08/31/2026
Matt Bowman told the ER doctor: "Something's wrong; check my heart."
His blood pressure and blood work looked OK. The doctor said he was fine, but Matt wouldn't leave. The next day, his doctor ran more tests, including one that showed his left anterior descending (LAD) artery was 99.9% blocked. He needed surgery to reroute blood around the blockage.
Matt had no family history of heart problems and exercised regularly. The likely culprit? Extreme stress from his demanding sales job, plus his wife Robin's breast cancer diagnosis and treatment over the last two years.
After the surgery, Robin held his hand. It was emotional to see Matt in pain. She collapsed and was admitted to the hospital as well. That’s when doctors found eight cancerous tumors in her brain.
On Christmas Eve, Matt and Robin went home together. Matt did cardiac rehabilitation and returned to work, but when Robin’s condition became worse, he became her full-time caregiver.
Doctors gave Robin 18 months to live. At one point, she had 22 tumors in her brain, but she lived for five years. Robin passed away in April 2024. She was 51; she and Matt had been married almost 24 years.
As Matt grieves, he's working on controlling stress. He walks 3 miles a day and rides a stationary bike.
He often thinks about how his family's story could have played out very differently had he not been firm about staying in the hospital that night.
"If I had not insisted on staying, there was a really good chance both Robin and I could have passed and left the kids all alone," Matt said. "You know your body. If you feel that something's not quite right, do not take that for granted."
