Sharing saves lives!
This story below is so amazing and I am so thankful it can be shared. The more we share and learn about heart disease, the more lives we save! Thank you so much Chris! 
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"I was asked by Rhonda to share my story in my battle with heart disease.
This last January I just turned 30. It was a huge deal for me! My 30th birthday was exactly my celebration for being alive for one whole year!
I've always been a freak when it comes to clean eating and a balanced diet. I don't eat sweets and never fast food. I've always watched my sodium intake and label read with the best of them. I also ran and worked out fairly regularly. In September of 2015 I was getting ready for work one morning. I bent down to pick somthing up off the floor and it felt like someone had stabbed me in the stomach with a hot knife. I calmed down and the burning went away. I went to work and forgot about it.
Over the next week I would randomly get this pain and it got worse and worse. I decided to go to a doctor. My doctor was full so i went to a clinic. I'm a bit of a hypochondriac and the previous day a friend at work had had heart surgery for 5 blockages. One was fixed the others were to small. He was 35 years old. I had mentioned to the doctor that I thought it may be my heart. He laughed and said I was to young and gave me a prescription for an acid reducer and kicked me out. It didn't help. I stopped drinking milk, limited my diet because I figured it was a reflux for some sort of intolerance. Nothing worked. My family doctor eventually sent me for a bunch of stomach tests. Nothing. It all looked good.
My pain continued. Worse and worse. In the middle of the night. When I shovelled the driveway, and eventually when I went up the stairs. I started to become short of breath and I felt palpitations in my stomach area. I convinced my doctor to send me for a stress test.
Finally. In January the day before my 29th birthday I got my stress test. I made it 4:30 before the doctor asked me how I felt. I said not good. He told me to get off the tread mill because I had a positive result.
Now I'm a police officer and have battled stress and anxiety for years so I was good at calming myself down. I had my daughter with me this day and she was almost one year old. I called my wife and told her I was being sent to the royal alexandra hospital here in Edmonton because they found somthing. I didn't know what. With my daughter in my arms, I was wheeled to the cardiology center.
My wife arrived shortly after and 30 minutes later I was in surgery. They found a 90% blockage in my left coronary artery. This is the working side of the heart and a heart attack would have surely been fatal. They were able to open my blockage and the device was accepted by my body with no problems.
I've had many months of sleepless nights. Worry. Anxiety. Wondering if today or tonight is my last. But I still run all the time and I still remain positive. I recently turned 30 and have been able to stay at home with the most beautiful little lady for the last year. Life's good!! If I have one piece of advice for anyone it's reduce your risks. Don't think your invincible because of your body type or age. Eat healthy. Exercise. And reduce your stress levels. I run and see a psychologist and do several sensory deprivation floats a month to maintain my emotional health. It's worth it and so are you. Keep heart healthy!!!"
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