Another Adventure...

Another adventure...

On September 24th, I took the 14 foot boat out to exercise the 10 hp motor which hadn't been run in a while, and to annoy some bluegills. Mick was happy to go along, but really, wasn't much help.

Unloaded the boat and spent about a half-hour just running through various speeds to make sure everything was in order. Carbs are tricky, and like to have their orifices cleaned out regularly. This is a good thing to keep in mind.

Finally felt satisfied with the engine and allowed the boat to drift up against some downed trees. Baited the rod, and settled back for what would probably a pretty uneventful fishing experience. Sipped coffee, told the dog to sit down, then told him to sit down again. Quietly fished a bit, trying not to be bored.

I got my wish.

Noticed some congestion in my chest...well, not really congestion, but a tightness, or weight, on it. Breathed deeply a bit, but didn't seem to have any effect. Odd. Probably a cold or something, maybe some allergic reaction to something in the air at the lake.

Then, started sweating...well, not sweating as if from heat, but kind of "night-sweats," where you are not warm, almost chilled, but still sweating. Noticed I generally felt "punk" all over, decided to take the boat to the dock and load it up.

On the trip across the lake, didn't feel any better; actually started to feel an odd kind of nausea. I'd only had coffee that morning so, doubted it was anything I'd eaten.

Was feeling pretty weak by the time I got to the dock. Got the leash on Mick, walked him to the car, started it up and took car and trailer over to the boat. When I went to get out, I had to rest myself against the car; nausea was seriously in charge for a moment, and the weight on my chest seemed much heavier. I had an idea of what might be happening, and was NOT amused.

Got the boat loaded on the trailer, pulled it out and then got out of the car and snugged it down for the trip home. Was getting hard to focus on stuff, but made the boat highway safe and pulled out of the State Park and on the road home.

Things did not improve on the drive home, but I made it, pulled the car up out of the way of my drive, which my neighbors use to get to some of their sheds, and took Mick into the house.

Went straight to the computer, looked up "symptoms of a heart attack." Yup. I had the top four. Took an aspirin.

There have been times in my life when I was very pleased to have guessed correctly
This was not one of them.

Called my GP, got his physcian's assistant. She said, "Call 911, or get yourself to our hospital or that other one. NOW."

Fine. Called a neighbor and got a ride to the hospital.

I don't like a fuss.


They fussed at the hospital. And then they fussed some more. Little hospital acolytes ran in and out and monitored and blood-pressured, and blood sampled their little hearts out. Then they fussed some more. Fuss, fuss, fuss, fuss fuss.

Finally a doctor came in, looking grim. "You need to get to an OR right away. We're calling the med-flight."

I said I didn't want a med-flight; how about a nice car ride?

"Med Flight! Car would take too long. Every minute counts!"

Uh, that's a lot of fuss, Dr. Car would be easier and I got a friend who'll drive me.

"Med Flight."

sigh. fine.

By this time, the Dr. and his acolytes had nitro-glycerined, and morphined, and gawd-knows-what-else me, so I mentioned, just to emphasize a point, "I see no advantage in being awake to experience the pain. I've had pain, I've read about pain, heck, I even know the process of pain reception. Knock me out, call me when you're done."

And so they did.


(con't)

Another adventure 2

Didn't pay much attention to the med flight. Spent my time on my back studying a recessed hook on the ceiling marked "can not hold more than 5 pounds."

Best part of the trip was the very professional and handsome RN med flight nurse. She was not runway model pretty, nor voluptuous, but had a strong, character-filled face; intelligent and focused, but with a gentleness. Neat eyes.

First surgery went by without my attention. Afterwards, surgeon described what he did, what had happened (plaque blocking artery) and probable partial heart muscle death. Said a second stent insertion would be necessary for another artery in a day or so. (Apparently, the dye they use to mark the arteries is somewhat toxic to the kidneys, so they attempt to flush them out inbetween uses.) I was hooked up to an IV for all four days. I gained 10 pounds. Jeez.

Off I went to a room with a view, and things plugged into me, on me, and shoved in my nose. I then met 46 people, one at a time, all of whom wanted to see my groin. Some of them may have worked for the hospital. I don't know, I stopped asking.

Dr. came back next day after echo cardiogram and said, looks like we got there just as the final blockage was forming, but there was NO muscle death; all systems performing appropriately. He thought. (not a lot of definitive statements from Medical Professionals.)

Fine. Can I go home?

No.

The rest is just more of the same. I got to go home on Friday, four days after I arrived. Dog was indifferent to seeing me. House was still a mess. And for two weeks I can't pick up anything heavier than 10 pounds.

I'm a little weak, achey in spots, and short of breath, but fine.

Sad news: I forget to take the worms out of the boat and put them in the refrigerator. They died.

Some meds are in the mail, some behavior change--but not a lot, some diet change, but I'd done most of that for the last 6 months.

We'll see. Life never came with guarantees, and really, I have done, or tried my best to do, all the stuff that a human should do in a life-time.

such a fuss.



I'm fine, mostly.

Dang Kis, Glad they caught your blockage in time.....I hope you recover fast and have no further complications.

Kis, all the best for a speedy recovery. Nice of you to give the fish a short break.
Rick

I hope you have a speedy recovery....seems like you stayed calm, and didn't panic.

Wow, thank goodness it came out okay!

I can relate to the pain although mine was due to a hyperactive thyroid gland. I called the paramedics twice thinking I was having a heart attack! It took over a year of many tests to isolate the trouble. That was many years ago and about two years of steady medication till it was over.

Glad it sounds like you're going to be OK!!!! Best friend just did similar recently as far as driving around during. Great write up however and got a few good laughs out of you "adventure" :LOL2:

Hmmmm. I hope that when I get that kind of warning...I leave the boat in the pond and call 911 immediately.

I am very glad that things turned out OK for you. I have been told that an hour or even fifteen minutes can make a major difference.

For those of us yet to go through it, it was enlightening. I am now thinking exactly what I would do in the same circumstances. Just spending a few minutes thinking ahead will make me better prepared, I hope. Thanks again for sharing. Rich

richg99 said:

Hmmmm. I hope that when I get that kind of warning...I leave the boat in the pond and call 911 immediately.

I am very glad that things turned out OK for you. I have been told that an hour or even fifteen minutes can make a major difference.

For those of us yet to go through it, it was enlightening. I am now thinking exactly what I would do in the same circumstances. Just spending a few minutes thinking ahead will make me better prepared, I hope. Thanks again for sharing. Rich

Click to expand...

Hey Rich, Yep, some things I could have done differently. But when you have lived alone for a lot of years, you don't think of having someone else clean up the stuff you would have left at the lake. It truly never occurred to me to abandon the boat, car, and fishing stuff. My reaction was..."Ok, let's get this stuff home, check out the symptoms, and take care of the problem."

AND, after a life-time of being at the beck-and-call of the telephone in my career, I've pretty much vowed never to have a cell-phone. I don't argue their utility, but they interrupted more projects and concentration than I can count.

I DID have a habit of some 30 years of taking an aspirin and multivitamin every day for more than 30 years, so I expect that helped some. Dunno.

Life happens, eh?

Yep....re taking an aspirin every day..I now do that...doc's orders.

A friend was rushed into the emergency room some years ago. He managed to escape dying because he was taking six or seven small aspirin EVERY DAY. Seemed he had thinned his blood out so much that capillary veins formed around the blockage! The doc said to STOP taking so many aspirins from that time forward, though.

You never know whats going to get you...or what occurrence might be just enough to save your life. I am very happy that you avoided major troubles on this one.

As far as leaving the boat....a smart guy that I knew once told me...."If a problem can be solved with time or money..that is not a REAL problem." I suppose he was right. rich

p.s. You are right about the cell phone, though we had a golfer whose life may have been saved because someone had one with his group. I carry mine, but turn it OFF when I am fishing or golfing.