Ben, isn't it interesting how in the midst of a crisis like that the memory is so solid that you can write up the details like this?
Your story is nearly the same as my father's from his recent heart attack. In his case though he was driving to work, had the pain, pulled off and took some aspirin. Pain still bad, so he drove himself to the hospital. Doc said the aspirin probably saved his life. After the initial stabilizing and then the splint, he was put on a Lidocaine drip to manage the pain during recovery. Unfortunately it was then that they discovered that he had a rather _severe_ reaction to lidocaine and it nearly killed him. Rather unpleasant all around. -Kevin > -----Original Message----- > From: Ben Braver [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 4:47 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Almost Gone and Back Again, A Hospital Tale > > > by Benbo Braver > <with sincere apologies to J.R.R. Tolkien> > > (LONG post, sorry.) > > Promised to recount what happened, how it felt, etc. > > Hope these "few" words from the brink may inspire some others on the list > to make changes before looking into the Grand Canyon with a hand > on your back. > > Before: > 5'11", as high as 283 pounds barenaked. Mostly around middle (bad) - > couldn't easily see feet :-( > BP not too high, typ. 130s over 80s. > Cholesterol and ratio not good - as of last August, > Total Chol. 274, Triglycerides 366, HDL 40 (should be over 45), LDL 161 > (s/b under 100) > > Realistically, needed to lose about 90 pounds, really change the lipid > panel numbers. > > Was doing "strength/endurance" exercise trying to rehab the hip and back > muscles, and get in generally better condition, but was not doing hardly > any aerobic stuff (walking was tough with the injured hip > muscle). Also had > motivation limits on how much time I was willing to spend at the gym. > > Father had angina pectoris - means "choking sensation of the chest". > Like a heart attack, but no permanent damage because heart isn't deprived > of oxygen for very long. > His was induced by exercise and stress. > He stuck nitroglycerin tablets under the tongue to relieve symptoms. > Then he had a couple of small heart attacks, followed by a fatal > one at age > 54. > > A couple of days before my attack, I was talking about stress > with my boss. > He's a really super mellow person, on the outside at least. > Hardly ever seems "ruffled". > I asked if he ever had "anxiety attacks", feeling tight in the chest, > anxious, wondering how to "get it all done". > He said (surprisingly) "more often then I want to admit, lately". > I was also thinking about unfinished work and an upcoming vacation. > Plus the stress of "hormone week" at home, the friction with the son, etc. > Figured a vacation was just what I needed. > But the vacation was also a source of some stress - would I be able to ski > (how would the hip/back muscles do?), etc. > > The morning of the attack, I awoke about 5:30am, before the alarm > went off. > Felt almost panicky. > Tight feeling under sternum (breastbone), but no "pain". > Thought "this feels like my Dad described angina." > Decided to try the first aid his doctor had recommended - straight shot of > whiskey. > Believe it or not, padded out to kitchen in my robe, tossed down a jigger > of JD. > (Very unusual - never drink except maybe one cocktail before > dinner or wine > with a meal.) > That felt somewhat better, lessened the tightness. > Thought "gotta keep a close eye on this, report it to doctor later today, > maybe go get checked." > Wife woke up, said "feeling stressed, need a hug". That helped too. > > Went to the throne room, relaxed quite a bit responding with puns to some > cf-comm posts (WiFi in PocketPC). > <sorry> > > Got dressed, felt good enough to go to work. > Told wife if I felt bad, could go to Medical at work. > She says she should have insisted right then that I go to the ER and get > examined. > She's probably right - but on the other hand, if the symptoms lessened, > they might have checked and sent me away. > > Driving to work, just before my freeway exit, started feeling more tight, > and worried. > Found myself reciting the "Shema" prayer out loud in Hebrew (uh-oh...). > (In English, "hear, o Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One".) > Thought about driving to hospital, decided I was closer to work, and could > get the EMTs giving me first aid while they got an ambulance if needed. > > Got into office, sat down, started feeling queasy (not nauseous), cold > sweat on forehead. > No pain, but numbness down the left arm to the elbow, and a CRUSHING > pressure on the chest - > like an elephant was sitting on it. > > Was reaching for the phone to call the Emergency number, when my > boss stuck > his head in to say good morning. > > He said "hey, you don't look well - you look WHITE." > I said "I don't feel well, I feel green, and..." > > Never got to tell him about the pressure - he interrupted to say "can I > take you to Medical?" > I said "yes, now!". > > A mistake - walked across the street to the parking lot to his > car (slowly). > Should have said please bring the car over. > > At Medical, rang the bell, started signing in. > Voice said "be right with you". > I said "please make it sooner, not later - having chest pains". > By this point, it hurt. > > Within a minute, he and the gal on duty had me lying down, chewing on an > aspirin tablet, trying to attach EKG leads (but I was sweating too much). > > She said to him quietly "should I initiate transport?" and I looked up. > He said "do you understand that?" > I said "if she means initiate ambulance transport to the hospital, yes > please". > > The paramedics got there, slid me onto a gurney, wheeled me out, put me in > the ambulance. > Guy said "I'm a paramedic, gonna be starting an IV in your arm." > I said "paramedic? as in Airborne??" > You should have seen the look he gave me. > But heck, I was still alive, getting care. > Should I just roll over and die?? No way. > He gave me a spray of nitro in my mouth - a lot quicker than the old > tablets dissolving. > They kept asking "on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being none, and 10 being > the most excruciating pain imaginable, how much pain are you having?" > It started at 6, went down to about 4 after the aspirin and > couple of nitro > squirts. > > I could tell from counting the speed bumps that as soon as they went out > the refinery gate they turned on siren and sped up. One of the best > emergency facilities in the area is Mt. Diablo Medical Center, > only about 2 > miles from the gate (or about 4 miles from Medical, 5 miles from my office > - it's a BIG place.) > > Think I had a total of 2 or 3 squirts of nitro. It dilates (opens) the > arteries to the heart, increases blood flow, relieves chest pain from > angina, reduces the heart's workload. May or may not reduce risk of death > in a heart attack. But it also drops blood pressure - this may be > good or bad. > > At least with the IV started, I was all ready for whatever drugs the > hospital wanted to dump in. > > In the ER, cardiologist introduced himself, started telling me the things > they would do, and might have to do (needed to get me to sign "informed > consent" forms). (Later found out he's one of the best cardio's > in the area.) > > Said they were going to administer clot-busting drug, TNK (Tenecteplase) - > breaks up clot, prevents the ongoing damage from a heart attack. > (Damage is > from heart tissue beyond the clot being deprived of blood flow therefore > oxygen.) > > Then they would do angiogram - go in with catheter through femoral artery > in groin, put in contract die (iodine-based) to allow taking images of the > arteries and determine how many clogged, how much. He asked if I > knew what > that was, said "yes, had one in 1982. Was very uncomfortable and > stressful." He said "now we use Conscious Sedation" - local anesthetic > plus tranquilizers. Not as dangerous as general anesthetic, but you're > kinda zonked out... > > Dr said they would probably do a balloon angioplasty, might insert a stent > (I said "oh good, my wife owns stock in Medtronic" and OY did I get an > unbelieving look for that one), and possibly emergency bypass surgery. > > I signed the forms, and went off to the cath lab. > Don't remember much at all. > > This all started when I got to work at 8am. By 11am or earlier, I was > sitting up in bed, wired and hosed, wondering whether I was > really going to > be ok. In walks my wife. I broke out in a huge smile, said "gee, you look > wonderful". :-) > > At this point, the pain was virtually gone. > > Asked the wife to email MikeyD, so he could tell the list what happened. > > BTW they _did_ put in a stent - 12mm long mesh cylinder of steel, like a > liner for the damaged portion of artery. (The circumflex artery.) It > expands to hold the artery open, then integrates with the artery wall over > time. I can't have an MRI for a couple of months, for obvious reasons. > > Had some ups and downs - apparently, a combination of 2 drugs they gave me > (a beta blocker and ??) lowered my BP too much, it went down to > 70-something over 40-something, they got worried. Felt wierd while they > got the BP stabilized. > > Had an IV in the back of each hand, a red "ET light" oxygen and pulse > sensor on a finger, EKG electrodes on the chest. And a wound in the inside > hip joint from the catherter. Very difficult to rest comfortably or adjust > position in bed. Found it difficult to concentrate on reading, > tv, anything > - partly from the drugs, partly from exhaustion and stress. > > Had a BP cuff on one arm, all the time. Prevented me from bending the arm > fully. > For a while, they were taking the BP every 15 minutes (!!) - it > transmitted > to the nurses' station. > I could see the monitor above my bed, with some difficulty, and see an > occasional wierd-feeling heartbeat show up as a blip on the EKG > graph. (Was > told that my left ventricle might fire too strongly or out of sequence > sometimes, as the heart got used to having more oxygen.) > > Did _not_ enjoy having to use a urinal - many, many times a day, too, > because of all the IV fluids. > Re: the alternative, that part of the body just switched off completely, > thankfully. > Didn't re-activate until Saturday when I got into a room with a real > bathroom <yay>. > > They had me on solid food as of lunch Thursday - but low cal, low > cholesterol, low sodium menu. OK. I actually got to pick my meals from > several choices. Better than a lot of airline food I've had :-) > > Hospitals give you medications on a schedule - hence the classic > line "wake > up to take your sleeping pill" (not relevant in my case, but funny). > > After a while, it got "old" and boring - ok, folks, I'm alive and starting > to recover. Now I'm uncomfortable. Tried really hard not to complain, > considering the alternative. Felt almost euphoric, elated mentally while > hassled physically. Strange. > > Friday, they were supposed to move me to a regular room, but didn't have a > bed available. So I got kept in CCU. At least I was able to talk them into > giving me a telephone. > > Was I ever surprised when MikeyD talked his way through the nurses and got > me on the phone. He wanted to know my Hebrew name so he could say a > traditional prayer for healing for me - much appreciated!! And even more > surprised when a little later Friday afternoon, Eri*K*a and Philip from > England got me on the phone. Wow. > > Saturday afternoon, one of my rabbis came over to visit. A while after > that, they moved me to a regular room, with a roommate. This was another > trip - roommate was 81 years old, had just gotten a pacemaker. He > worked at > the same refinery I do (under prior owners) from 1945 to 1977 when he > retired. Boy, was he happy to have an audience for all his stories - I > understood enough to ask questions and draw him out. (And of course I got > to tell him stories <g>.) > > Uncanny - we both have 2 kids, a boy and a girl. We both have photography > as a hobby. I'm going to Australia in 6 months, he just got back > 6 months ago. > > So, now that I'm home, it's hard to just sit or lie down and rest. > But I don't have a lot of endurance - so eventually I give in and take it > easy. > > Am going down to the gym at least every other day to do the exercise bike > or treadmill, while monitoring pulse rate. Need to work up to 30 > minutes or > more every day. > > Am also going up and down the stairs at home a lot - partly for exercise, > partly because my computer is up there <g>. Then I have to go > downstairs to > eat or pee. Amazing what those diuretic pills can do <ha>. > > Really conscious of every little twinge or funny feeling, but for the most > part feel better than I did before (but tired). > Think about it - if a blood vessel in the heart were 50% blocked, and now > it's open, what a difference that makes. > When you add this to the thyroid medication and the air pump for sleep > apnea, the brain is actually functioning !! > > Wife goes between the "stiff upper lip" and breaking down crying saying > "I'm glad you didn't die". > > Sorry for the length of the post, but it feels good to lay it all out. > > OK, folks - a couple of items from the "bully pulpit" - > (1) get your cholesterol and blood pressure tested > (2) get regular exercise > (3) learn to reduce stress > (4) be here longer for those who love you. > > -Ben Braver > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?forumid=5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/index.cfm?method=subscribe&forumid=5 Signup for the Fusion Authority news alert and keep up with the latest news in ColdFusion and related topics. http://www.fusionauthority.com/signup.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
