My life has been such a whirlwind the past three days. I thought instead of trying to explain everything via twitter, and then again via facebook, I would just post the whole story here and let others read it.
Sunday night, Mike decided to pick up an extra shift, so off to work he went. At 10:33pm, I got a phone call from his work. I thought it was him, but when I said “Hello.” I heard, “I am looking for Mike’s wife.”. I knew immediately something was wrong. Why would work be calling me that late unless something was wrong. For an instant I thought about how that day marked the one month anniversary of our wedding. I know God never gives us more than we can handle, but could he have waited a little longer?
The supervisor explained that Mike had been having chest pains, they had called him an ambulance and he was en route to the hospital. I was trying to hold it together and not react, because of the kids. Mike has been having health issues for several months now, but nothing this serious, and a week ago this past Friday, a check up gave him a clean bill of health.
After calling my parents for help, I got kids off to bed, with the exception of Vanessa who I brought with me for moral support, and so she wouldn’t sit at home worrying. Thankfully it took us a few minutes to get out the door, because less than 5 minutes later Mike called from the back of the ambulance. He sounded good, but when he said “I’m fine”, I asked him if he was at the hospital yet. Nope. “Then you’re in the back of an ambulance, and people who call from the back of an ambulance are not typically FINE. I’m on my way.” Sorry, but I was SOOOO relieved to hear from him.
When we got there, we met his ER doctor, and they took him for an XRAY. He didn’t look great, oxygen tube, more heart monitor leads than I had EVER seen before in my life, an IV, shot in the stomach…. it wasn’t looking great. The one thing I can say about Mike, is that in a crisis he keeps such a sense of humor about everything.
They decided after hearing that he had needed two sprays of Nitro in the ambulance before the chest pains had ceased, that they should keep him overnight for monitoring. We got him in his room, settled and Vanessa and I went home to sleep at 3 in the morning.
All day Monday consisted of tests. A lot of tests. We didn’t seem him for nearly 8 hours.
So, first the good news:
EKG looked good.
All blood work came back good.
Initial Dye/Contrast X-ray looked good.
Then they took him for a stress test. Not his favorite thing to do, but he had to do a similar one about 2 months ago, so he was prepared. He passed that one.
He failed this one. He told me he “should have studied harder, I failed it.” (see… the ever present sense of humor)
Then they retested with the Dye/Contrast X-ray. He failed that too.
Turns out, there are some circulation issues on the front part of his heart. They were only looking at the veins, it was too risky to check out the arteries at this point. Why? Because they found enough damage to indicate that he has suffered a heart attack within the past 3 months.
Wait, what?
Yeah. Pick your jaw up. I couldn’t believe it either. He has been walking around for 3 months after having a heart attack. Sure, because that’s normal. And can I just tell you how incredibly angry I am that his original cardiologist missed this? And that nobody has done anything?
Today they put a stent in. When they did the Cardiac Catheterization they discovered two blockage points. One that is 80% blocked and one that is 50% blocked. The interesting (and infuriating) part of this, is that he had a Cardiac Catheterization a month and a half ago – they found one partial blockage at 40-50% that they opted to do “nothing” with except have him take medicine for. These were not done by the same doctors or the same hospital. It shows who the better hospital is also.
So they put the stent into the location that had the 80% blockage. The one that is at 50% blockage is in a dangerous area that runs the risk of a possible heart attack, so at this time, they will treat it with monitoring and medicine.
So that is where we are at right now. I will update here as needed. He is expected to be coming home tomorrow but will be “down” for a few days. Please continue to keep him in your prayers and that there are no further complications. I feel all the prayer surrounding us. I feel truly blessed that he is with us today and that God has a greater purpose for him.
Thanks for everything you guys!!
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Sending virtual hugs your way. I’m glad this was discovered before it was too late. Praying for you and your family!
You poor things, what a stressful time. I hope that Mike fully recovers and that you are all ok. x
Wow, Nicole, I am seriously in shock reading this. I am so terribly sorry your family is going through this. I am glad he Mike received medical attention before the outcome could have possibly been even worse. It’s sad that he was visiting doctors that missed the signs. It makes me smile that he continues to make jokes and try to be light-hearted in such a difficult situation. Your family is in my prayers! Many x’s and o’s!
Marissa
Nicole
I am sorry that this is happening. I hope he will bounce back and be home soon.
I am a relatively new follower. I add my good wishes that your husband gets better very soon, and that you and your family keep your spirits up during this extremely difficult time.
Oh Nicole. I’m so sorry to hear about this. I imagine you must be scared to death. I understand as my own husband had some blood pressure/cardiac concerns. Praise God that Mike’s problems were discovered, but really, the Lord planned that they would be. I’ll be praying for his recovery and your peace of mind. “All things work for good to those who love the Lord.”
Oh my goodness, wow, you poor thing, both of you. Unfortunately to some doctors we are just another page on their charts for the day. It’s a scary, horrible reality. Thank goodness they caught this and it sounds like he’s under better care now. Your family is in my thoughts!
I have very much enjoyed you blog and I’m very sorry to hear about your husband’s heart attack. all the best to you both and a speedy recovery. -Lynn
Nicole! So sorry to hear. I’m glad the outcome is cautiously optimistic. It’s interesting, I was just reading recently about silent heart attacks. I think I was reading that they are much more common to women than men! It is interesting, having worked in health care for five years now, to know as much as I do (which is still really quite little) about behind-the-scenes. Each person is different and there are a million different factors in each case – medical history, availability of records and knowledge, expertise of professionals (inc. MDs but also really important are RNs and diagnosticians) statistics/odds, even what’s going on that day for the professionals (personal life) and at the facility being used (some guy having a major trauma in the next room is going to push other cases to a back burner – outcome of good ole triage). One example I can think of is when weather is bad and rollover vehicular accidents are diverted to nearest suburban ER rather than trauma center. You have the bad luck to rollover in bad weather, the fact that your treating team rarely sees rollovers and doesn’t have the right experience and equipment might mean a much compromised outcome, than if you had rolled on a sunny day.
The facility’s and licensed professional’s level of protection is a big factor too – going to a huge and highly respected chain of hospitals seems like a great idea … until it is time to sue them and their legal team crushes you before you get out of the starting gate. I’ve been told by an employee at one of those kinds of facilities, “nobody can touch us.” And you know what? She’s right. I know too many true stories out of that facility where the patient (or tragically sometimes the surviving family members) were turned away by every legal consultant they found – even in cases that were rock solid and implied gross negligence was obvious – just not enough money in the patient’s wallet to fight back.
That said, I think of myself as a very conscientious social worker but have found myself in situations where I might be simply exhausted, or have four cases I am juggling all at once, or I am dealing with a non-English speaker whose translating family member went home right before I got there, or where I get more information when it is just too late for the new information to be helpful – decisions had already been made. But you know what? I showed up to do the job. if I hadn’t, a lot of times it wouldn’t have gotten done, even half-assed. I keep going the next day by knowing in my heart that I am doing the best I can with what I have been given, for that day.
Anyway, where Mike’s health and heart are concerned … now you know. It will be your job as Mike’s loving wife, going forward, to advocate for him, to make sure complete records are available to all treating professionals, to help Mike make good decisions about modification of diet and activities. Life is no sure bet, is it? Who knows why you were chosen for this – stand tall and strong and lean on God and your friends whenever you need them.
Hugs and warm wishes to the whole family.
daria