Wow, sorry to hear this and real glad that the physicians were able to help you recover.
Good luck for the next steps and I hope you will soon find the energy back to photograph again.
Cheers,
Bernard
Thanks Bernard, really they saved my life. When I thanked two of them, they told me I should rather thank the “Padreterno” (Eternal Father) ... But I think that the “Padreterno”=Mother Nature had decided (rightly, I have to admit) that it was (both spiritually and physically) enough with me and it was the wellcome blasphemy of the physicians that really saved me.
My suggestion is to work very hard in rehab. If they ask you to do x15 minutes on the treadmill at level 2, do x20 minutes at level 3 etc. On Feb. 5 of this year I had an ache in my shoulders and mentioned to my wife something wasn't right. A bit later the thud of me hitting the floor alerted her to call an ambulance. It turned out I was having a STEMI--ST elevated myocardial infarction. Those are 90% fatal even if treated quickly. The cardiologist said I was nearly dead when I arrived (although fully conscious.) The fact that I was in otherwise good physical condition probably saved me. I was in the ICU for four days, and missed two weeks of work. Being a trained occupational therapist, I knew recovery depended on me working hard in rehab, which I did. I ended up being in better condition than some of the people who worked in rehab, LOL! Since then I've gone hiking in the mountains at 10,000 ft. with a 30 pound pack twice, ridden my Trek FX2 bike 40+ miles on mountain trails, shoveled coal on steam engines, and go pheasant hunting all day in very thick cattails. I can hike/bike/kayak all day long without problem, at any temperature or weather condition. So, if you find yourself in dire straits, the answer might be to exercise yourself out of them. 
Kent in SD
Many thanks for your suggestions, Kent. I go two days a week to the hospital were I have to work 30 minutes with the exercise bike (constant watts program) the same should I do every day at home + a 30 min walk and some breathing and free-body exercises. I'm not very diligent in homework, but I’ve bought an exercise bike with the constant watt program, today I’m going to assemble it.
I had a myocardial infarction with the rupture of the part of the papillary muscle that controls the mitral valve. After the first exams the physicians told me the diagnose and that they had to replace the mitral valve. After that they introduced me to the surgeon ("hello, good morning!"). I understood perfectly what they were saying, but not that I was dying, they were smiling all the time as if the surgery were a fun party. (One of the surgical team told me that I had been his teacher in the high school. Naturally I didn’t remember his name, but I was a little worried and asked him if I had treated him well, he assured me that I had been good to him ...). The surgeon spoke later with my wife and told her that the surgery was rather complex and they were really worried about my chances of survival during the operation.
Sorry to hear the news about the heart! As one heart patient to another: I hope you have good insurance and a resitance to pills! I am certain that I rattle when I walk, but it might just be in the head and not lower down. Though I don't know...
Were you alone, or were you with other people when it happened to you? I was lucky - I was in bed both times, and still had my wife before she got any of her problems. The first time she got an ambulance and the next time we didn't want to wait so she drove.
The main thing to take from these experiences is that medicine has progressed by leaps and bounds, and things that would probably have finished us some years ago no longer have to.
I wish you the very best of good luck, and don't give up on photography: I can tell you, it's the best therapy ever - if you already enjoyed it before. Look at it this way: Helmut Newton took pictures of himself in hospital after his heart attack.
"La più consistente scoperta che ho fatto pochi giorni dopo aver compiuto sessantacinque anni è che non posso più perdere tempo a fare cose che non mi va di fare."
That's from Jep Gambardella in La grande Bellezza, the new version of La Dolce Vita. It makes good sense to substituite the age with some life-changing events!
Ciao -
Rob
Thanks Rob, when the heart attack started, I was going to school (on foot), when I arrived at school the staff called the ambulance. In Italy there is an excellent national health service (as long as it lasts), I don’t have to pay anything (but they tell you the cost of the treatment, that of my surgery was 28196 euros) and I don’t have to pay the pills (eight a day, even a beta-blocker and one against ventricular tachycardia and fibrillation, I had two episodes of paroxysmal atrial fibrillation in the ICU and in the semi-intensive department). If I will survive I won’t give up with photography (in the rehabilitation department, during a conference for operated patients, they suggested cultivating a hobby and expressly mentioned photography...).
P.S. Si parva licet componere magnis, not only Helmut Newton took selfies... I too forced my wife to photograph me with the smartphone when I was in the rehab department (I was not as wired as in the intensive care unit anymore). See attachment..
Get well! I deal with this on a daily basis and I can tell you the part you have no control over is gone (meaning you made it alive). Now you have to make the best of what's possible.
Thanks Armand, I hope you are right, but the new valve has a flap a bit thicker than normal and a consequent moderate, not (yet) pathological, reduction of functionality (I think the flap was somehow reinforced, because the tissue on which it was implanted was severely damaged by papillary muscle rupture, I don’t asked the surgeon about this and the cardiologists are very vague in their answers)
From me, too. Best wishes for a speedy recovery and a peaceful return to photography. I have always enjoyed your contributions here, and if this turns out to be your last photograph, it is a fine and beautiful one.
Eric
Thanks Eric, the surgeon told me that I can certainly walk again in the mountains, I hope to return to the Costa de la Cros (slope of the cross), there are many alpine flowers that I have not yet photographed, I really miss them.
Eleven years ago I suffered a heart attack and was brought back from the brink with the aid of a defibrillator. The last eleven years have been the best of my life.
muntanela, I wish you well and good shooting!
Thanks Klaban, I hope I will not need amiodarone anymore...
