BELPRE -Belpre Mayor Mike Lorentz is back at work and says he is doing well after suffering a heart attack late last week.
"Last Thursday I wasn't feeling well and was sent to St. Joe's for a heart catheterization," Lorentz, 61, said. "They said I had a heart attack, but I don't think it was as bad as people have been led to believe."
Lorentz said doctors at the St. Joseph's campus of Camden Clark Medical Center placed three stents in one artery, which was about 95 percent blocked.
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JOLENE CRAIG Special to the Times
Belpre Mayor Mike Lorentz sits at his desk Tuesday morning. He was back at work after suffering a heart attack late last week and having a cardiac catheterization procedure.
"I've heard I had a 'widow maker' heart attack, but the doctors never told me that and I am doing great now," he added.
Lorentz, who retired from Kraton in 2006, was back in the city building and working on his mayoral duties Tuesday morning.
"I have been given a wake-up, that's for sure," he said. "I have a lot of changes to make and I will do it."
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Belpre Mayor Mike Lorentz is doing well and back at work following a heart attack last week.
Lorentz, 61, had a 95 percent blockage of one artery when doctors at the St. Joseph's Campus of Camden Clark Medical Center put three stents in the one artery.
The mayor said he plans to make significant life changes after the scare, including quitting smoking, which he has done for more than 30 years.
Lorentz said he has smoked nearly a pack of cigarettes per day and does not have the healthiest of eating habits.
"I love fast food and ice cream and it caught up with me," he said. "I will have to stop and make better decisions."
He also said he has not smoked a cigarette since Thursday morning, before his heart attack.
"I don't plan to pick one up, either," he added. "I will just have to change my habits to make sure I don't fall back into smoking."
A family history of heart problems may have predisposed the mayor to have the heart attack.
"My family medical history did not help me, that's for sure," he said.
For Lorentz, his family, including his wife Joyce, two adult children and four grandchildren, - are his reason to change.
"I don't want to scare them like this again," he said. "I'll do whatever the doctors tell me to make sure I won't scare my family again."
As for now, Lorentz said he plans to take it easy at the city building for a while.
"I won't be in all day for a couple of weeks, but things will slowly go back to normal," he said.
