This will not be a rant on Obama-Care, I promise.
Many of you know my husband, Rod, had a heart attack in July. He was up in Illinois visiting me while I did my summer swing of art and craft shows in the Midwest. He flew into the Milwaukee airport on the Fourth of July in the evening...which was kind of fun being able to see all the various firework displays along Lake Michigan. On Monday morning, July 8th, he was sitting down to breakfast and he gave me a funny look. I thought he was mad about the dog bed at the foot of the table that he had to step over. But, that didn't turn out to be the case.
Once he was sitting, he said something about not feeling good. He decided to get up and go lay down on the couch. My Mom, who is a retired RN, turned and looked at him and asked how he was. She almost immediately picked up the phone and started dialing 9-1-1 with me protesting the whole time. I could take him to the ER if he didn't feel well. Then I got up from the table and went to look at him.
He was white as a sheet. And, Rod living in Florida and working outside is usually nice and tan. He had beads of sweat on his face. And as I scanned his body, he had sweat ALL OVER! He said he felt indigestion and with a bit of nausea. Rod asked for an aspirin and I tried to find some in a house full of ibruprofen. About this time, we heard sirens and somebody was walking up the front sidewalk to the door. I thought he was maybe the Fire Chief...turns out he was a Sheriff. A few seconds later, three ambulances were out at the curb!
So, the first crew in started working on him, getting him to sit up. They needed a towel to dry him off to put the electrodes on him. They announced after a minute he was "having a heart attack" which I didn't think was the best thing. Rod, age 59, was so shocked I think it gave him another heart attack!! About that time the other crews had calls to go to and the room cleared out. They had him on a gurney and Rod was on the way to the hospital where my Mom had done her nurses training.
So, I grabbed my purse, laptop, our phones and Rod's Kindle. Mom drove with me to the hospital which was good as she could tell me why the ambulance was just sitting outside and not moving. I thought that something had gone wrong, she explained they were stabilizing him, putting in IV's and administering medications. Somehow, even though we left first, they were already there and on the way to the Catherization Lab when we got there. All this within an hour of our call to 9-1-1!!!
By 10:15 we were notified they had put in a stent to correct a 100% blockage of his left circumflex artery.
By 10:30 we were sitting with the Cardiologist viewing the procedure on a computer monitor. By noon we were in a room in the Cardiac ICU. Whew. Think zero to 60 in three seconds! Rod went from having taking a baby aspirin and some vitamins to taking a full strength aspirin, a blood thinner, a beta blocker, an ACE inhibitor and a statin for cholestrol all within a couple hour period.
The next four days were a blur of dealing with doctors, employers, insurance companies, nurses, physical therapist and luckily a few family members and friends' smiling faces. The education started right away with nurses lecturing us on medications, diet and exercise. The physical therapist got us booked for a cardiac rehabilitation program. Rod's bosses at Disney were there to help with whatever we needed...mainly arranging for Rod to be with us in Illinois--not home alone in Orlando--while he recovered. Luckily the room was comfy as it had plenty of room for me to stretch out and outlets for the computer.
And then there was the insurance company who worked quickly to get him "guested" on the hospital's medical system so we wouldn't have to pay for out-of-network charges for everything. But, then they said he would have to find a primary care physician to "refer him to a cardiologist"??! Well, why? He was already being treated for a heart attack!
After Rod was released, he came back to my parent's house where he started his recovery. After a couple weeks he started a walking program and he started the monitored workouts at the rehab center three times a week. We met with stress management counselors, dieticians, and pharmacists all to get a handle on what was going on. But surprisingly, no one could believe Rod went from having normal cholestrol and blood pressure numbers to a heart attack. We certainly couldn't believe it!
In September we returned to Orlando after my shows were all done. We met with our new Florida Cardiologist a few days later. I like him then, Rod didn't. When the doc asked about alcohol usage, we said he was drinking two beers a day--the top limit that all the medical professionals in Rockford advised. The new doctor, said alcohol was toxic to the heart and that he would give him three weeks to stop drinking completely. Rod of course went home and stopped drinking that day! But this new doctor was also concerned that Rod was still having symptoms.
So, another catherization was scheduled a couple days later. The procedure was done by one of the new doc's colleagues. It went well--no new blockages needed stenting. BUT, all of the blockages had worsened from 20-30% blocked to 40-50% blocked and there was a new 70% blockage of the distal artery. WHAT?!!? How is that possible?
So, we spent the next week trying to get answers out of the new doctor. He believed the situation was non-emergent. WE WANTED ANSWERS! So we asked him or his colleague to look at both procedures and ascertain if the blockages were indeed worse. Guess what, they wouldn't until an appointment 30 days later. Needless to say, those guys are no longer our doctors!
Our new and hopefully last Cardiologist is a young, good looking doctor at the other big practice in town. He is great. He answers questions thoughtfully. When we asked about taking supplements and additional vitamins, he said if Rod was eating a good diet, they weren't necessary. But then he thought a second and added that if it were him and he had Rod's family history, he would probably be taking everything that might possibly help!
So our big concern was the worsening blockages. And yes, they were worse. But how that happened when Rod has been very compliant with his medication, his diet and his exercise we don't know. We also don't know why he is still having minor symptoms. But we do know we have a doctor who is on top of things. He has an echocardiogram scheduled for this month. He changed up his medications and put him on something for his stomach in case the indigestion feeling was from a non-heart related problem. He told us that the normal cholestrol recommendations are not appropriate for someone like him--his Dad had a quadruple bypass at age 62. (But he lived a very strict lifestyle after that and just passed away at age 94)
But, is the bigger question how he had the heart attack in the first place? His blood pressure never reached the 120/80 level...Rod's was always more in the 100/65 range. His cholestrol has never been high with all components in the normal or better ranges. His heart rate is about 60-65 normally. So, the doctor said he wants Rod's bad cholestrol or LDL level at 70 or below. If we had been shooting for this level instead of the normal range, could we have avoided the heart attack altogether? Or does worrying about any of this matter? Are we creating more stress on top of things?? And really shouldn't I be the one really worrying about my numbers anyway since I am at the top of the normal range. Good Lord, why can't I stick to a diet?
