The Hospital Story...

I got the OK from Husband to tell you all what happened. I'm glad he said yes, because people there is a lesson here...

Around August Husband announced that he would like to run the Big Sur Marathon. Great...I had trained all summer for my Marathon. He has run about four of his own. I figure he could train all winter. Fair is fair (thank you Billie Jean...anyone get that one?) Anyway...
Husband goes for a run. Feels bad after about 2 minutes of running...pressure on the chest, not really comfortable, he figures he must just be out of shape. He goes out the next day and tries again...same thing. Maybe around September, he is walking The Little Man in the stroller. He starts feeling chest pressure again, sweating, and a sharp pain in the arm. He comes home immediately and tells me something is wrong. I (as any good wife would do) say "go to the doctor".
Husband makes an appointment to see the doctor. Doctor says "it could be allergies, or any number of things...go have a stress test done to see how the heart reacts under pressure". Husband did that...all is OK. Doctor says to see a cardiologist next. True to form, Husband looses the info on who to call to schedule the test, and never quite gets around to it...

Fast forward to a couple weeks ago. Husband is still complaining about feeling sick. I tell him to call another friend who is a doctor and get another opinion...he does. She makes the appointment for a cardiac catheteritization test. "Let's rule out the one thing that can kill you." Good idea.
This test is done by injecting a dye into your heart to see if any of your arteries are blocked. I did not for one second believe this was the problem (like a sap, I was worried he was allergic to my cat) We are fairly healthy eaters, not a lot of junk. Husband is only about 10 pounds overweight, nothing major. He's a really active guy. Wednesday morning rolls around, he heads off for his test...kiss/kiss..."I'll call you when I'm done and you can come pick me up."
I really wasn't worried about this at all. At about 1:00, I get a call...

Husband: "I'm going to be spending the night in the hospital."
Me: "Why, is everything OK?"
Husband: "I had an artery that was 100% blocked...they put in two stents."
Me: "OMG! Are you OK? OMG!"
Husband: "I am OK now. As the doctor was fixing it, he referred to it as a widowmaker."

Holy moly! How can it be that Husand was walking around with a blocked artery?!? Had his second doctor not made this appiointment, he was looking at a heart attack this year! Crazy!
The weirdest part was...there was no time to worry. The time to worry would have been all the time he spent not having the test. Now that we knew about it...it was fixed. It's crazy how organized they are about the whole thing...blockage=fix it now. So they did.

According to the doctor, he is "going to feel like a million bucks" OK, we'll see. Right now, he is sitting next to me in bed reading The New Yorker. I just feel so lucky that we caught this one. The moral of the story here...Listen to your body, listen to your doctor. If you don't like what they say...go get another opinion. I just can't stress how lucky I feel that we/they headed this one off at the pass.

Even though we eat fairly healthy, it's gonna be a little less cheese, and a little more fish in this house...now you know.

45 comments

  1. wow!!!! and thank goodness technology is what it is.

    because those used to be fixed either with "roto-rooter" or bypass! stents are a godsend.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Um. PHEW! Yeah, you had to have been feelin' mighty fine when you heard the phrase "widow-maker."

    I can't imagine, but I can say that I am so happy that everything worked out.

    Take care, you . . .

    ReplyDelete
  3. Got the Billie Jean reference.

    I'm so glad he's okay! Those first warning signs would have frightened me. I'm just thankful they were able to prevent a heart attack later. Modern medicine constantly amazes me. Yes, listen to your body! Thanks for sharing your story with us.

    ReplyDelete
  4. First off I wanted to thank you for stopping by and commenting on my blog!
    I'm so glad he's okay!! It's a good lesson to learn... my FIL had a heart attack and when they went in they found 3 arteries blocked and the 4th was 50%... they weren't exactly sure how he'd made it so long w/out an attack. He has felt TONS better since the surgery. Hopefully it will be the same for your Husband!

    ReplyDelete
  5. OMG that is so scary. Thank God he is all right.

    I've got to ask, though; what's his prognosis for marathon training? Is he good to go or do they have him on restricted activities of any kind?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Yikes, how scary! Thank goodness they caught it and all is now well. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about...

    ReplyDelete
  7. OMG! OMG! OMG! How terrifying! I'm so glad it was caught in time and that he's doing better, but OMG!

    ReplyDelete
  8. So glad he is OK now. What a horrible saying; widowmaker.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yikes! This is the 2nd person who was too young/healthy to ever expect this that I have heard about that this happened to this week. Glad he is okay.

    ReplyDelete
  10. WOW-girlie!
    Im so glad that everything worked out well for you guys! I would have been freaking out!!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Holy crap Cyn!! I'm so glad he's ok!! That is so scary, wow.

    Yikes.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh my GOD! I am so glad he is OK. Wow...so thankful that he went in and had that checked out.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Whoa...

    I am so glad he is okay and that you guys listened to your instincts.

    ReplyDelete
  14. That could have been very scary! I'm glad that this story had a good ending.

    I'll keep him in my prayers...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Holy holy! I can't believe you were dealing with all of this!! Thank God he went to the doctor - my man resists doctors ALL the time and as we get older, you know, well we just might need one!! I'm gonna tell him this story....and I'm so happy all is well.

    ReplyDelete
  16. oh my word!! I'm so glad he's ok - that's amazing!

    How nice of God to take care of all that before you had time to worry. :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm so glad that he is okay.

    My DH has been annoyed at the PSA (Public Service Announcements) around the holiday that encourages women to give their men a gift of an annual check up. DH comments every time "That is NOT a gift". My response is that it is a gift to the family to make sure all is okay with them.

    ReplyDelete
  18. HOLY CRAP!!!!

    man.

    He seemed so calm. sheeeeesh. so glad everything is better!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Wow that is crazy. Good thing you found out after the fact!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I am so glad that he is okay and that you didn't have time to worry about it!!! wow.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm so glad he's okay. Very scary.

    If it were my husband, he would never tell me about his symptoms. Period. I should tell him this story.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Glad everything turned out okay.

    ReplyDelete
  23. O. MY. GAWSH. I am all worked up now. Thank you for sharing, how awfully scary. I'm so glad he's well and it all worked out, but WOW. And ((hug)). And hey, Happy New Year, while I'm here. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  24. eeeekkkk that is scary. I'm so glad they got it before anything horrible happened. Thanks for sharing.

    Oh and as for feeling low about your design stuff. Hang in there. I am feeling a bit blue about my blog and stuff lately as well. Insecurities suck, huh?

    ReplyDelete
  25. Gah! Scary! I'm glad he's okay!

    ReplyDelete
  26. OMG Cyn! How scary! I don't visit your blog for a couple of weeks and then look what happens. I'm so glad that alls well though -- now you can really embrace 2009. Thanks for sharing. Happy new year to you and yours by the way!

    ReplyDelete
  27. Holy cow! I'm so glad everything is ok now! But I thought, you guys are younger than hubs and I are, I think and. . . wow! Just wow!

    ReplyDelete
  28. OH MY GOODNESS... that is scary and yes very lucky.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Wow that's crazy. So good you guys found it in time. And thanks for sharing your story and reminding people to ALWAYS follow up with their health care.

    "widowmaker" - so scary!

    ReplyDelete
  30. Phew! I'm so glad everything is ok now and that it was caught in time.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Wow. I am sooo glad he is alright and it was caught before something terrible happened.

    ReplyDelete
  32. I am visiting from Leslie's blog...and I feel like it was for a reason. My hubby is supposed to take Cholestrol meds but forgets EVERY night...I am so going to ride is you-know-what (umm...not in that way...) to get his levels checked and see the cardiologist. What a blessing that your husband is okay! Maybe I need to get mine checked too...

    ReplyDelete
  33. That is really scary. So glad he is ok. And yes, definitely a lesson for everyone to learn here. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Just came by from a link through Blogher (I think). Wow. Better to find out at a checkup than an autopsy.

    Over here, a widowmaker is a branch hanging from a tree.

    ReplyDelete
  35. Holy Moley I'm glad everything turned out OK! We are our own best advocates.

    ReplyDelete
  36. Glad everything is OK, and that you have a sense of humor about something so scary!

    ReplyDelete
  37. Thanks for posting this, I'm glad your husband is okay and that it was caught in time. And he will feel like a new man b/c my mom has had three and was up and running in the next week. Anyway your point was excellent and so true.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Be careful with the fish - I keep hearing about mercury levels rising due to fish. But, thank God you guys caught that. 100% blocked? wow. It certainly makes you reevaluate.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Wow!!!!! This is so scary!!!! I'm so glad things are going to be good now!

    ReplyDelete
  40. Holy Crap! Ok you have totally freaked me out! I on occasion have had what I will call cramping on my left side in my chest shoulder region. I think nothing of it because it comes and goes usually once every 6 to 8 weeks. I run at least 3 sometimes 4 times a week and I never have any issues. I eat healthy and may be about 10lbs over weight to that that I am 36 I just passed the pain off as annoying. Glad to know he is doing better.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Wow! I am glad that you caught it in time and that everything is going to be OK.

    ReplyDelete
  42. ACK! So glad he caught this in time!

    ***mental not to self***Make husband's follow-up doctors appointment myself regarding high cholesteral and other issues!

    ReplyDelete

Back to Top