Posted on 01/07/2017 11:27:36 PM PST by Swordmaker
Friday morning, just after midnight as I was turning off the TV from watch a movie on Netflix, I felt a sudden pressure and pain in the center of my chest. This pain went through my chest to my back and a bit in my left upper arm. There also, for some strange reason an ache in my right elbow, and later radiatingup my back to both side of my rear neck.
I woke my girlfriend who is an RN. She took my blood pressure which is usually normal, but this time was 189/129. The next important number was 911.
My girl friend gave me four aspirin to chew up. Ten minutes later when the EMTs arrived my BP was down to 180/119 and they gave me four more aspirin because their protocols required it be their aspirin. Theirs tasted better. The pain and pressure were not letting up. They started popping nitroglycerin sublingually and that started to help a bit. They transported me to the OR in an ambulance which had completely worn out shocks. It felt like riding in a cart of a wooden roller coaster, there was so much road chatter.
Starting an IV while on the move in all directions must have been fun for EMT Chris, but he did it. I think the driver located every pothole and crack on the way. . . and the roads seemed to be rough between them!
At the ER my EKG looked good but the blood enzymes started low and began to climb with every subsequent draw, from 0.1 to 0.9. . . that showed my heart had experienced something which damaged the cardiac muscle, but the don't know what. These are not super high, but anything at all indicate damage. Over the next several hours, they got the pain and pressure down with morphine, an IV nitro drip, and an anti-coagulation drip. The enzymes are now down to 0.7.
Kept me overnight in ER, then to a regular room for two hours, then transferred to ICU. Today I was transferred to another hospital because although they can do a catheritization at the first hospital to diagnose a problem, they aren't allowed to fix the problem they find there. Seems silly to do it but not be able to do a balloon angioplasty or place a stent.
So tomorrow they're going to cath me and if this hospital find a problem they can fix, fine. Otherwise, I get to be transferred to ANOTHER hospital for bypass surgery. Let's pray that's not necessary, please.
Prayers answered!!!
Alleluia...
Praise God for Prayers answered.
Prayers for a speedy recovery. God bless you and yours.
I really enjoy your Apple threads, btw.
Pinging a lot of FRiends here... Please keep Swordmaker in your prayers.
Prayers for complete healing! We’ll continue to pray for you... :-)
Sorry, I was a bit late to this thread. Please see Swordmaker’s update in #173.
Prayers going up...
Continue to get well, have good lab tests and make your doctors *look good*.
Prayers for you and positive thoughts and a few smiles.
All food you eat should be sent to the Lab, to make sure it's healthy for you.
God bless !
Keep punching!! We’re rooting for you. :)
You are going home after the Bronchitis clears up?
Wow, that is great that the stints went in okay. Now follow instructions and lets get rid of that cough.
While thanks to God are in order, this is also a good point to praise the miracle of American Healthcare which gets so often lumped into cultural or ACA criticism. Our grandfathers died from the blockages you had and our fathers lived an extra twenty years when the techniques were formalized.
Thanks for letting us know. Now, on to getting rid of that bronchitis!
I've been taking your advice on technology for years and now hopefully you will take some of mine. I have a lot of heart disease in my family and the common denominator in long term mitigation is a change in diet and exercise. So follow your doctor's advice and pay special attention to their dietary recommendations. I won't get into detail as each person's case is different but there will be certain foods and habits that you will be asked to give up and certain foods and habits you should start. You would be wise to take their direction on that so as you will then have many more years to give us technology advice!
Also, read as much as you can on nutrition and diet in general. Many doctors still have old-fashioned ideas on nutrition so ultimately you need to listen to your body.
Get better and look forward to you being back to 100% health as quickly as possible.
What wonderful news (the stents...not the bronchitis)!! Prayers will continue for a speedy recovery. Thanks for the update!
God is Good! So very glad to hear you are on the mend.
I’m so glad they were able to put in the stents you needed.
I will continue to pray for your recovery.
We went to go visit my MIL a couple of months back because she had 5 blockages at 95% and had to have some stents put in. The doctors didn’t think she would make it, but she was able to go home a few days later. Thank God for all those wonderful doctors out there!
Continued prayer for your complete healing.
Good news that you survived a hospital stay.
God’s blessings be with you.
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