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‘A huge wake-up call’

Local man experiences large lifestyle changes after heart episode

Photo by Jody Isaackson Avera Marshall Cardiac Rehab instructor Aaron Schroeder stands next to his patient, Adam Fogelson, who had experienced a mild heart attack on Oct. 22, 2016 and was advised by his father to go to the doctor. Fogelson quit smoking immediately after having a stent put in at Avera Heart Center in Sioux Falls. Fogelson showed off his favorite workout machine, the arm ergometer.

MARSHALL — A heart attack can be subtle but deadly, and recognizing its signs saved Adam Fogelson’s life.

Fogelson said that he had been at his parents’ home by Milroy on Oct. 22, 2016, helping his dad, Jerry, trim trees. They had gone into Milroy for lunch when Fogelson noticed that both elbows ached badly.

“I thought I had just overworked myself,” he said. “Otherwise, I felt comfortable.”

When he got home, though, he began to sweat, it rolled off him like a shower. He felt like he had “dragon breath” from heartburn.

“My dad had had a heart attack once, too,” Fogelson said. “He looked at me and said, ‘You’re having a heart attack; you’re going to the hospital.”

Since he had never sweat like that before, he took his father’s advice. He went into the Avera Marshall Emergency Room and from there to Avera Heart Hospital in Sioux Falls, S.D.

“The doctor could tell from the systems exactly where the blockage was,” Fogelson said.

It was in the right side of the heart. Tests confirmed it with a darkened portion of the heart. After a stent was inserted into the heart, it looked normal again.

“If the blockage had cleared on its own, and I hadn’t gone in, I could have had a stroke,” Fogelson said.

He seemed amazed that there hadn’t been any pressure on his chest, but his therapist Aaron Schroeder said that symptoms vary for patients due to the location of the blockage.

Fogelson also said that being 30-something made him dismiss any symptoms because he thought he was too young for a heart attack.

Starting with giving up smoking during the three days he was hospitalized, Fogelson has had some major life changes.

“The cardiologist said, ‘You quit Fogelson said. “That was a huge wake-up call.”

Within a few weeks, Fogelson said he was coming to Avera Marshall for cardiac rehabilitation.

“I thought I felt great then, but I was not anywhere near where I am today,” he said.

“We get all kinds of heart patients and get them back to where they should be,” Schroeder said. “Many think that being active is enough, but they aren’t getting cardiac exercise.”

Fogelson realizes it could take up to a year to fully recuperate from his heart episode. That is how long it took his father. Schroeder agreed that was the average length of time for recovery.

“I quit smoking cold turkey, started eating better — in moderation, and am exercising,” Fogelson said. “And, I’m working on stress management.”

He also went to 18 therapy sessions at the Cardiac Rehab Center at Avera Marshall where he met Schroeder. Fogelson worked out a lot on the arm ergometer at the center.

“I bought a fish house and am spending more time with my family,” Fogelson said. He is married to Corrine, and they have three children, Blake, 13, Ava, 6, and Elaina, 3.

He has even purchased on old truck to work on instead of watching television every night. It proves to be a good father-son bonding time, he said.

“I was 13 when my (paternal) grandfather died of a heart of attack,” Fogelson said. “I’m 100 percent glad I took my dad’s advice to see a doctor.”

Other common symptoms of a heart attack include chest pain or pressure, shortness of breath with activity, jaw pain — which Fogelson had also experienced but never found the cause, nausea and anxiety as well as indigestion, fatigue, dizziness, flu-like symptoms and racing heart.

If in doubt, see your doctor and get the test done, was Schroeder’s and Fogelson’s advice.

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