On My Heart Surgery

As I promised in the preceding post "Another Health Update" I will add these thoughts.

The coronary blocked was the main artery and was 99% blocked. This was the one the surgeons put in the stent. I am sure it is a wonder that I am still alive. I have had chest pains off and on for years. The first time I went to the ER was about ten years ago and was taken to Charlotte's main hospital by ambulance from the hospital here in Monroe. The heart doctors there went into my heart and said they saw no reason for my chest pains from my heart, saying it looked good. I was sent home without knowing the reason for the chest pains. 

Over the years I would have chest pains that would come and go, but they began to increase over the past 1-2 years. About a year ago I was having bad chest pains and went to the ER and again they took pictures of my heart, ran an EKG, etc., and concluded it was not my heart. They thought it was from my GERD and either esophagus or ulcers. They sent me home with medicine for that and without any relief from the pain. 

After that my family doctor and I have been trying to figure out what is causing the chest pains. Well, two weeks leading up to my visit to the ER last Sunday I was having chest pains every day, mostly when I did some light work. But I would take a nitro glycerin and put it in my mouth and it often relieved the pain. Sometimes I would have to wait five minutes, take another. If it didn't relieve the pain, I took a third (as prescribed). If this didn't work I would take a hydrocodone/acetaminophen pill. Most of the time this combination would relieve the pain. But, this past Sunday I was relaxed lying on the bed watching the PGA golf tournament when the pains came on and nothing would relieve it. I finally had my step son take me to the ER. I was in the midst of a heart attack. When the EKG showed this, the ER doctor said "your heart is very unhappy." 

They called for me to be air lifted by helicopter to the hospital in Pineville to the cath lab. I did not like that ride at all. Got to the lab and they began to work on me. They gave me morphine and decided to go into my heart through the major artery in my right wrist although they prepped me to go in through my groin. They put in the dye and the blockages showed up. I was awake the whole time and was told to stay still. I had several blockages and they stented the main blockage. The others they said could be treated with drugs and diet and if that didn't work they could put other stents in later. One place is blocked 70%, one blocked 50%, and one blocked 40%. 

After the surgery I was in ICU for a day and then in a private room for a day before being released to go home. The first night I slept little. The second night I slept well. This was because the nurses took out the IV in my right arm so that I could sleep on my right side (normal for me). During the second night I was feeling low and the nurse who cared for me asked "do you mind if I pray for you? I ask all my patients this." I said "oh yes, please do." Well, that was the best prayer I have ever heard from a sister! After the prayer I told her about my Christian faith and we talked about ten minutes about my writings, etc. She said she would check out my blog writings. I have since thanked God for her and asked God to bless her and her ministry. She was no novice and knew the scriptures, and attended a home church. We talked about Job and several other things.

I feel sad that I will not be able to eat food I used to eat. I have also been diagnosed with having diabetes insipidus, a rare disorder totally different from Diabetes Mellitus.* So, my diet now has to be such that I do not clog my arteries and do not eat food with too much sugar. All this is life changing for me. But, my father went through this and he far outlived the normal years people live after heart surgery. He had four bypasses (before the days when stent procedures became the norm). 

While on the operating table I was saying the Lord's Prayer and Psalm 23 over and over. I also breathed out slowly (Vegas nerve exercise to reduce stress).

I believe the Lord kept me alive because he is not finished with me. I have work to do, mainly to care for my wife, but hopefully to keep writing.

Keep me in your prayers if you have a mind.

*Diabetes insipidus (DI) is a rare condition in which the kidneys are unable to retain water, whereas diabetes mellitus is a condition characterized by the inability of the body to produce enough or respond normally to insulin, causing blood sugar (glucose) levels to be abnormally high.