Quite the Scare

A few days ago, my brother-in-law-in-law (Mrs. Kid's sister's husband) woke up with chest pains that didn't go away as quickly as heartburn should. When he and his wife (my sister-in-law) went to the nearby hospital, a blood test revealed elevated enzyme levels that indicate he had had a heart attack. He is 33.

The same day, they did an angiogram and found a major (over 90%) blockage in a major vessel (the circumflex coronary artery.) They installed an arterial stent and all is well. He will be on meds for the rest of his life, but he's ok. The cool part is that he watched most of the procedures while they were happening. Whacky.

I know SIL, so I asked her to not turn BILIL into a tofu-eating vegan (she's vegetarian while he is pretty carnivorous.) She replied that he should at least not eat so much sauteed foi gras. Apparently, he:

1. often skips breakfast and/or lunch, and then has a massive dinner at a restaurant,
   
2. doesn't exercise enough,
   
3. smokes a half pack of cigarettes a day.

I know he works way too hard at his high-powered job, so the first two didn't surprise me. As a matter of fact, I used to do that sort of thing all the time when I was in grad school, then every once in a while as an adult. The last part really surprised me. I knew he used to smoke when he was in college, but didn't know that he still smoked so much.

Anyway, I really feel for BILIL. Not just because of the pain he has endured or because of the scare he just had, but mostly because of the big pile of grief his wife will give him for the rest of his life. His lifestyle is going to have to change and she is going to beat him until he makes these changes happen. I'm glad he's fine (he was working again four days later), but I'll miss the man who could put away massive amounts of food in a single sitting.

The Day

• Workout: crunches and push-ups
  
• Music: Sierra Leone's Refugee All-Stars, Etta James, Elvis Costello, Royksopp