THE STORY

So...

ONE WEEK AGO I was almost not going to make it back.  I'm going to give a moment by moment so that I can preserve it and share it as it was pretty traumatic enough to go through.  I'll open with dogs and end with Hobart should you prefer to skip to the end.

We've had so many ask us if any warning signs happened.  These are my experiences but don't use any of this as a medical diagnosis.  Bottom line, if you feel something is wrong, call the doctor or emergency services.

Well, first up, we're guys, you know we don't go to doctors like we should (though THAT is changing, ha).  In retrospect, for the last few months, I had congestion when I woke up in the morning.  Usually enough to cough up phlegm. I'd also have to squirt my nose with some nasal spray a few times a night.  I chalked it up to seasonal allergies.  A quick Google search indicates that's can be a symptom of congestive heart failure.  Indeed, since my procedure, I sleep great and no coughing or phlegm in the morning and no congestion.  

They checked my blood (over and over and over, as they do, ha) and I have no diabetes.  Also my LDL cholesterol was borderline high but nothing that might have indicated heart issues and blood pressure is in the normal range most of the time.  Probably an annual physical would have detected anomalies...bottom line, visit your doctor!

Office dogs
So last Thursday at work, I was fine.  These are our office dogs, the boss brings them up and we love it.  Definitely a stress reliever, ha.  It was a normal day.  No issues, ran errands at lunch.  Now on Wednesday, our building did have its elevators down so we had to walk up and down five flights of stairs.  I was VERY winded and exhausted but it passed.  

I came home, 2nd Man made dinner, fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and salad.  It was, of course, wonderful.  And I did, of course, overeat.  That's our biggest issue (changing that).  I ate two and a half bowls because it's one of my favorites.  No dessert.  I was still fine, other than feeling OVERFULL.

2nd Man went to bed about 11:30.  I started getting a headache about midnight and grabbed a couple of aspirin (in hindsight, good choice).  I went downstairs on a 'trash to treasure' search, ha, and on the way back up, my chest started hurting.  By now it's about 12:30am.  I sat on the couch and thought "meh, indigestion, I ate way too much".  I went to bed and laid there and it just kept getting worse.  When they say it's a crushing chest pain, it is.  I was also getting out of breath.  I laid in bed for about an hour thinking it has to be indigestion or heartburn and I could wait until morning but I sat up and reached for my phone to check the symptoms of a heart attack. Just then, my left arm starting hurting, like radiating pains from my chest down my left arm.  Also my Apple Watch recorded a heart rate of 143.  As I was looking up the symptoms, headache, chest pain, arm pain, rapid pulse, the next on the list was profuse sweating and it was like someone flipped a switch and I was just wringing wet.  I realized, this is serious.

I woke up 2nd man (not the thing you want to be awakened to from a deep sleep) and by this time it's about 2:30am. 

I changed into clean clothes (Moms always know best, ha) while he called 911.  They asked me to get on the phone so they could ask questions.  Pain on a scale of 1-10 (7ish, 8).  Heart rate (140s).  They said the ambulance was en-route.  

It took about 5 minutes, though as anyone who has waited for an ambulance can attest, it seems an eternity.  I got my license and insurance information together and we locked Hobart in the bedroom.  Soon, they were knocking on the door.  Now here in Houston, they send a regular ambulance and a cardiac ambulance.  That's to free up the cardiac in case it tunes out to be a non heart issue.  The first batch of EMTs came in and pricked my finger (blood sugar was 176 but they said that was probably the dinner I had).  I took off my shirt and he put on the initial monitors.  He got on his walkie talkie and told the other group to come up.  They hooked me up to a bigger machine that was sitting on the dining table and I could see them all make silent eye contact.

Not Christmas decorations
The guy goes "we need to get you to the hospital asap, you are having a heart attack.  The other guy adds "actually, it looks like you are having two at the same time".  I got on the stretcher, they took me down and out to the cardiac ambulance.  The hospital is only about 5 minutes from our apartment.  2nd Man had to drive separately. 

The EMT started an IV.  In the close confines of the ambulance, his leg was touching my arm and I said "I hate needles, I might have to grab your leg!". He laughed and said "grab whatever you need to make it better".  Nice attitude.  He got the IV started (didn't hurt like I thought it might, but it could also been the intense chest pain by now closing in on 9).  He hooked up the monitor and banged on the wall of the ambulance and said "pick up the pace". He lubed up the paddles for the heart machine and said "we might need this".  Not what you want to hear.

Thankfully they didn't.  They wheeled me into the ER and it was literally just like the TV shows.  You look up at a light and you just seen all sorts of faces leaning in and coming at you from every direction.  They put portable defibrillator paddles on me "just in case".  One person is saying we are starting another IV on the other side, someone else says they are removing my clothing and someone else says they are shaving my groin.  Then I hear 30cc's of this and 20ml's of that and then I hear "has someone texted the surgeon?"  "yes, the OR is on standby".  I asked "am I going to have to have open heart surgery?"  The ER doc said "not if I can help it but we have about 90 minutes to save your heart and you are already about 45 minutes into it, you are having a major heart attack we are getting you up to the Cath Lab now". 

The whole time, I'm telling them to look for my husband and I'm texting him while all this is going on.  The last thing I texted him was "I'm scared" and then "I love you always".

They wheeled me up to the lab and were pushing the gurney fast.  I got up there, they started explaining what they were going to do and the catheter goes through the femoral artery in my leg.  "I'm still conscious and asking and I said "is it going to hurt?" and he said "it's going to be uncomfortable but we're going to give you something that might make you feel a little loopy but you'll be awake throughout".

Sure enough, I think I might have drifted off a couple of times but the whole procedure took about 35 minutes and I remember most of it.  When it was done, they wheel over a video to show you the blockage and the stent and the new blood flow.  It's like watching a satellite image of a dry river bed after a rain, how it spreads and opens up.  I kind of didn't really understand most of it but he said within the last few years I had another heart attack, a mild one, and some people's bodies are able to have arteries reroute themselves and mine did that.  It was just the rerouted ones that had an issue.  Don't remember that a few years ago for sure!

I don't really remember sleeping much.  The pain from the insertion site was the worst.  The incision for the the cath line was just a quick sting but then apparently someone leans on you with all of their weight to keep your artery from bleeding out.  Here a week later, it's STILL sore.  Like a deep, deep bruise.  

2nd Man was there in the ICU room when I came back.  It was crazy.  We texted office coworkers, family, friends, etc to let everyone know.  The cardiologist came around and said "yep, they texted me at 3am to get up here, you woke me up from a deep sleep" and then he started laughing.  He said "if you had waited another hour or two, you would be gone".  That's a wake up call for sure.

I never had to be resuscitated.  I never had to be intubated.  So those were blessings. I now have two stents, one in the left circumflex artery and one in the right coronary artery.  I think I dozed on an off for a bit, but in a hospital do you ever rest?

They should decorate hospital ceilings
I had to lay flat for 6 hours minimum, ended up being longer.  About 16 hours later, they came in and said the doctor gave me the OK to lay on my side.  That was the first actual sleep I got.

Above was my view as they kept me in the ICU the whole weekend.  Finally got to go home Sunday evening and that was THE best night's sleep ever.  I think I slept for 14 hours straight.

Hospital food

Oh, this was the breakfast I got when I woke up after the first "sort of" nights sleep in ICU.  Boy that's appealing huh?  HA!  Turkey sausage (which was pretty good), oatmeal, scrambled eggs, some weird pancake like thing, and orange juice and 2% milk.

Here are my two blockages, or I guess you can say, the two heart attacks.  Not sure if you can read it, but there is writing on there that says "door to balloon 59 minutes".  They worked their magic and I'm here.

2nd Man says my skin feels different, it's more moist and warmer.  Another sign perhaps?

We're adapting to a new way of living.  We're downsizing portions and making healthier choices.  2nd Man has been ordering salmon and ground turkey and lots of chicken, etc.  I have my first cardiologist followup in a couple of weeks.  No driving for a couple of weeks.  No stairs.  No straining.  No heavy lifting, but he does want me walking and I've been doing that.  Next week I start working from home for the rest of the year.  Have to do cardiac rehab too.

Ignore the IV bruising

But let's be honest, feline cardiac rehab is THE best. 

And from now on, I will also celebrate 12/08...as a new sort of 'rebirthday'.