St. Margaret's O'Keefe Working After "Silent" Heart Attack

It sounds odd, but finding out he had suffered a heart attack may have been a blessing for Monsignor John O'Keefe, pastor at St. Margaret's Church in Pearl River.

Before that, he did not know what was causing his fatigue and shortness of breath. O'Keefe had something commonly referred to as a silent heart attack this summer, one in which the pain and other symptoms associated with a heart attack do not occur.

According to the American Heart Association, 3 to 4 million Americans experience disruption of blood flow to the heart without experiencing symptoms (silent ischemia). The damage done to the heart can cause death. More information regarding heart attack symptoms and diagnoses can be found on the American Heart Association's website.

"What made me finally make a move was the shortness of breath and the fatigue," O'Keefe said. "I got to a point that even putting on your clothes in the morning, you would get tired. There was something about putting on your shoes and socks (was a challenge), the bending over and pulling them up."

O'Keefe saw a pulmonary specialist first, but the doctor found no problems with his lungs and sent him to a cardiologist at Good Samaritan Hospital, who had him admitted. O'Keefe has been treating the condition with medication, additional rest and a changed diet. He admits that the salt-free diet is not something he would wish on anybody, but he is making sure to follow it and get slow down a bit at the church.

"I am disciplined," O'Keefe said. "Resting for a period of time in the afternoon. Trying to cut down on evening appointments. Being willing to tell people when they come in with a stress-filled problem that can wait, 'Let's wait.

"One of the things is the medication has been good. I was suffering from this since the end of the school year. It made everything difficult. We had all of these weddings. You're just lowing your way through them and then you go to the hospital and they start you on medication and you feel fine. But I'm very conscious of what I have. I'm not going to say because I feel fine, I will blow off the medication or not do the diet or not take a rest when I should take a rest."

O'Keefe said that the office staff and Father Paul Osei-Fosu have done a great deal to keep things at the church running smoothly. Osei-Fosu recently lost his own father, who was living in his native Ghana, though the funeral is not until October due to the traditions there.

"(Father Paul) has been a tremendous help, but he's a classy guy," O'Keefe said with a smile.

O'Keefe is still wearing a heart monitor and portable defibrillator, which are drawing comments from students St. Margaret School and at church. He does have damage to his heart, though his cardiologist is hopeful that much of it will heal with the current treatment.