Embracing Seventy and My Chart | Healthy Aging Series: S12 E26
Forty people plus one. That’s how many took care of me this past week. Let me rewind 10 days.
Monday, June 8
My wife and I were doing our regular after-dinner walk. You know, to help regulate our blood glucose. We walk three loops in our neighborhood, which is about a mile and a half. On the last loop I started feeling something like heartburn in my upper chest area. It was a mild discomfort, and it ended when we ended our walk.
June 8-15, 2026
Woke up. Walked. Chest Pain while walking. Repeat. Hiked 5 Miles in Jefferson Forest on Saturday, June 13th (I Know, dumb!)
June 16, 2026
During a morning walk with a client, the chest pain started almost immediately after I started walked. Ok, this was concerning, not that I shouldn’t have been concerned before this walk. I contacted my PCP at Baptist Health through My Chart about the pain. I forgot to mention that I had bought one of those mini-EKG monitors and it showed a normal Sinus Rhythm.
My PCP’s staff responded within an hour that my PCP was on vacation. The staff member requested the EKG results and said that the on-call doctor would contact me soon. The backup Clinician (Dana Hughes) contacted me and asked me to get the earliest appointment, which was the following Thursday, and if things got worse to go to the ER.
Running Total of Staff Involved: 2
That afternoon, while walking, the chest pain became worse so after a brief “discussion,” with my wife, we went to the ER. I need to confess that I hadn’t told her about the chest pain until that day. I don’t have a good reason for not telling her, except I didn’t want to worry her, and maybe there was a little bit of denial in play.
Our discussion after the walk was short. Here is my description:
My wife: We need to go to the ER.
Me: I have an appointment the day after tomorrow.
My wife: We need to go to the ER.
Me: I feel fine, now.
My wife: You need to take this seriously.
Me: OK, we’ll go to the ER.
June 16: ER
We arrived at the Baptist East hospital ER. I told them that I had been having chest pains and my PCP advised me to go to the ER.
Lots of tests:
– EKG
– Bloodwork
– Chest x-ray
– More bloodwork to verify the first blood draw
Nothing showed up on any of the exams, but the ER Doctor (William Holland) and Physician’s Assistant (Melissa Metzelfeld) said that my “story” made this serious and they suspected a blockage because of my story. Everyone wanted to hear my story!
I was scheduled for an echocardiogram stress-test the next morning. In the meantime, my PCP (Amy Davis), while on vacation in Florida, contacted me through My Chart, letting me know that she was following all of my treatment.
Running Total of Staff Involved: 11
June 17: Outpatient Echocardiography Center
– More blood work
– Cardiologist consultation (Jennifer Lash)
– Echocardiogram
– Stress test
After these exams and bloodwork, there was still no evidence that I had a blockage, but because of my story, the Cardiologist ordered a CT angiogram. Everyone there asked about my story.
Running staff total: 21
June 18, 2026: Cardiac NUC Med and CT Center
The CT scan went off without a hitch, and the nurse told me that it would probably be next Monday before I heard from the Cardiologist. Again, everyone asked me to tell my story and they listened!
One hour later I heard from Dr. Lash.
She said that the CT showed a blockage in the Right Coronary Artery (it ended up being 99% blocked) and that someone from Dr. Semder’s office, the Interventional Cardiologist would call me later to schedule a Heart Catheterization.
Within an hour, I received a call from his office, and I was set up for the procedure the next morning.
Before that, one more trip to Baptist Health for more blood work.
Running staff total: 25
June 19, 2026 (one month from my 70th birthday)
The heart catheterization process was painless. Administrative staff, surgical team and recovery staff were absolutely phenomenal. Most important, they listened to my story.
Running staff total: 40
Four days. 40 staff plus one loving and caring wife. I wish I could list all of the staff that cared for me. Thank you all so, so much!
I posted a blog this week, “Embracing Seventy” (S12 E25). I encourage you to stop and read it now or after you read this episode.
Maybe, you’re asking a couple questions.
First, how’s that “Embracing Seventy” thing working for you?
Well, I’m not dead. I listened to my body, and my wife, got medical treatment, and now I’m fine. Really, I’m fine. I’ll be hiking again in a week. I stepped on a land mine and survived. What’s not to embrace?
The second question you might be asking is, “What good did all that hiking and the mostly good nutrition do for you?”
Have you ever been to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and looked up to the South Rim? I have.
Have you ever stood at the top of Mount Bierstadt and watched a summer storm roll in? I have.
Have you ever hike down into the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park in Utah, and sat by the Harvest Scene, a 2- to 3000-year-old wall of the rock art of the Archaic Peoples? I have.
I’ve hiked Half Dome. I’ve hiked to the top of Mount Leconte, I’ve backpacked through the John Muir wilderness, the Daniel Boone Forest, Alaska Basin in the Tetons, and recently to Stuart Lake in New Mexico.
Every step has been worth it. I didn’t have the option of choosing my genes (I love my father very much, but he had five coronary bypasses in his early 70s), so genetics was not working in my favor. What I was able to choose was my lifestyle and my route to happiness. I chose to embrace seventy.
The way I chose to embrace seventy was eating well, exercising every day, and loving all the people in my life, my wife, my son’s and their families, and the people I serve and care for, as well as my wonderful employees.
Embrace whatever age you are.
Embracing your age means more than just tolerating it, it means to lean into it completely. It means to have a mindset of openness and readiness. It means that you welcome it every day like a good friend.
The amazing thing about embracing seventy is that I had this wonderful team of medical professionals, and a wife, who is smart and loves me, and was just stubborn enough at the right time.
Now it’s time for me to start thinking about ways that I’m going to embrace 80. I hope you join me on this journey.
