What Went Right

     My husband felt a little "off" Monday night, but not enough to actually go to the emergency room because--he's a guy. Like most men, he is a little "off" in health smarts. I should have insisted, but if I had that much influence with him, he would not have got in such bad shape in the first place. Not only did he not go to the emergency room that night, he did not even go to urgent care until after he readied the aircraft for the next day's flight. Urgent care, after taking his vitals and finding an extremely elevated heart rate, sent him to the emergency room. They wanted to send him in an ambulance, but it was only a few blocks away, he had driven himself all the way in from the airport, and--he's a guy. His EKG and enzymes were also a little off, and they gave him a shot to "reboot" his heart. When his heart beat slowed, he felt much better and wanted to go home for the night, launch the plane the next morning, and come back for tests. Strangely, the medical staff did not accept his "guy" guidance, so he spent the night in the e.r. to await his echo-cardiogram and cardiac catheter the next day. 

     Fifteen other patients also spent the night on gurneys in the e.r. because no beds were available. Covid is an easy scapegoat, and is indirectly responsible, but our son who works there, said that just like Covid has made housing inaccessible and crowded the schools, the hospitals are filled to capacity simply because there are more people living here. 

    They did the cardiac-echo shortly after 7 a.m. and everything was functioning well except for some thickening in the muscle wall. But he had to go from midnight to 3 p.m. without eating or drinking while waiting his turn for the heart catheter. The doctor found a 70% blockage in the major artery to the heart and that may have caused the rapid heartbeat, but they said it also sometimes happens, like so many delightful surprises, simply from growing old. They placed a stent and kept him one more night to make sure the artery where they inserted the catheter did not bleed. 

    After spending Tuesday afternoon in noisy, next-to-nurses' station, e.r. 1, he spent Tuesday night on his 3 inch gurney mattress in quiet, corner room 16. The next day they moved him to a shared room so they could get some of the patients out of the e.r. waiting area and into an actual room. His roomies in #18 were quiet but, because we had no TV remote, we were stuck with back to back episodes of "Mom" and "Two 1/2 Men", which made me feel like I needed to rinse out my brain with Holy water, even though I was deliberately not watching them. The staff hoped to have a regular room for Reed after his procedure, but we wound up back in e.r. 18. Finally, at 6 p.m. a room on the IMC (intermediate care) unit, where they normally put cardiac patients, became available. After the e.r., a regular room with a door and a real bed felt like the Hilton. The next afternoon we left that comfortable room for our much more comfortable home.

 

What went right:

• Although he experienced a cardiac event, it revealed a problem that, left undiscovered, might have led to the more serious conditions below.
• No cardiac arrest. His heart only stopped for a second, from the medication that reset heart rhythm. 
• No heart attack. No blockage to cause death of heart muscle.
• Partial blockage was easily fixed. (When I worked at the hospital decades ago, all heart cath was through groin. Much higher bleeding risk and recovery time.)
• Neither Reed nor I were anxious because he felt well and was reassuringly normal throughout. People having a heart attack don't typically focus on/talk about the Harrier aircraft used in the Falklands' war.
• Good doctors, good nurses.
• Good meds for a good price, on our prescription plan.
  
• Because Reed waited until Tuesday afternoon, I was not needed at the hospital until after my commitment to watch Britten's girls. Thus she could keep her commitment to work at my brother-in-law's largest business event of the year.
• My migraines, which had become regular, stopped. Sitting at the hospital can be restful, especially when not the patient.
• Reed's diet changes are now medical restrictions, not my recommendations.
• We have a Silver Sneakers benefit with our Medicare supplement (although I'm not holding my breath that he will go to a fitness center).
• His only outpatient limitation was 3 days of not lifting more than 5 lbs. with arm where catheter was inserted, otherwise, normal activity.
  

What went wrong:

• A 65 year old still eating like a 25 year old.
• A 65 year old still working long hours like a hungry 25 year old.
• Exercise cannot consist entirely of work, house/yard/vehicle maintenance, and sex.
• Although I stayed awake until 2 a.m. to monitor his breathing and trusted the Lord to wake me up, if needed, after that, it would have been safer to hurry up and wait in the emergency room Monday night.
• Some side effects from medication, but that is to be expected.

What the Lord did:

• Lots of people prayed for us.
• We both had peace through the whole experience.
• My message from the Lord was--If Reed had made regular doctor appointments where his increasing blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol had been noticed, he would have taken the meds but would not have been willing to make lifestyle changes. I'm hoping now that his heart is involved, he will. Because my heart is involved with his.