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WEAR Despite warning signs Mike was surprised when doctors told him he needed bypass surgery What happened to Mike Steele prompted even one of his doctor friends to go for a stress test. Why? Mike is a really fit guy... in fact he could be called a “Man of Steele”. Healthy living. Protein shakes for breakfast. Former physical education teacher. Football player. Rugby player. Weight lifter. Cyclist. Runner. Up at 5 a.m. to hit the gym. Golfed 40 times last summer, walking the course. Never smoked. Just a social drinker. Careful about his diet. Retired in July, 2011. Yet last year, the Port Perry resident had quadru- ple heart bypass surgery, after finding his arteries were blocked, two of them at 80 percent blockage. It all happened just prior to his 61st birthday. On November 17, 2014, Mike and his wife Patsy ‘went out for a two km walk after dinner. When = they returned home, he experienced some pain in Mike Steele gives a ‘thumbs up’ after coming through heart bypass his right arm and a feeling of heaviness in his chest. _surgery in Toronto last December. Belowis the scar left from his surgery. He didn’t share this with his wife immediately, but suspected it was his heart, even though the classic symptoms point to pain in the left arm. peared. Mike has a few sports injuries, which he jovially It was time to go. Two days later, refers to as “souvenirs of great moments in time.” Mike was having an angiogram, which His right arm had bothered him on and off before, revealed the plugged arteries. “If I but he didn’t think anything of it until it was accom- _had led a sedentary (idle) life, I never panied by the strange sensation in his chest. would have suspected the blockages So what did he do? and I likely would have had a heart He went to the gym and did his own stress test on _ attack,” Mike pointed out. the treadmill. Sure enough, at the third level on the He says that doctors do not perform third speed, he experienced arm and shoulder pain. _ bypass surgery if arteries are less than The next step was to call Dr. Paul Puckrin at Lak-_70 percent blocked, so he was a prime eridge Health, Port Perry. After an examination he candidate for open heart surgery. was referred to the cardiologist Dr. Nasser-Shariff, Ten days after that fateful walk when who put him on the treadmill. Sure the symptoms presented themselves, eg enough, after 10 minutes, on the Mike was in St. Michael’s Hospital in third level, the symptoms reap- Please turn to page 14 February is Heart Month FOCUS - FEBRUARY 2015 13