I have yet to send an email.....but I am glad you are still with us!
----- Original Message ----- From: "Ben Braver" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Community" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2003 4:46 PM 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 Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
