Two years ago, he had a gig at a local supper club. At home in West Long Branch, New Jersey, he went upstairs to get ready. On the landing, he clutched the railing, gasping for air.
His chest tightened and he started to sweat. He called out to his wife: "Something's wrong!" In the emergency room, Meares learned he was having a heart attack. His right coronary artery was 100% clogged.
He had minor blockages in other arteries, too. He needed a cardiac catheterization procedure to open his clogged arteries and restore blood flow. It was late Friday and Meares was stable, so doctors scheduled the procedure for Monday morning.
He would spend the weekend in the hospital. Sunday morning after breakfast, nine nurses ran into Meares' room with a cart stocked with emergency supplies. "What's going on?" he said, sitting up.
"You just had another heart attack," replied one of the nurses. Meares hadn't felt a thing. But monitors alerted the staff of what happened.
The catheterization procedure could no longer wait; he needed his arteries unclogged right away. Complications caused the procedure to take six hours. A major issue was that Meares' right coronary artery was shaped like a shepherd's crook.
He needed two blood transfusions and had four stents implanted to hold his arteries open. The procedure was a success, and Meares went home to recover two days later. After the heart attacks, Meares thought about what caused them.
He realized part of the problem was a diet heavy on red meat. H.
