Posted on 11/23/2002 9:20:11 AM PST by Mr_Magoo
First off, let me explain something. I am writing this for a few reasons. Mainly, I am still trying to figure out what happened to me on 11-10-02. I hope that by putting it into words it will start to make sense to me. Also I want others to learn something from my mistakes. For those who don't know, during the overnight period between 11-10 and 11-11 I had a heart attack. I spent 8 days in the hospital recovering from the initial heart attack and quadruple bypass surgery.
November 10 was a decent fall day for Chicago. The weather was not bad, in fact warmer than the last few weeks. I had been putting off some fall yard work, so I blew the leaves, cut the grass, and watched the Bears lose . . . again . . . [some things never change!]. I was even able to mix it up a bit with a few FReepers, something I had not had time for in recent months.
Around 1:40am I shut down the computer, went outside and had a smoke. After all, I had to get up in the morning and go back to work. It was still warm enough outside that I did not need a coat. I love the late night hours. I went back in, got undressed, and went to bed.
1:55am:
WHAM!!! Where did that come from? I have had twinges of chest pain for the last few months, but nothing like this! It felt like when you take too big a gulp of soda, but stronger. Way stronger. I tried everything I could think of, deep breaths, slow deep breaths, put my legs up on pillows, more deep breaths, I even went to the John. Nothing helped. After around 15 minutes of this, I have run out of excuses. I am now soaked in a cold sweat. Starting to panic now. The last 3 deals I made with God I already broke . . . This is NOT cool.
I woke up Mother. She will know what to do. 4 years ago she went through a triple bypass. This sucks. I had to admit to her that I have had these pains for weeks now. I had been brushing them off because I did not want to admit to myself that I was no longer young and invincible. All those years that I mistreated this bod had come back to roost lately. The morning aches and pains were constant reminders of old injuries. I also had been putting it off because I recently started a new job. It was another 5 weeks before Medical Insurance started up. I can't afford to get sick for at least 5 weeks. I told Mother that I have had chest pain for around 15-20 minutes. She called the paramedics. I got dressed, and sat down in the living room. I think that half the damn Fire Dept. was out front. And that clenching pain . . . was . . . gone. I sat there in the living room feeling stupid. The living room is full of Police and Fire dudes. Mother is frantic. And I am sitting there feeling stupid for starting all this fuss. I tell the Paramedics that I did have chest pain a few minutes ago . . . Not now . . . This was all a mistake . . . Sorry to bother them . . .
The Paramedics don't buy it.
4 guys grabbed me and half drag me out the front door, onto the gurney, and in the ambulance. All one swift move. These guys mean business! None of this sitting around and getting info stuff. As soon as the doors were closed, we were moving. They sprayed nitroglycerine in my mouth and I chewed some asprin.5 minutes tops and we were at the Hospital. Everyone is dashing around me. I am now hooked up to O2, an EKG machine, BP monitor, Blood gas monitor, IV lines everywhere. And I feel fine. I feel very stupid for causing such a ruckus.
4:00am:
By now things are calming down a little. The Cardiologist [Dr. C] who treated Mother in '98 had come in to get an early start on his patients. Dr. C came over and checked me over. He wanted me set up for an angiogram ASAP. NO Stress Test, I was not to move or do anything. My heart rate is all over the place, ranging from 45 - 160 beats. For some reason, I am still a little short of breath. But no pain. None. Not sense the paramedics showed up.
6:00am:
Mother went home to try and get some sleep. And I was sent up to a room on the heart floor. A Nurse brought in a breakfast tray for me, and I settled in. About an hour or so later, the same Nurse was upset with me that I had not eaten anything. I have not eaten a Breakfast in over 20 years! Let's just do these tests and send me home. Around 11:00am, I was brought another food tray. They were very insistent that I eat at least a little something. Well, ok. I had about 7 or 8 bites. Just in time for the wheelchair to take me down to the Cath. Lab. Needless to say, the Cath. Lab. was now very upset with me because I ate something. I can't win today!!
3:00pm I was brought back down to the Cath. Lab. for the rescheduled angiogram. The procedure was explained while I was prepped. During the first half hour of the angiogram it was rather boring. All the sudden, Dr. C. asked me about my comment earlier in the day about wanting to get a heart test done in December. I said "Yes. Once my insurance started up I was planning to get it done."
Dr. C. said "You would not be here that long. . . Period.".
Then things went kinda nuts. I was told that for the rest of the test I would be sleeping. They did say that when I woke up, I would not be able to move. I had to remain flat.
When I woke up it was close to 5:30pm. I was now in the Coronary Intensive Care Unit. And, I could not move at all. I was really tied down. My Mother and Brother came in. A few minutes later Dr. C. joined us. Dr. C. explained that I had advanced coronary disease. I needed 4 bypasses done as soon as possible. The largest artery feeding the heart (going down the left front of the heart) was over 95% blocked. The next largest artery, the one that went down the right front part of the heart was 100% blocked. Completely closed. Dr. C. said that this artery was so blocked for so long that my heart had started to build new vessels to replace the blood flow with. That was the only reason I was still alive. The other 2 arteries were 65% blocked and went down the back side of the heart.
Around this time Mother asked me if I wanted my "FReeper Friends" to know what had happened. I gave Mother instructions on how to get an e-mail message to a FReeper who could post a Prayer thread.
Bypass Surgery was scheduled for 10:00am. that was the soonest they could get the room. The reason I was restrained is that after they knocked me out during the angiogram, they installed a balloon pump to assist my heart. Also installed a pacemaker, attached defib pads, and some other stuff I still don't understand. It would be easier to just say what I did understand . . .
I was in deep doo-doo.
From this point on, I was not in control. I was only along for the ride. One thing I did learn is that the #$%&#^$&#^& clock on the wall in that room moves reeeeaaaal s l o w. I remember when 2:30am hit, I thought "well that is one day". And I still had not slept.
9:30am Off to surgery. I met with the Surgeon [Dr. S.], and the rest of the team. As I drifted off I thought "NOW I will finally get some sleep".
Thankfully, I don't have any knowledge of this time period. I still can't figure out what time it ended. I think I remember someone saying it was after 7pm. They did keep me knocked out the whole time. Recovery was a different story.
Recovery
This was by far the worst time span of this whole ordeal. I woke up connected to a machine breathing for me. It does this by blowing a measured amount of air into your lungs. The problem is the machine neither knows or cares if you had already taken a breath. In the doped up state I was in from the operation, I now had to figure out how to breath with the machine. Also, because this machine included tubes down my throat, I could not communicate with anyone at all. I could not let them know I was close to choking from phlegm buildup.
The fluids, blood, phlegm, and whatever else builds up in your lungs. They have a way to clear this stuff out. A vacuum cleaner. Really. It is similar to the vacuum system that your dentist uses but bigger. They stick this tube down your throat into your lungs, and suck up all the crap. It does work. Problem is that the end of this tube also will touch your lung tissue in the process. When you have this done to you, it feels like a metal rod covered with fish hooks was jammed down your throat and is ripping out your lungs from the inside.
More than once, I found it was easier to pass out.
The last time they did this to me was when they disconnected me from the ventilator. I do remember some of that experience. While going through it, in my mind I begged to be let go. Anything to let it end. I am thankful that the people in that room that night did not hold my actions against me later. I do remember someone saying when it was over, "That went well". And I think I said something about them being full of something before passing out again.
CICU
Post-Op Coronary Intensive Care Unit. My time there was actually kinda nice. I was the only patient, so I had the attention of the whole unit for the day and a half there. Most of the time there I was still hooked up to all the support equipment. Meaning the balloon pump and the pacemakers, etc.. Every few hours they would gang up on me and remove another piece.
Around 10:00am one of the Nurses held a phone to my ear. It was Mother on the other end. Over the last day+ she had tried countless times to access my computer to send off the e-mail. She just could not figure out my system as it was so different from what she uses. It took about 10 minutes to talk her through sending an e-mail to that FReeper. I knew that Mother would not try that computer again, so any e-mails that were sent back to us would have to wait until I got home.
Heart Floor
Around 5:00pm on Wednesday, I was transferred to the post OP Heart Floor for the rest of my stay there. Each day was filled with challenges and a few setbacks. The biggest setbacks were getting my heartbeat to stabilize. Almost went back in surgery to install a permanent pacemaker. The other thing that developed was that my Blood Pressure would drop to dangerous levels when I stood up. Add to that, my having been a smoker for 32 years, my O2 saturation levels were a lot lower than the DR’s wanted.
Mr_Magoo's Wake Up Call
On Friday my Dr. sat down with me to go over everything. It went something like this:
Dr.= "What did you think your chances were when you first were admitted Sunday night?"
Me= "Probably about 50-50."
Dr.= "You were a lot more optimistic than we were. As a matter of fact, I just went over your reports and frankly, I can see no valid reason that you are even alive. I can think of 18 or 19 things that ALL had to happen just as they did for you to be here now."
Me= [Deer in headlights look]
He went on to explain that the bypass surgery I had should last 10-15 years, if, I change my lifestyle. If I don't make some changes, I won't last 2 years.
I am still learning what happened to me. I have been home for 5 days now. Still weak. Surgical pain is minimal. Each day I get a little bit stronger. Each day I am learning to listen to my body.
I still can't stay online for long periods because where the computer is, I can't find a comfortable position to sit. My PC is mounted next to the foot of the bed. Because of a bad disc in my back, I can't sit unsupported at the foot of the bed for more than 5 minutes. Now, because of the operation I can not lay down on my side and type with one hand like I have been doing for the last 4 years. I am in the process of adding a laptop to a wireless node on the Home LAN. When this is finished, I can post more often.
There is one more thing I need to say. Please think about this long and hard.
I urge every FReeper to go to their family Dr. and get a Cardiac Risk Screen done. It is nothing more than a set of questions. If a screen shows you have risk factors, get a Heart Scan done. It is like getting an x-ray, painless. Most Insurance will cover a scan. Most problems found can be helped with just a few lifestyle changes.
What you should not do is what I did. I had the risk factors. I also smoked. I also ignored the warning signs. As you can see from what I wrote above, what I went through sucks. It really sucks. I am now facing 3 or 4 months of rehab, just to get well enough to work again. I can't even begin to describe the financial burden this has become. I was stupid. now I am paying for it. Trust me, this is not fun.
Be smart. You owe it to yourself and to your families.
Magoo
I hope this makes you feel better -- Those "lifestyle changes" you've mentioned will probably be much easier for you because you will be doing them all at one time. It's hard to quit smoking, it's hard to exercise, and it's hard to change your diet. But if you do them all at the same time (and I would add that getting a good night's sleep every night will help, too) it will require such a dramatic overall change in you that you're less likely to notice any one of them.
Good luck, and keep us informed of your recovery!
18 months ago, just after my 46th birthday, I saw my family doctor on a Saturday morning. I was 5'9" tall and weighed 310 pounds. Not a pretty sight. When I got to see the doctor, he was flipping through my records wondering why I hadn't been to see him in a long time. I complained about chest pains. I suddenly had his complete, total, and undivided attention. After listening to my chest, he told me to drive directly but carefully to the Monmouth Medical ER and that they would be waiting for me. Don't worry about where to park, just park out of the way near the ER entrance.
I did as he instructed. There was a guard waiting for me to park my van. My son and I were ushered quickly inside. I was very uncomfortable being the center of attention in a semi-busy ER. They did an immediate EKG and took samples for cardiac blood work. I spent an unhappy weekend in the cardiac unit. Five EKGs and six sets of blood work later I was discharged.
Evidently there are three causes that would explain my particular chest pains. Only number one, heart problems, will kill you. I had number two, stomach problems. I had stomach surgery that June. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The chest pains are gone, the stomach pains are gone, the sleep apnia is almost gone, and the carpal tunnel doesn't bother me anymore.
Oh, BTW, I'm down 86.5 pounds from my high and still losing weight. I look more like a human being instead of a balding doughboy.
Your body will tell you things if you will listen. I'm glad it wasn't too late for either of us.
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
Your message is an important one that could benefit many Freepers. I know that I will be asking my doctor about a heart scan.
I hope will continue to listen to your doctor & stick to those life style changes you describe.
We need you posting on FR for many many years!
Here are some special Freeper angels (from my profile page). Keeping you in my prayers.......Julie
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