COLUMBIA, S.C. — February is Heart Health Awareness month, a time dedicated to raising awareness about cardiovascular health and the importance of maintaining a healthy heart.
"We aren't guaranteed the next day, but just live every day as full as you can," said Randy Bundricks. That's been his motto since the day he nearly died from a heart attack.
"Sometimes it may not be a severe sign, but it's still a sign," Bundricks said. "Listen to your signs, listen to the body, it will tell you."
Interventional Cardiologist at Prisma Health, Dr. Gopi Shah, agrees.
"There are concerning symptoms that shouldn't be ignored," Shah said. "Unfortunately, some people do have symptoms that go on for a long period of time, and they are not really in tune to recognizing what that could lead to."
That's something Bundricks learned after his heart gave its final warning signs. "I would recommend to anybody now to go to the family doctor, get set up with a family doctor," he said.
After visiting his doctor, Bundricks learned some of the problems were out of his control.
"Dr. Shah expressed that it's really nothing I did, but it's going to be my life," Bundricks said.
Shah says he's seen it before. "I do see patients who, unfortunately, do have some genetic predisposition."
While we can't choose our genetic traits, Shah said we can choose how to care for our body.
"Doing things such as smoking cigarettes or using, abusing drugs, or people who are not taking care of their body and are unfit and are sedentary or overweight are generally at a higher risk for developing the types of heart problems that we deal with than people who don't do those things," Shah said.
"Both of us quit smoking. That was a big plus," Bundricks said.
Shah says heart problems can affect any age.
"There's kind of an assumption that people are older and have had years of southern living or hard living that has created a problem, but it can actually be any age," Shah said.
Randy reflected on the last year and a half since he underwent surgery.
"It's an eye opener. You can say you're going to do a lot of things and you can do a lot of things, but once this happened it changed my outlook," Bundricks said.
