Had a most interesting health related week and thought I’d put a synopsis here in case someone may get a helpful hint.
Monday night about 11, I got into bed with my wife and she said I’m not feeling well. This was from a woman who rarely complains anything personal or health related (but plenty of political comments) and has a high pain threshold. The only like event was when she had appendicitis a dozen years ago.
She complained of jaw and neck aches and a tightness across her upper chest. I asked if she thought she should go to urgent care. She was unsure but said OK, and we did. The 24/7 urgent care is 15-20 minutes away and off we went. The doc there ran a few EKGs and other tests and we stayed there all night as he evaluated the info. I am too old to sleep in a regular chair, but at least my wife had a bed. In the a.m., the doc said he couldn’t be sure but he thought it could be a cardiac event and should be further evaluated. Tuesday a.m. she got her first ambulance ride and was off to the hospital. Tuesday was a day of more tests and measurements than one can imagine.
Wednesday was another day of tests and a stress test (which is now chemical and not physical test). Late in the afternoon, a flock of medical people came to the room led by the cardiologist. The stress test indicated a severe blockage of a cadiac artery. Now, my wife is a small woman (5’1 and about 110 lbs, don’t ever tell her I told you that). She has taken a statin for years to control cholesterol and we eat 95% of our meals prepared at home and very little junk when we eat out. The doc laid out the results, gave an excellent explanation of the risks and why he thought a heart catheterization was needed and needed now. She looked at me and I said let’s not delay. Within 2-3 hours they had put together a team, prepped her and got her to the OR. An hour later, she had stent because that artery was 90+% blocked.
Thursday was a day of ICU recovery and she was still reacting to the stress test chemicals, but all her numbers were stabilizing and her improvement was remarkable. By Thursday night she was back in a regular room. She woke up Friday a.m. after a fitful night, not due to problems but due to the stream of people in and out of her room to check on her and get more data. She was released late Friday afternoon. She thoroughly enjoyed dinner.
Today we had a big breakfast because she was still hungry. Except for arms that look like she was beaten, all is better than anyone had a right to expect. Mostly, she feels far better than before, but she has a few new drugs to take for awhile. She likes being home and was very happy to get a full night’s sleep.
She can’t use her right arm for much for the next week, so I may get a bit more work to do around. We were planning to leave on our road trip July 9th and will likely do at least part of it, making those decisions until early next week.
The moral of this story is to know and pay attention to your body, and address problems you can’t easily identify. Then get lucky by getting a stellar medical response.