Hello all, sorry for the delay. My husband recently had two stents placed in an artery in his chest and he has been told he is in good health for now. It reminds me of the time ten years ago when he was just 47 that he underwent open-heart surgery. The following piece was written shortly after his bypass.
Something simple like seeing the teal and white ambulance from Midland Hospital makes me wonder whose life is changing now? Whose wife or husband is trying to hold down a job, feed the pets, keep the laundry clean and get a full night's sleep so he or she can be cheerful for their spouse? It was less than a week ago I got a call from my husband from work. He was having chest pain again. The first time was 8 months previous before our daughter's wedding. We chalked that up to stress. The doctor in Clare said he couldn't find anything wrong. What would have been more correct to say is "We didn't see any signals to indicate heart attack" and "he is too young for blocked arteries". The Midland doctor did the sensible thing and ordered a stress test, just in case. We didn't realize how important that test and the results were, so we agreed I should stay and work and he would call me after he was done. Heck, they don't even anesthetize a person for that test. He called to tell me it was suspicious and they would go ahead immediately with a catheterization. I hadn't gotten a replacement for me at work and being so protective of our private lives, had not even told any of my co-workers of the situation. When he called to tell me the results of that test, I had to sit down. An artery was 70% blocked and coronary bypass was indicated.
I asked him if he was ok and he said yes. How could you be ok? was what I was thinking. They are planning to open you up and stop your heart and rearrange things. My fellow workers told me I needed to go and I obliged. I drove 45 miles only a little over the speed limit so we could hold hands and talk and talk. He seemed calm. The word bypass came out of his mouth so easily. I could only imagine how he must have felt to hear those words come from the doctor's mouth. I'm sure the words after that must have seemed far away and unreal. I felt very bad to not have been there and he said it was no big deal. The biggest day of our lives was a short time away. I went home to relax and do a load of laundry. The next morning I arrived at the Hospital just in time to follow that awful ambulance to Saginaw.
Something simple like seeing the teal and white ambulance from Midland Hospital makes me wonder whose life is changing now? Whose wife or husband is trying to hold down a job, feed the pets, keep the laundry clean and get a full night's sleep so he or she can be cheerful for their spouse? It was less than a week ago I got a call from my husband from work. He was having chest pain again. The first time was 8 months previous before our daughter's wedding. We chalked that up to stress. The doctor in Clare said he couldn't find anything wrong. What would have been more correct to say is "We didn't see any signals to indicate heart attack" and "he is too young for blocked arteries". The Midland doctor did the sensible thing and ordered a stress test, just in case. We didn't realize how important that test and the results were, so we agreed I should stay and work and he would call me after he was done. Heck, they don't even anesthetize a person for that test. He called to tell me it was suspicious and they would go ahead immediately with a catheterization. I hadn't gotten a replacement for me at work and being so protective of our private lives, had not even told any of my co-workers of the situation. When he called to tell me the results of that test, I had to sit down. An artery was 70% blocked and coronary bypass was indicated.
I asked him if he was ok and he said yes. How could you be ok? was what I was thinking. They are planning to open you up and stop your heart and rearrange things. My fellow workers told me I needed to go and I obliged. I drove 45 miles only a little over the speed limit so we could hold hands and talk and talk. He seemed calm. The word bypass came out of his mouth so easily. I could only imagine how he must have felt to hear those words come from the doctor's mouth. I'm sure the words after that must have seemed far away and unreal. I felt very bad to not have been there and he said it was no big deal. The biggest day of our lives was a short time away. I went home to relax and do a load of laundry. The next morning I arrived at the Hospital just in time to follow that awful ambulance to Saginaw.
2 comments:
Thanks for posting again! I will never look at an ambulance the same way again. I'm glad that Midland doctor was so smart. You never know what amazing news or shocking report a test or doctor visit might produce. There must be an age, probably 40, when we should just normally plan to go along, I guess. The moments that change our lives.
One thing I know for sure, don't believe Al when he says "it's no big deal" or "those aren't going anywhere" - he has big faith, sometimes too big.
Love you both bunches,
Sue
thanks for sharing that with us, don't stop blogging.
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