On Monday morning, I had a serious heart attack – and I didn’t even realize it. Fortunately, I lived to tell the story. This brief account is written from my hospital bed in Townsville.
I had gone to the gym for the first time in ages, and hopped on a exercise bike for all of 3 minutes. My heart rate got to 130, and I suddenly had a tremendous shortness of breath, a squeezing sensation in my chest, and radiating discomfort to my throat (I describe this feeling as a “fish hook”).
My initial thoughts were simply that I wasn’t as fit as I once was; and not used to modern gym equipment!
So I went home and had a “cup of tea and a lie down”. I also rang my doctor and made an appointment for the following morning. Given I had past heart issues, my intention was for him to give me a referral to a local cardiologist for a stress test.
A lot of the discomfort was still with me a few hours later, but by the evening, it had gone. My wife and I went out for dinner and a movie. Had a great sleep, and woke up feeling fine. On Tuesday morning, I went to the doctor at 11.15am; and he saw me within 10 minutes.
I explained situation, and he of course wanted to do an ECG and get some blood tests. I told him there was no need as I felt very well, and I had to get home as I had another appointment with the Foxtel technician. Silly me! Doctor insisted that I come back that afternoon for the ECG (which I agreed to); but he implored me to do the blood test straight away. Fate guided me – the pathology centre is attached to the medical practice, and I walked straight in and was done immediately.
Got home at 12 noon; did the Foxtel thing; and then bought a couple of domains on the expired auctions! At 1.05pm my mobile phone rang, and it was my doctor. The pathology centre had processed the bloods straight away, and alerted him that there was a problem. His words to me were:
“Ned, I’ve got the blood results back – you have had a major heart attack. Drop everything, and get an ambulance to the hospital right now”.
WOW! I was gobsmacked. Of course, being the comedian I am, I asked if he still wanted me to come in for the ECG! 😉 His reply was unprintable.
What Happened Next
- Admitted to Townsville Hospital Emergency. I was stabilised by an excellent team, and further blood tests confirmed diagnosis (my troponin levels had skyrocketed). My ECG was basically normal which can happen with some people. I’m obviously one of them.
- Transferred to the Coronary Care Unit at the Mater Hospital that night. Fantastic hospital with great carers. Cardiologist saw me briefly, and confirmed that I would undergo an angiogram next day.
- This procedure confirmed my situation was quite serious; and I was one lucky person to be alive. I had experienced a myocardial infarction in technical terms (heart attack). My right coronary artery was approximately 95% blocked. Three stents were inserted. Cardiologist told me that left artery was also blocked, and I had to get that fixed too. That’s happening later today.
Looking back on the past couple of weeks, I was getting small signals that something was up with my body. However, I put it down to age, and different exercise routines. How wrong I was!
Lessons
As a domainer / domain investor, there are some huge lessons coming out of this experience for me.
Ask yourself these questions. If something happened to you today – either death, accident, illness or other, what would happen to your valuable domain names and websites? Things like renewals and sales. Do you have a contingency plan? Do you have someone trustworthy that can immediately step up to the plate and keep things going?
Whilst I consider myself well organized, there are definitely more things I need to do. I’ll write about this next week.
Thanks
I haven’t told many people about what happened to me until now.
Firstly, big thanks to my wife for being there for me and bossing me around! She’s a star. And to my sons who showed how much they cared.
Next up, Cam and Katherine at Drop.com.au. Given that 95% of my domains are with them, they are a vital partner of mine. One phone call was all it took to ensure that they manage any immediate renewals for me.
I informed Netfleet and Domain Shield that they would be suffering a drop in income for a little while. 😉 Both Nikki and Anthony were wonderfully supportive – thank you so much to both of you. I never thought I’d see the day that I got flowers from Netfleet! (Much appreciated Nikki).
Thanks to my good friend Luke Summers for looking after Domainer for me – and for doing a guest article.
And thanks again to my son Luke for continuing with all the daily work that needs to happen when you have a large portfolio of domains.
Ned O’Meara – 29th July 2016
Always happy to help in any way I can.
Really glad you’re ok. Best wishes from me and Dayna for a speedy recovery.
Yikes! Â Glad you’re getting taken care of, Ned.
If you need anything, just ask. Â Seriously.
Sh#t Ned I’m glad you’re okay. Sounds like you dodged a bullet. I’ll talk to you when you are out of hostipal which I hope is soon.
If you need me to do anything, let me know?
Don
Glad to hear your ok ned and on the wY back
I thought of that a few months ago too what is something happened to me would all my hard work chasing names building a collection just be left to fall to the few domainers to pick over so i made a list of all my registers with all the usernames passwords email hooked too email sign ins etc and like a will i left them with my family so if something happened everything was there for them to take care off easy to get to with all needed details i have in the last few months started moving them all into one account to make life easier if something ever happened. Â But they should be treated as an asset and left with all details needed and easily on hand
This is hardcore news, Neddy. You’re one tough cookie if you’re walking around, going about your life, and don’t even know you’re having a heart attack! Still, you’re very lucky it was found in time! Glad to hear certain people and maybe the “universe” was guiding you to look into why you weren’t “feeling so well”.
I’m sorry, but I had to have a bit of a chuckle reading that Netfleet sent you flowers. I think that’s great of Nikki from Netfleet, but I just remember the whole rollercoaster we’ve all been on with them over the last few years. It’s great they did that!
I think all of us domainers with healthy portfolios think about what would happen with our names if something were to happen to us. I know I do. It will be interesting to discuss when you do the blog about it.
Take care mate. Get better and speak soon.
Ned your an inspiration even to those who haven’t met you…I hope you return to good health soon.
Wishing you a speedy recovery Ned! Glad to hear you are being looked after by family and a team of great medical professionals!
Fark. Seems you are unbreakable though!
It’s great that you have people you can depend on, feel better mate
Ned, great to hear that you are on the mend
No-one is a Hilux, some just handle the bumps a bit better
Sounds like more date nights with the wife and less gym for a while
Take care Ned, lucky it was picked up. Mild myocardial infarctions are quite common and many people don’t know they’ve experienced them for reasons similar to what you’ve described. Sounds like yours was more serious though, glad you’re ok and on the mend.
Thanks for all your kind thoughts everyone. It’s Friday night, and I’m all wired up to monitors in my hospital bed.
Had two stents put in today, and my cardiologist tells me that all blockages are now clear. All things being equal, I should be going home tomorrow.
With my four previous stents combined with my five new ones, I hope I can still get through airport security when I next fly!
Just caught up with your news Ned. You take it easy mate. Domain names are low on the importance scale. Health and family are priorities.
Jeff
That’s bad and good news at the same time Ned. You were very lucky by the sounds of it. Very best wishes for a speedy recovery. Was it Karma for auction sniping? (Too soon?)
Glad to hear you are ok Ned. Hope it all works out for you and your family.
Glad you’re okay now Ned. Take care and all the best for a speedy recovery.
Glad to hear you’re on the mend. Hope you get out of hospital soon.
Thanks again everyone – also to those who have emailed and texted me. Means a lot. 🙂
Unfortunately, I didn’t get out of hospital today – still had some niggles this morning. Tomorrow is the day!
So looking forward to getting out of bed.
Glad you’re getting taken care of, Ned. Lucky it was picked up , hope you will come out of hospital soon and will be all right.
Good to hear you’re on the mend Ned. Â It shows your dedication that you’re still blogging after such a serious event!
Drugs made me do it!
Glad you’re getting taken care of, Ned.
I hope you will come out of hospital soon and will be all right.