From a stent and bypass survivor, not a cardiologist

OK, I was going to comment on Self's heart situation earlier but had decided to hold off. I am a stent and bypass survivor with exactly the same situation that coach Self finds himself in.
I my case, I had similar initial symptoms, shortness of breath (at 70 years of age), with a one side of my family with a history of heart issues identical to mine, which I did not know at the time. I was not overweight, not sedentary and ate right, genetics! I was in Australia visiting my brother in a small resort town called Noosa. My brother insisted I go to the local hospital where I was waited on by a Dr that looked like she has just graduated from Junior HS. She was amazing and quickly diagnosed my condition and got me to a University hospital about an hour away. my troponin level was such that I may have had a small amount of heart damage but not what might be called a heart attack. Does that sound familiar?
Next day the angioplasty indicated I had a 90-95% occluded right coronary artery and had a stent inserted. Felt great within a few days and was walking a few miles after three days. The Drs at Sunshine Coast University medical center told me that I had other partial occlusions that were not stentable but I was OK to get on a plane home after 7-10 days but needed to visit with my Dr and probably a cardiologist.
Returned to Lawrence but within about two to three weeks, realized that my stamina was not improving and went to the cardiac rehab unit at LMH, which I had been attending since my return. After giving my symptoms, they immediately got me to the ER room and later that day I was at St Lukes, where a week later I had to have dual bypass surgery.
I have been feeling great since, going on 5+ years, and am walking 4-6 miles per day. I also addressed my bad total to good cholesterol ratio.
How does this relate to what has happened to Self?
Recovery from the crisis that cardiac stents help relieve can be very fast but limited in getting one's stamina back. One also needs to avoid major stresses depending on whether the stenting was done to get you through the heart emergency but there may be underlying other heart conditions that need to be addressed, longterm.
Just one additional comment on Self,
I am very glad that Self, the heart team, and family are being conservative with his return.
To all my fellow Rock Chalk Board colleagues, shortness of breath and other cardiac symptoms such as high cholesterol and especially your total to good cholesterol ratio should not be ignored. As important, what is your family history on heart issues?
PS. That was the second time my brother saved my life. Another long story. While not an MD or cardiologist, I have stayed at a Holiday Inn recently, LOL. However, I am a PhD biomedical researcher and retired KU professor in the School of Pharmacy so even I did not pay enough attention to my very low good cholesterol levels. Men can be such big idiots.

Glad that you are still with us. Thanks for sharing. I watch this given my family history.

Thanks for sharing your story and glad you're doing well.

I've had a bunch of thoughts bumping around with all of this.

On the emotional side, I want coach back at the helm, at 100% healthwise as if nothing happened in the first place. That's unrealistic. Something DID happen and we have to deal in reality.

Obviously, they need to put his health first. Equally important is that people respect his privacy. That's the tough part if you're a public figure, all of the "experts" come out of the woodwork, which is probably not helpful if they're not your own doctor and intimately aware of your health situation (which none of us are).

There's also the 'everybody's experience is different' angle, where I'm sure that there are cases where the patient leaps off the operating table and immediately goes back to running marathons at world class pace....and then others who take weeks/months to recover, or who never come back 100%.

Finally, I have a vision of Coach Self on the bench, face beet red, veins bulging, and yelling at a ref or player. We've all seen that guy. I, for one, don't WANT to see that guy right now. I'd be scared out of my mind that he'd dislodge his stent or do something else bad if his blood pressure peaked during the intensity of a game. So while I think he MAY come back if we get to next weekend, or the one after, I really, really, really want to make sure he's good to go.

I can't imagine the stress and exertiion that goes into being a college coach. While many people could probably return to normal office jobs and moderate activity safely and fairly quickly, we need to keep in mind that THIS job is no office job.

In Coach Roberts we Trust- Get well Coach!! Well stated NotO