By Joseph Edgerton
Staff Writer

Last September, Norm Bouley Jr. got the wake-up call of his life, but it wasn't a phone call.

It was a heart attack.

Bouley, 48, is a lifelong resident of Auburn whose life was forever changed during a trip to Tennessee in 2005.

He was born in Auburn on Aug. 29, 1957, and attended the Auburn Village School and Manchester Central High School before graduating in 1975.

"I graduated on a Friday, and by Monday I was in Fort Dix in New Jersey with the U.S. Army," he said. "I signed my papers in my junior year of high school."

During his 11 years in the service with the 368 Combat Engineers, Bouley was employed as a truck driver, a heavy equipment operator, a mechanic and finally a cook. He learned to work the system.

"For my last five years, I was a cook, and it was a great deal," he said. "We were no longer cold, no longer hungry, and never had to wash another dish."

In addition to these benefits, Bouley managed to obtain extra rations and a daily shower, luxuries otherwise unheard of in the field, where rations were short and showers were one week apart.

"I had a rule that if we were within an hour of the barracks, we got a hot shower every day, for hygiene purposes," he said. "In the chow line, they got two pieces of bacon, two cartons of milk, and a spoonful of eggs. But not us; we were all set."

After his time in the Army Reserve, Bouley returned to New Hampshire, where he dove into town events and careers in trucking, construction and representing the Teamsters.

"We had all sorts of projects, lots of stress and lots of traveling," he said. "I'm the type of guy who can't say no. I didn't eat enough, I didn't eat properly and I didn't get enough rest or exercise."

On Sept. 25, Bouley was forced to take a hard look at his situation. He was traveling in Tennessee at the time.

"I came home around midnight from a long day of meetings and an awful diet of sweet tea and barbecue," he said. "I had a couple of beers and went to bed, and when I lay down, I felt like I had a gorilla on my chest."

Bouley didn't know it, but he was experiencing a 99 percent blockage of an area of the heart doctors call "the widowmaker;" a region where two major veins intersect.

"I would walk around, have some Rolaids and water, and the pain would go away, but each time I lay down it came back," he said. "By the fourth time, I packed my bags, said a few prayers and got ready to call 911."

Bouley managed to fall asleep sitting up, and returned to Manchester that same day, where he promptly checked himself into Catholic Medical Center. He was admitted after one of three blood enzyme tests had suspicious results. Specialists there performed an angiogram, inserted a stent and saved his life.

It wasn't Bouley's first close call.

A previous angiogram in Las Vegas nearly killed him in 2000, and a botched angiogram killed his father in 1998.

"The doctor there hit a valve during the procedure and nearly killed me," he said. "It took four shocks to bring me back, and they didn't use jelly on the paddles. The paddles burned the hell out of me, and I could hear myself screaming. It was an out of- body experience."

Luckily, the heart attack and procedures spared Bouley from heart damage or a stroke, and he said he considers himself blessed.

"I just kept putting things off, and telling myself I was fine because my cholesterol and blood pressure were normal," he said. "I'm very lucky. I made a lifestyle change, and lots of other folks need to do the same, before it's too late."

Bouley has since switched his diet to avoid red meat and beer, and opts instead for raw grains, salad, fish and chicken.

Bouley has reduced his weight from 281 pounds to 228 pounds, and his cholesterol from 179 to 100 by performing cardio exercises for 30 minutes a day and watching what he eats.

He is an organizer for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Construction division and a liaison for the Helmets to Hardhats program, which helps place veterans in construction jobs.

Bouley still takes four medications a day, and carries nitroglycerine medication for his heart, but said he is right back on track.

"I'm doing great. I have a lot of things going on in my life, but I know when to push back from the desk and take some personal time," he said. "You may not think you have heart problems, but if you procrastinate, it can slap you in the face."