Health scare! Surreal Monday.

[barbee6043]

This coming Aug. it will be 4 yrs since my triple bypass. I am 73 now.
I have always been active, hard worker, no smoking, 1 beer make me drowsy. I had been putting up fence for weeks, it was Aug. SE Tx and hot and humid. I was feeling pretty pooped as usual, but then I would get sweats and cold chills for a few minutes till I sat down. Well next day I went to the local doc and an EKG later, he wanted an ambulance. Said we would drive that 25 mi to the hospital. Few minutes later I am getting couple of stints. No heart attack, but 2 arteries 98% blocked and another %? closed , never heard.
Well this was as Hurricane Harvey hit the Coast about 40 mi South of Houston. That is where I was, N side of Houston. They had put me on blood thinners, and then decide they did not like how my arteries came out of my heart, wanted to do triple bypass after the blood thinners left. Would take 5 days they said, well it took 8 days and then I found myself right in the middle of Harvey and its flood!!! Hospitals closing in Houston and patients evacuated, some by choppers. Choppers coming and going into my hospital all hours and the day and night, no power, on generators. No TV! ha No operations unless emergency. I was on HOLD and could not leave, I could not have got home IF they would let me out. We live about 50 minute away and all roads were flooded. 50 inches of rain and still raining. Flood waters 1/4 mi from my hospital
People we being rescued from their homes by Nat. Guard choppers, many private citizens rescued by private citizens in fishing boat. Many hundreds of boats.
So finally the flood thinners are one, power back on, water is receedng but it is Labor Day weekend, NO schedules operations for another 3 days. Then that Tue AM I get my operation, Fri AM i was going home, 18 days later! ha
But there were nurses that got caught there and could not get home, some were there 7-8 days straight. We new each other by first names! I felt bad for them!

 

[dvw]

Glad

This coming Aug. it will be 4 yrs since my triple bypass. I am 73 now.
I have always been active, hard worker, no smoking, 1 beer make me drowsy. I had been putting up fence for weeks, it was Aug. SE Tx and hot and humid. I was feeling pretty pooped as usual, but then I would get sweats and cold chills for a few minutes till I sat down. Well next day I went to the local doc and an EKG later, he wanted an ambulance. Said we would drive that 25 mi to the hospital. Few minutes later I am getting couple of stints. No heart attack, but 2 arteries 98% blocked and another %? closed , never heard.
Well this was as Hurricane Harvey hit the Coast about 40 mi South of Houston. That is where I was, N side of Houston. They had put me on blood thinners, and then decide they did not like how my arteries came out of my heart, wanted to do triple bypass after the blood thinners left. Would take 5 days they said, well it took 8 days and then I found myself right in the middle of Harvey and its flood!!! Hospitals closing in Houston and patients evacuated, some by choppers. Choppers coming and going into my hospital all hours and the day and night, no power, on generators. No TV! ha No operations unless emergency. I was on HOLD and could not leave, I could not have got home IF they would let me out. We live about 50 minute away and all roads were flooded. 50 inches of rain and still raining. Flood waters 1/4 mi from my hospital
People we being rescued from their homes by Nat. Guard choppers, many private citizens rescued by private citizens in fishing boat. Many hundreds of boats.
So finally the flood thinners are one, power back on, water is receedng but it is Labor Day weekend, NO schedules operations for another 3 days. Then that Tue AM I get my operation, Fri AM i was going home, 18 days later! ha
But there were nurses that got caught there and could not get home, some were there 7-8 days straight. We new each other by first names! I felt bad for them!

Glad to hear they caught it. Good Lord looking over you. You'll be back better than ever.
Doug

 

[Endangered Species]

Hi all. Mods please leave this here as even though it’s not directly race related, I’m intending to speak to my compadres that hang out here.

I had a horrible day on Monday, one I’m still not sure I believe. Woke up at midnight with what I thought was indigestion. It quickly became horribly painful and I unbelievably spent 5 hours pacing my living room searching for ANY sort of relief. The pain continued to get worse until I felt literally like I was at the end of what I could stand. Finally, in the midst of a manic state of mind, I had a single moment of clarity and told my wife I needed to go to the emergency room immediately. At the time I thought I was dealing with a ruptured ulcer.

Once at the Hospital emergency room, my wife checked me in while I paced the room in uncontrollable discomfort. They took me in and the the first thing they did was run an AKG test on me. They also gave me some antacid (I had obviously tried plenty of that already with no effect). They sent us back out into the waiting room to wait for results. Well, Seconds later before I had even reached a chair, a team of physicians rushed into the waiting room and urged me to follow them as quickly as possible. Once back behind the door, they informed me I was having a heart attack.

An entire team quickly got me into a room full of expensive looking machines, and started running tests in quick order. I found myself suddenly terrified, as all those around me were clearly operating in an extremely serious manner. I looked over at my wife just as they began wheeling me out. She was crying and that was the moment it really hit me. This could be it, I may not make it through this. I was now starting to get some relief from the sedative they had administered, and found myself taking some personal inventory. It was as real as real could be, but it was still hard to believe what was happening.

into the OR, I was informed that they were going to install a stint. At this point I heard what felt like the best news of my life.... a simple statement from one of the nurses: “Youre in the right place, just hang on for a few more minutes, youre going to be okay”. I have no idea who said that to me, but I cannot even begin to describe how comforting it was to hear. Thank you with all of my heart to whoever that was.

once fully sedated they began the stint placement process. Modern medical technology is unbelievable. They went in through my wrist, and the “scar” is basically just a pin-prick. Long story short, from that moment on everything was good. I spent 3 days in the hospital, and I’m home now.

My plan is to skip this weekends race, as I just really don’t feel ready to climb into the car and make a pass just yet. While I’m sure I could, I’m trying to be responsible and keep my long term health at priority #1. For reference sake: I am 55 years old. Lean at 5’8” 160lbs. Lifelong Non-smoker. Not a high-stress person, in fact most would describe me as “easy going”. Healthy family history, both Mom & Dad still alive, active and very healthy in their 80’s. Why I found myself in this situation is a mystery. My Dr said: You are now my poster-child for “It can happen to anyone”.

The issue was a 100% blockage of my LAD artery. This is the main artery that supplies blood to the lower left ventricle of your heart. Luckily, my body had somehow built a system of auxiliary veins around the blockage. My cardiologist told me “while this auxiliary veining was as impressive as I’ve ever seen, They carried just enough blood to keep you alive. No more, no less. Make no mistake, you’re lucky to be alive”. I believe Angels from heaven put those veins there, and I’m not speaking metaphorically. I fully believe that God and God alone kept me alive through this ordeal by taking a presence within my body and doing what he and he alone knew would keep me safe.

If you don’t already, please make a point of seeing a Dr regularly and follow through on all of the testing they offer you. Also, I am going to suggest that an active relationship with our lord and our savior could just be the most important relationship you have. In my case, I would not be here today without him.

Happier than ever to be here; best wishes to all!
LemonWedge.

Damn dude, you're only a few years older than me. You know, this doesn't mean we're getting old. LOL
Hey God Bless you Buddy. I'm glad he brought you through this ordeal.

 

[fratzog lover]

Very happy you were here to post the thread!

 

[barbee6043]

We men, tend to dismiss so man times when we should make a trip straight to the doc! Let that notion sink in to the thick hard heads!!!

 

[Osoroho]

I am glad they caught it in time. Is your car for sale LOL just a little humor

 

[JonnyBeervo]

I was not expecting you to say it was a heart attack! Glad you’re ok! God was looking after you. Take care!

 

[pat donahue]

God was watching over you! God bless!

 

[EagleMom]

Hi all. Mods please leave this here as even though it’s not directly race related, I’m intending to speak to my compadres that hang out here.

I had a horrible day on Monday, one I’m still not sure I believe. Woke up at midnight with what I thought was indigestion. It quickly became horribly painful and I unbelievably spent 5 hours pacing my living room searching for ANY sort of relief. The pain continued to get worse until I felt literally like I was at the end of what I could stand. Finally, in the midst of a manic state of mind, I had a single moment of clarity and told my wife I needed to go to the emergency room immediately. At the time I thought I was dealing with a ruptured ulcer.

Once at the Hospital emergency room, my wife checked me in while I paced the room in uncontrollable discomfort. They took me in and the the first thing they did was run an AKG test on me. They also gave me some antacid (I had obviously tried plenty of that already with no effect). They sent us back out into the waiting room to wait for results. Well, Seconds later before I had even reached a chair, a team of physicians rushed into the waiting room and urged me to follow them as quickly as possible. Once back behind the door, they informed me I was having a heart attack.

An entire team quickly got me into a room full of expensive looking machines, and started running tests in quick order. I found myself suddenly terrified, as all those around me were clearly operating in an extremely serious manner. I looked over at my wife just as they began wheeling me out. She was crying and that was the moment it really hit me. This could be it, I may not make it through this. I was now starting to get some relief from the sedative they had administered, and found myself taking some personal inventory. It was as real as real could be, but it was still hard to believe what was happening.

into the OR, I was informed that they were going to install a stint. At this point I heard what felt like the best news of my life.... a simple statement from one of the nurses: “Youre in the right place, just hang on for a few more minutes, youre going to be okay”. I have no idea who said that to me, but I cannot even begin to describe how comforting it was to hear. Thank you with all of my heart to whoever that was.

once fully sedated they began the stint placement process. Modern medical technology is unbelievable. They went in through my wrist, and the “scar” is basically just a pin-prick. Long story short, from that moment on everything was good. I spent 3 days in the hospital, and I’m home now.

My plan is to skip this weekends race, as I just really don’t feel ready to climb into the car and make a pass just yet. While I’m sure I could, I’m trying to be responsible and keep my long term health at priority #1. For reference sake: I am 55 years old. Lean at 5’8” 160lbs. Lifelong Non-smoker. Not a high-stress person, in fact most would describe me as “easy going”. Healthy family history, both Mom & Dad still alive, active and very healthy in their 80’s. Why I found myself in this situation is a mystery. My Dr said: You are now my poster-child for “It can happen to anyone”.

The issue was a 100% blockage of my LAD artery. This is the main artery that supplies blood to the lower left ventricle of your heart. Luckily, my body had somehow built a system of auxiliary veins around the blockage. My cardiologist told me “while this auxiliary veining was as impressive as I’ve ever seen, They carried just enough blood to keep you alive. No more, no less. Make no mistake, you’re lucky to be alive”. I believe Angels from heaven put those veins there, and I’m not speaking metaphorically. I fully believe that God and God alone kept me alive through this ordeal by taking a presence within my body and doing what he and he alone knew would keep me safe.

If you don’t already, please make a point of seeing a Dr regularly and follow through on all of the testing they offer you. Also, I am going to suggest that an active relationship with our lord and our savior could just be the most important relationship you have. In my case, I would not be here today without him.

Happier than ever to be here; best wishes to all .

 

[EagleMom]

Thankfully you went to the hospital when you did...Count your blessings..We all know when something doesn't seem right..please get to a doctor/hospital right away..Your times not up make it count!!....Healing prayers for a complete recovery!!..:‐)

 

[stillrunners]

Good to read your okay - exactly what happen to me - the EKG was good but the blood work told them different - that was about 5 years ago with a stint to go. It was tamales late in the evening that did me in. Good you have a wife that cares !

 

[383man]

Wow so sorry to hear this but thank god you are ok. Take it easy and take care. Ron