that was a mistake

I tried going out for a walk but turned around at about the 800-meter mark: the chest pressure was too much, along with the beginnings of angina, not to mention the suffocating feeling of breathlessness. I was left to wonder what the hell had happened. Am I close to having my inevitable second heart attack? What's this angina going to mean for the fall walk? And most important: how could I be worse than I'd been this past Friday night/Saturday morning when I'd walked last time? I'd fasted all day Monday and today. Then it hit me:

Last time, I'd taken my meds and waited an hour before walking. Assuming I survive until this morning, I'll have learned a valuable lesson that I'll never forget again. Take your meds. I'd forgotten them this time. Whoops.

Know what would be nice? I don't really deserve this, and it feels like stages-of-grief bargaining, but I'd love it if stem-cell therapy were a common thing for heart patients like me—readily available and not expensive.* I realize I have no right to wish for a rejuvenated heart given all that I've apparently done to the one I currently have, but still: a heart that could pump strongly would be nice. My second wish would be for some kind of swarming nanotech delivered as a particle-filled fluid right into a major blood vessel; the nanonbots' job would be to scour my circulatory system, eating the plaque and other material hanging off my arterial walls and using the detritus for fuel, then exiting my body either via my intestines, my urethra, or my skin pores. Those two things, in tandem, would be very nice indeed. 

If I could have a third wish—which may be pushing the genie too far—I'd also wish for a drug that softens hardened arteries. I don't think my docs have ever mentioned arteriosclerosis, but I assume I have it given the blockages they'd found in my coronary arteries last year. They'd put a stent in the worst blockage, and they'd told me, at the time, that the other blockages were at "only" around 30% without giving me much idea as to how quickly new blockages might form. And here we are: it's a year later (my heart attack was last August), and I'm starting to feel about the same as I'd felt right before my previous cardiac episode. So I'm pretty sure another one's coming down the pipe, and not even extreme fasting can do anything to stop it. At least I won't have to worry about my financial situation, though, right?

__________

*Assuming the Google AI isn't lying, there is stem-cell heart therapy in Korea, which is supposedly a leader in the field. But it's potentially expensive to enter a trial, possibly costing tens of millions of won (or it could be free!). So guess who's shit out of luck? Better just to laugh about the situation. Here's what the AI says:

Yes, stem-cell therapy for heart conditions is available in South Korea, and it is a growing area of research and treatment. The cost of stem-cell therapy in South Korea can vary widely, but it generally ranges from $3,000 to $30,000 USD, depending on the clinic, the specific condition being treated, and the type of stem cells used. Participation in a clinical trial may be free or involve costs depending on the specific trial and its funding.

I'd love to get into a free trial, and with my current balance, I can easily handle $3000. But $30,000 is asking too much.