I was born in Freeport, Long Island, New York in 1949. Raised in Atlanta, Georgia, I graduated high school in 1967 and knew nothing about the world until I was drafted and served in Vietnam as a jungle warrior. Oh, that was a lot of fun; not! I worked in lower management positions at JC Penney, Kellyspringfield Tire and Federated Department Stores until 1979. Tired of suffering financial setbacks each time I failed to kiss the correct behind, I started college at the age of 30. I earned a degree in Data Processing and another in Business Administration. Working in a technical field made my life easier but I still wasn't doing much with my life.
     I have traveled a little: Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Mexico, USA's west coast, Great Britain and Hawaii but I coasted through much of my life until May 1991, when my wife, Huong, arrived in the USA from Saigon. One of her sisters hoped that I might teach Huong English (I did) and much to the alarm and opposition of her family, we married in July of 1992. A great combination: my ethnic roots are from northern Germany, while her's are from northern Vietnam. If two of the most stubborn, thickheaded individuals on earth can't make it together, who can? The past five years have been some ride: a wonderful wife, two joyful kids and a great home in the countryside; I was receiving most of my wishes and desires on earth until CHF.

My CHF

In May 1997, I became concerned about shortness of breath, occasional dizziness, constant fatigue and occasional tightness across the chest. Our newest baby was due in May, so I put off seeing a doctor until June. Just after the baby's birth, my symptoms suddenly became severe. I awoke during the night, sweating and with straining to breathe, with heartburn and a choking sensation. Some relief came from sleeping sitting up in a chair. I ended up going to the emergency room instead of waiting for the doctor appointment. A chest X-ray revealed a heart spreading across my chest like Asia spreading across the globe. A cardiologist performed all the standard tests and I was released from the hospital two days later. I returned to work the following Monday. I had prescription drugs to take and knew that I had CHF. I have since learned, that at the time, my EF was 10.
     The day after that, I bought a new Plymouth van with the intention of doing more activities with my family and to make the statement that I intended to live at least the six years required to pay for the thing. I bought a self-propelled lawnmower to reduce the exhaustion of cutting the lawn. I successfully cut dietary salt down. I should lose 70 pounds but I haven't. I have only been partly successful in quitting cigarettes.
     I began cruising the web for medical information. In July 1997, I had my yearly checkup with EKG and the doctor said, "You are doing about the same, see you next year." I said, "Wait! I want to know more." I had a MUGA and my EF is now 19%. If I decide to go on Disability, I want my doctor's recommendation that I cannot work, and I got that commitment. I said that I wanted to go on Coreg and I'm now on 25mg Coreg twice daily.

My CHF Theory

In my case, as in so many others, no cause of CHF can be identified. My blood pressure has always been called high but I cannot call an average blood pressure of 150/90 threatening. I have always been a worry-wart and I stress out easily. The years preceding my CHF were, in a sense, the worst of my life. Major stress with my work, my boss, my wife, my sister-in-law, my neighbors, my condo's deteriorating neighborhood, problems with immigration, my mother's terrible health problems, money shortages, my wife's auto accident, taking a huge loss selling the condo, buying the house: extreme stress. Still, I'm not convinced that stress is the cause of my CHF but rather just a factor.
     I think that for many of us, it's in the genes: right there in a little snippet of DNA is a flaw. One bit of inferior code that will have some of us dying just a bit faster than we otherwise would. As a child, I remember my love of running: I flew across the earth like a jet plane. I could run forever and a day. I was SuperBoy. By high school, on the track team, I felt my limits. That second mile of never ending uphill was pure horror. It took everything I had to continue going when I hit the wall.
     In Vietnam, carrying 80 to 100 pounds of equipment in single file, climbing a jungle covered mountain in 100+° heat. Eventually, four or five of us would have to drop out and fall back until we might be the last to the top of that mountain. I think we were already programmed with CHF; our limits of circulation were already beginning to reflect the early signs of CHF. So, little by little, over a lifetime, the CHF is affecting you, so slowly that you don't really notice what has happened until your damaged heart sends you to a cardiologist.
     In 1991, I was hiking in Great Britain. In 1993, I was climbing Diamond Head. In 1993, I hiked in Colorado. As late as January 1995, I was hiking in Boston and climbing the Bunker Hill Tower. Then, in May of 1995, we bought and moved into a brand new house and 13 months later I was in the hospital with CHF.
     A mystery is what happened to my heart during that 13 months. Could I have been poisoned by chemicals in the new carpet? Our water supply is heavily treated with chlorine; so much so, that a bath is like swimming in a public pool. Is my system overly sensitive to a constant heavy dose of chlorine? In any case, when I first moved into our new home I was strong and robust. I moved us in, shoveled 4 tons of topsoil and manhandled 10 tons of rocks. I'm into making rock walls and walkways. Something significantly weakened my heart and 13 months later I was in the ER. No Jack, it wasn't throwing around 10 tons that weakened my heart. (anticipating Jacko's response ;-)
     To play it safe, especially for the kids, I now buy distilled water for all our drinking and cooking needs but now I hear that you also absorb chlorine through the skin, so I'm going to see about some type of home filtration system. Does anyone have any good information on the effects of chlorine on health?

My Meds

This year I added CoQ10 to my meds. My doctors must have thousands of patients within their practice but I'm their first on Coreg. Also, Eckerd Drugs had to obtain my Coreg from a central warehouse. I believe I felt some minor side effects at first, no big deal, just like I felt some negative things when I originally went on my other meds. I do feel better on Coreg. For the first time in over a year, I sometimes feel good and I'd bet that I'm an easier person to live with, for my wife and kids.

My Job

Luckily I don't have a manual job. I have a desk job doing computer programming. I take care of a VSE-ESA mainframe and everything that runs on it. Because I have five years experience with this particular computer, I don't have any high anxiety about my work. The problem is a boss that talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk. He is a Promise Keeper and talks as if he invented "goodness." My boss expects me to do 2 persons' jobs. He expects me to work all evening on a problem and still be at my desk at 7:00 AM the next morning. He acts as though it is laziness that prevents me from hustling 12 hours per day. He even resents my wasting productive time to go pee a half a dozen times every morning.
     I do know my work:I'm kind of like a guru with this computer now, so it is still easier than changing jobs. I'm studying new computer subjects in night classes now, in order to become skilled in newer computer systems. I'm even negotiating a deal where if they pay IBM to train me to be an AIX operating systems analyst, then I'll get a two-year employment contract. Can you tell I crave job security?
     I prefer to avoid Disability, because I prefer to work and this Disability plan makes you go 6 weeks without any pay at all and then you get Disability but only 60% of your salary. At 80% of salary, I would stop working tomorrow but not for 60%.

My Hobbies and Interests

I'm into photography, reading adventure fiction, Gong Li movies, imported goldfish, Flying kites (since CHF), birdwatching and visiting lighthouses and waterfalls.

My Soapbox

My belief is that having CHF means that I'll die sooner that if I did not have CHF, so I take my medications and try to maximize my time with my family. I try to avoid wasting my time with all these game playing people who have no idea of the big picture; The big picture is to spend your life with your loved ones, giving of yourself to them and you will be blessed. I hope I can last another 20 years so I may raise my children to adulthood. That would be great; it would be better than great.
     My pet peeves include people who think, "You don't look ill, so I don't think of you as being ill." Even my wife does this and often demands things of me that she wouldn't think of my doing if I was "really ill."
     I also hate that health care is reactive, not proactive. How many of us would have discovered our CHF at an earlier stage if the system was intended to keep us well, instead of treating us after our health is compromised?

  Ken -- November 27, 1997

All information on this site is opinion only. All concepts, explanations, trials, and studies have been re-written in plain English and may contain errors. No one here is a doctor. No information on this page should be used by any person to affect their medical, legal, educational, social, or psychological treatment in any way. This web site and all its pages copyright © 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002 Jon C.