Unnerving news

I received a very disturbing call Thursday just before heading into work.

It was my brother-in-law Brice calling to let me know my younger brother Dan Kohn had a heart attack a short time earlier. The news was sketchy, but apparently Dan had a clot in his lung which caused the trauma. Brice said he'd call back when he heard more.

A text and photo message a couple hours later eased my concern a bit. It was a shot of Dan in the ICU and a note: "Dan is in recovery doin ok. One stent." I was in a meeting, but that really made me feel better. Once the meeting ended I called Brice, who was with Dan in the ICU. I also spoke to Dan and he said he was feeling much better.

He said when he arrived at work he felt a horrible chest pain and drove himself to the emergency room. I nearly scolded him for placing his life and others in danger rather than dialing 911. He said he'd heard it several times already. Still, Dan was alive and Dan would make it .

Hearth disease is part of the heredity both Dan and I inherited from my father's side of the family. I was lucky enough to also inherit much stronger heart genes from my Mom's side, and so far haven't had such problems, save for high blood pressure.

But Dan isn't so lucky. Our paternal grandfather died young of heart problems. Our uncle, Daniel Kohn, our father's older brother, died of a heart attack at a young age. Our father, Mel Kohn, had his first heart attack at age 36. So this legacy isn't one to take lightly. We've both beaten those odds so far.

Dan knew of this genetic blessing and was working on it. He'd been working out and training to run a half-marathon later this year. He'd lost weight, lost his gut and is in pretty good shape. But that wasn't enough to clear out the single artery in his heart that was completely blocked.

The half-marathon is off for now, but Dan's healthy life will experience a renaissance and I know Dan will be healthier a month from now than he was a month ago.