Bill Arnold
02-27-2010, 6:20 PM
In a big way, too!
I haven't felt well for quite a while and mostly blamed the weather. Then on Saturday, 2/13, I had some chest pain that I thought was lung congestion because it was really high on my chest. Sunday morning, I felt a little worse but kept putting it out of my mind until LOML saw I was getting worse. She drove me to the hospital ER here in Thomasville where they evaluated me and notified my cardiologist.
My cardiologist came by and made sure I was stabilized. He scheduled a heart cath for Monday. The heart cath showed areas of 90% blockage in two coronary arteries and some degree of blockage in other areas. He said stints would not be an option, so I would have to be transported to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital on Tuesday morning. I had one stint placed in 2003 that had cleared up a lot of issues.
When I met the surgeon at TMH, he went over the process with my wife and me. I was scheduled for surgery first thing Wednesday morning. I felt fine during all of the preparation process, then lost track as they wheeled me into the operating room.
I started becoming aware of my surroundings around the time of day the surgeon had told me I would. I didn't know until a day or two afterward that I had actually been out of it for 24 hours. I was still entubated which was really annoying and had to wait until the next morning for the tubes to be pulled. All of the doctors who came to see me assured me I was doing fine, my heart was strong and I would recover just fine.
After a couple of days, the surgeon gave me more details about the surgery. They got me prepped, then started the anesthesia. My vital signs started dropping but didn't stop until I had none. They had to shock me twice to get my heart started again, then began the surgery. Those events changed the surgical process somewhat but they were able to accomplish a large part of the planned repair.
I still have some areas of small blockage but they aren't of concern for now. The surgeon said the bottom line is that my heart muscle itself is very strong. I should be back to normal and even better in a few weeks.
LOML brought me home yesterday (Friday, 2/26). I slept better last night than I had in a couple of weeks. I can feel myself getting stronger each day. I'm sure I'll be able to do some light shop work in a couple of weeks.
The main thing the surgeon cautioned me about is limited lifting. Fortunately, a large bottle of Beam fits nicely in the parameters!
Thanks for letting me get a little long-winded. It's therapeutic to review the events of the past two weeks and gives me a greater view of the future I now have.
I haven't felt well for quite a while and mostly blamed the weather. Then on Saturday, 2/13, I had some chest pain that I thought was lung congestion because it was really high on my chest. Sunday morning, I felt a little worse but kept putting it out of my mind until LOML saw I was getting worse. She drove me to the hospital ER here in Thomasville where they evaluated me and notified my cardiologist.
My cardiologist came by and made sure I was stabilized. He scheduled a heart cath for Monday. The heart cath showed areas of 90% blockage in two coronary arteries and some degree of blockage in other areas. He said stints would not be an option, so I would have to be transported to Tallahassee Memorial Hospital on Tuesday morning. I had one stint placed in 2003 that had cleared up a lot of issues.
When I met the surgeon at TMH, he went over the process with my wife and me. I was scheduled for surgery first thing Wednesday morning. I felt fine during all of the preparation process, then lost track as they wheeled me into the operating room.
I started becoming aware of my surroundings around the time of day the surgeon had told me I would. I didn't know until a day or two afterward that I had actually been out of it for 24 hours. I was still entubated which was really annoying and had to wait until the next morning for the tubes to be pulled. All of the doctors who came to see me assured me I was doing fine, my heart was strong and I would recover just fine.
After a couple of days, the surgeon gave me more details about the surgery. They got me prepped, then started the anesthesia. My vital signs started dropping but didn't stop until I had none. They had to shock me twice to get my heart started again, then began the surgery. Those events changed the surgical process somewhat but they were able to accomplish a large part of the planned repair.
I still have some areas of small blockage but they aren't of concern for now. The surgeon said the bottom line is that my heart muscle itself is very strong. I should be back to normal and even better in a few weeks.
LOML brought me home yesterday (Friday, 2/26). I slept better last night than I had in a couple of weeks. I can feel myself getting stronger each day. I'm sure I'll be able to do some light shop work in a couple of weeks.
The main thing the surgeon cautioned me about is limited lifting. Fortunately, a large bottle of Beam fits nicely in the parameters!
Thanks for letting me get a little long-winded. It's therapeutic to review the events of the past two weeks and gives me a greater view of the future I now have.