
Interventional Cardiologist Dr. David Portugal at Memorial Hermann Southwest says Denis got medical care in the nick of time.
"If he hadn't come in, unfortunately, he could have died suddenly," explains Dr. Portugal.
Denis thought a heart attack would feel like crushing chest pain but experienced nothing even close to that.
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Right place, time: Head of security has heart attack at hospital job
Denis M. Hyams, Jr., head of security at Memorial Hermann Southwest, credits going to work while feeling unwell with saving his life during a heart attack.
"Heart attacks come in all shapes and sizes, and I don't think it was recognized initially the severity of this type of heart attack, and so when we got in there, we found that one of his major arteries was completely blocked and required urgent attention to open it up and restore normal blood flow. So, we had to put two stents in his artery to scaffolding device to open up this completely occluded artery," explains Dr. Portugal.
He goes on to explain some other types of symptoms of a heart attack. Some of them could be what you'd consider atypical symptoms.
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"We consider any feelings that are unusual from the navel to the earlobe. Some people feel tightness, pressure, burning, or heaviness, which can radiate to the arm and sometimes to the back, sometimes up to the jaw. Sometimes you get nauseous, sometimes get sweaty. So, the key is not to minimize it and blame it on something like the gallbladder, ulcer, or heartburn. These can be serious symptoms," states Dr. Portugal.
Doctors believe if Denis had sought help only a few hours later, he likely would have faced emergency open heart triple bypass surgery. Instead, he underwent minimally invasive surgery through his wrist. He had to go back a month later for one more procedure.
"He had blockages, unfortunately, in three of his major arteries. He had another area of severe narrowing that we had to take care of later," says Dr. Portugal. Denis does have a family history of heart disease, which puts him at higher risk.
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He's relieved that he gets plenty of exercise to prevent this from happening again! He and his wife are always dancing, everything from two-stepping to the Cha-Cha! "One thing Dr. Portugal had mentioned after seeing all my results was that my heart had compensated by growing some arteries and the two-stepping, country western dancing. If I hadn't been doing that, this probably would have set on earlier in the year, and more than likely, I may not be here," reflects Denis.
"Fortunately, by the grace of God and treatment, the amount of damage to the heart was minimal. And so, we could limit how much damage is done, and he's done remarkably well since," says a reassuring Dr. Portugal.