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Welcome to the 2008
Indianapolis Start! Heart Walk
September 20, 2008 at White River State Park – Celebration Plaza
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My name is Michael Hancock and I’m a 32-year old heart disease survivor. I would like to share my story in the hopes of inspiring people to participate in the Indianapolis Start! Heart Walk.
The first weekend in January I went to the ER complaining of abdominal pain and fever. I was admitted with a kidney infection due to my diabetes. I was on IV antibiotics for two days and released. The next day I was back at the doctor’s office with the same complaints. This went on for three months. By Easter Sunday I had chest pains non-stop that radiated down my left arm. I checked into St. Johns Hospital in Anderson on March 23. They ran test after test for what seemed like hours. The doctor finally came in and told me he didn’t know what was wrong, but he knew something was wrong. He was going to admit me and do more testing the next morning.
On March 24 I had an echocardiogram. The doctor gave me the answers I’ve been waiting to hear. He told me I had endocarditis. I was transferred to St. Vincents on March 26 for surgery. The cardiologist explained the infection was eating my aortic valve and blood was pooling in my heart. After several x-rays, cat scans and blood cultures the test results were in. The infection had spread to my spleen which they thought was 50% damaged. The good news was the infection had not spread to my brain, instead the infection had went down to my lower extremities. On March 29 they decided to remove the damaged part of my spleen, but because it was so badly damaged they removed the whole thing. On April 1 I had my heart surgery. When the nurses finally let me get up and walk, I walked 25’ the first day with help. After that day I was determined to walk by myself, and I did. I went for a walk first thing in the morning, after lunch and dinner. I wanted a speedy recovery and I worked hard to get it. I was discharged on April 9.
I continue to go to cardiac rehab three times a week. I am up to 30 minutes on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the bicycle. The days I don’t have rehab I’m walking up to 4 miles in an hour and do 100 sit ups. I have been released from my cardiologist and cardiac surgeon with a few restrictions. I have a lot more positive outlook on life. I spend as much time with my family as I can, because I realize now that life can end abruptly with no warning.
Now lets show Indianapolis what we’re made of! |
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