By Leslie Barker
American Heart Association News
POWHATAN, Va. 鈥� TJ Smith knew better than to let a decade pass without seeing a doctor.
After all, he was a volunteer EMT in Powhatan, Virginia. He dealt with health scares all the time. And, truth be told, he鈥檇 let himself get out of shape. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, he rarely exercised and often ate fast food.
He no longer had the energy to finish mowing his lawn. The quarter-mile walk from his front door to the end of his cul-de-sac completely winded him. On ambulance trips with patients, he sweated heavily.
But health insurance was expensive. As a contract software engineer, he opted against buying it.
Finally, though, he decided to schedule a checkup.
A week before he was to see a doctor, Smith was awakened by an 鈥渁nyone available鈥� rescue call. While rushing to help someone having chest pain, his own chest felt on fire. Then came the sensation of 鈥渁 flower blooming鈥� inside his chest. He went down to his knees.
He remembered that his EMT bag had a nitroglycerin pill, the exact thing he would put under the tongue of a patient with his symptoms. He took it and immediately, he said, 鈥淚 felt like a million bucks.鈥�
He went on the call with his team, took the man with chest pain to the hospital, then went home and back to sleep.
A few hours later, he called to move his appointment up. A stress test revealed major problems: One artery was 99% blocked, two others were 97% blocked.
鈥淭he doctor was glad I had taken the nitro pill,鈥� Smith said. 鈥淗e told me I shouldn鈥檛 even be alive.鈥�
Smith underwent triple bypass surgery in October 2023. He awoke in all sorts of pain because of his breathing tube. In addition to the usual discomfort of such a thing, part of it was taped down so much that it was affecting his blood pressure. It took about four hours for him to get relief. During that time, he tried focusing on something else: photographs of his 6-year-old grandson, Oliver, taped all over the walls of his room, courtesy of his wife, Jesse.
鈥淭he only reason I didn鈥檛 panic was because I saw his face,鈥� TJ said. 鈥淭hat started a mantra in my head: Don鈥檛 panic, don鈥檛 panic, don鈥檛 panic.鈥�
TJ asked doctors when most people go home after surgeries like his. Told five to seven days, the fiercely competitive TJ was determined to go home in four. Which he did.
But recovery was difficult.
鈥淚鈥檇 just stare at him to make sure he was OK,鈥� Jesse said. 鈥淗e was afraid to sleep next to me because he was scared I鈥檇 touch his chest, which hurt for a long time. Just being able to sit up from a lying position was excruciating.鈥�
TJ said he felt weak; he felt broken.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 realize the core of your ego and strength as a man 鈥� the core of your identity 鈥� derives from the strength of your chest,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was the guy who always got the heavy end of the couch, the guy who could lift two bags of concrete, no problem. After surgery, though, I couldn鈥檛 lift anything heavier than a pillow.鈥�
What he and Jesse did do, though, was start getting healthy again. Slowly but surely, short walks after dinner turned into longer ones. TJ bought a virtual reality headset and loaded it with fitness apps. He began swimming, too.
鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 do anything in a small way,鈥� Jesse said. 鈥淔or TJ, it鈥檚 all or nothing.鈥�
The two of them try not to eat anything with an ingredient list, focusing instead on fish, chicken, fruits and vegetables. TJ only drinks coffee and water.
They鈥檝e lost weight and feel good. His doctor has confirmed that his heart is doing great.
Now 52, TJ is sharing his story in hopes of giving other people the nudge he needed to give himself. 鈥淚f I had only gotten annual checkups,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 have had to go through this.鈥�
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