I lost a dear friend last week to a heart attack. He had been having chest pains for a couple of days, but didnt go and have it checked out according to his co-workers. He worked for BNSF railroad on the road crew and was working in MO when he died. He was found the next morning lying in the floor face down with one boot off and his work clothes still on. He was 48yrs old and didnt have any risk factors. I just wanted to say that if you have chest pains it is worth having it checked out. If he had went when the pains started there is a extremely good chance I wouldnt had to go to his funeral this past weekend. It has been a very sad time for me. My family will miss him a lot.

Sorry for your loss of a good friend Greg.

You're giving good advice to anyone who will listen. Two personal stories follow.

Story 1: In 1997, at age 53, I was having a general check-up with my Internist. He asked how I was doing. I said I was doing real well except for a general loss of energy which I attributed to age. In fact, I found myself having to stop and rest a bit when walking a quarter mile to my deer stand. "Any chest pains?", he asked, "funny feelings in your arms or upper back?". Nope - never - just tire more easily than I used to. Even have to take a break mowing the lawn. Getting older I guess. He took me by the hand and led me to the Cardiologist next door, who put me on a treadmill. Two days later I had triple bypass surgery. The doc said "one day soon you would not have made it to that deer stand".

Story 2: Three months ago my brother-in-law had a complete check-up at the insistence of my sister. Typical story. A guy in good health with never any problems. But the wife says "you're getting to that age where you ought to get things checked - a proctoscope exam, a treadmill test, etc." He did it to stop the nagging. They found a blockage in the "widow maker" artery and put a stint in a few days later. Doc said it was a ticking bomb - one of those situations that seldom give a warning.

So guys. Listen to Greg. Don't ignore symptoms. Life is too precious.

I'm very sorry to hear of your loss gregrn43. My thoughts and prayers are with you and the family. Very good advice.

Sorry to hear of your loss Gregrn43 , True friends are hard to come by. The advice you gave is very true . We went to a bow shoot in Texas and I started to have abdomen pain's so when we got back home I went to the doc , Come to find out I had two herias one on the right( cosing most of the pain ) an one on the left , Then they told me about the Aortic Aneurysm (that was about a 5mm).They were able to repair the Aneurysm and the right hernia at the same time and then a few hours right after surgery I passed a blood clot through my heart and it ended up in my lunges . Sure am glad that I had went an got check out. Heck, I'm only 48 myself.

Gregrn43: i'm sorry for the loss of your friend.

If a person has chest pains they need to get it checked out ASAP. Those at risk for a stroke or heart attack should take Ecotrin daily.

Problems come when some guys don't know where their heart is; no, i'm not kidding. A Sergeant Major i worked for had chest pains for years. Finally one morning i took him to the emergency room at the 121st Evac hospital in Seoul. The doctor hooked up his machine and everything went tilt. The doctor asked S/Maj. where the pain was and why he thought it was not serious. S/Maj. said: "In the center of my chest, my heart is on the left side". Another doctor walked by and was hailed by the first doctor: "Hey ,John; we have another ------- S/Maj. who don't know where his heart is".

Sorry for the loss of your friend Greg.
What you advise is correct, if I had not worked on the Ambulance I probably would not have recognized the symptoms and taken some blood thinners and run for the hospital and according to the heart doctor would have died 10 years ago.

Sorry for your loss. Great advice to everyone. Don't be afraid to go to the doctor, especially for things like chest pain or shortness of breath. Sometimes it's nothing, but other times it can be something very serious. Modern medicine is very good at fixing heart problems IF they catch it in time.

really sorry to hear this story that you lost your friend just support your feelings and advice which you are giving never to take chances with ones own health as it may cause your life