Blogger Om Malik Recuperating From Heart Attack

Om Malik over at Giga Om had a heart attack on December 28, 2007. He is the founder Giga Omni Media, Inc. and is a former reporter for Forbes, Red Herring and Business 2.0.  Writes Om in a January 3, 2008, post:

Happy New Year. As you may have noticed, my byline hasn’t been up on the site for a few days. That’s because the holidays weren’t exactly my most jolly. I had a heart attack on Dec. 28. I was able to walk into the hospital for treatment that night and have been recovering here ever since. With the support of my family and my team, I am on the road to a full recovery. I am going to be OK.

I wish Om the best and urge him to take it easy and let his staff run things while he recuperates. I've followed his work for years and feel as if I know him personally although I don't.

To read Om's entire post, see "A Heart-to-Heart with GigaOM Readers.

By the way, I ended up in the emergency room on December 27, 2007. Here's what happened: I tried to get up that morning but the room appeared to be spinning at great speed. After a few minutes of this, I managed to get up. About 45-minutes later, while getting dressed in the bathroom, I started falling and hit my head on the side of the medicine cabinet. I could not stop myself. I was fortunate that my head did not hit the sink or the bath tub.

To be honest, I thought I was cashing out. However, there was no fear. My concern was whether my wife, who was in the basement washing, remembered where the pension, deferred compensation, Insurance and other documents were.

Somehow I managed to get up and sit in a chair in the living room. When my wife returned from the basement, I told her I needed to go to the emergency room. When we got there, I was thankful I didn't have to wait long before I saw a doctor. After asking a series of questions and conducting test, which included an electrocardiogram, to rule out a heart attack, the doctor diagnosed the problem as Vertigo. He gave me two pills, which alleviated the condition after about 45-minutes.

However, he warned me that it could return, and that it is quite common. He also gave me a prescription and ordered me take the prescribed pills as needed.

The point of this narrative? Get to a doctor if you feel anything out of the ordinary. It could save your life.