Sunday, April 27, 2008

Time Bomb???

I had to take Dicky to the ER Thursday night. He was having severe pain in his left arm, but no other typical "heart attack" symptoms. By the time we got to the hospital, the pain had eased up and was almost gone. He agreed with me and Vance that he should go ahead and get checked while we were there. Nothing showed on the EKG, x-ray or blood work that linked his pain to a heart attack. Because Dicky has a few factors that make him high risk, we took the ER doc's advice and stayed overnight for observation, more testing and a consult with a cardiologist in the morning. The night was uneventful and Dicky was feeling fine Friday morning. The cardiologist suggested that he have an arteriogram to just make sure there wasn't any blockage. The plan was if any blocked arteries were found that they would put stints in during the procedure. About 20 minutes in to the procedure the cardiologist came out and said there was blockage and stints were necessary. One artery was 90% blocked another was about 99% blocked. There are a couple other areas that are 40 to 50% blocked. Three stints were placed in the 90 - 99% blocked areas. The other blocked areas will be watched. They do not put in stints unless you have at least 70% blockage.

It's Saturday and we are home now. Dicky is sore and sleepy, but that's normal for what he's been through.

Things to be thankful for:
going to the ER even though the heart attack symptoms were not all there
staying overnight to hear what the cardiologist advised
accepting the cardiologist's advice to have the arteriogram
skillful hands and eyes of the surgeons
the surgeon was able to place all stints needed (there was a possibility that they may not be able to get them all in which meant that we would have to go through the arteriogram again)
no heart attack
support of Dicky's Dad, Vance, Abby and Cary in the waiting area
kind, attentive nurses and nursing assistants

Please pray for a no complication recovery for Dicky. He's too good a guy for us to lose this early!!!

1 comment:

Michon said...

Shan!!! How freaking scarey! I will put a prayer under my pillow for him and your family! (((((hugs))))