Most of my friends and family know that my husband had heart surgery a few years ago. For those of you who aren't aware, I'll share the story here.
Bill is diabetic and has been since he was around 20-21. He tried to avoid shots and a possible insulin pump like it was the plague. I blame this, partially, on bad experiences with his own Mother's pump. It conditioned him to avoid a pump, to avoid the 'scene' that can come with a pump, etc.
Anyways, back on track here. Shortly after we got engaged (roughly 3 months), Bill started complaining of chest pains. We blew it off for a few days - saying it was stress, anxiety, heart burn, etc. Bill had been laid off from his previous employer and had a huge interview a few days later - we figured it was anxiety related to the stress of the interview and new job potential.
It finally got really bad, bad enough that it woke him up from his sleep. We decided to go to the hospital. They didn't see anything abnormal, but decided to keep him for a 24 hour observation. Thankfully they kept him over night, and thankfully we had a good Cardiologist who said "Well, he has a family history of heart issues, so let's do a stress test". The stress test (running on a treadmill while being monitored) showed a few small "potential issues" but nothing major. They *almost* sent us home -- again, the cardiologist said "Let's do a heart cath. Let's just be sure. We don't want to send him home and have a heart attack just because we wanted to avoid a test."
I will never forget what it felt like to walk from the waiting room into the cath lab. I will never forget walking into the actual room itself, and being shown pictures of Bill's heart. The reason for his chest pain? One of the main arteries had a blockage. Not just a blockage, but a 90% blockage. It wasn't in an area that he could do a stent, and it would require surgery. Major - open - heart - surgery.
The next 24 hours are still a blur. More testing. More blood work (lots more). Different IV site. More prep. More testing. More ultrasounds. Very little sleep and lots of crying on my behalf. I don't think I've ever cried so much in such a short period of time.
To this day, it is STILL the scariest thing that I have ever been through and nothing ever prepared me for walking into the Cardiac ICU and seeing my Husband with so many, many tubes, IVs, monitors, etc. The recovery was pretty awful. They eventually moved him off the CICU and onto the heart rehab floor. They continued to check his blood sugar EVERY HOUR for DAYS. They say that you can't really rest in a hospital - that is an UNDERSTATEMENT. We had someone in our room every hour, sometimes several times an hour, for DAYS. We were practically begging to go home just because we were EXHAUSTED.
Since this - Bill has now gotten an insulin pump and his blood sugar remains in MUCH better control. He is no longer spiking and dropping like he was previously. He is on new medications for his heart, and as long as he takes them - his cholesterol remains in "check".
Unfortunately, he still has chest pain. To the point that it has been worse than the pain he was feeling BEFORE the heart surgery. They have done two more heart caths since - and both have come up clean. The long term prognosis is wonderful.
Thank you for all the thoughts & prayers we've received in the last week. Bill's most recent episode of chest pain was diagnosed as "Cardiac Syndrome X" - which is, in short, unexplained chest pain with no 'emergent' threat.
Bill is diabetic and has been since he was around 20-21. He tried to avoid shots and a possible insulin pump like it was the plague. I blame this, partially, on bad experiences with his own Mother's pump. It conditioned him to avoid a pump, to avoid the 'scene' that can come with a pump, etc.
Anyways, back on track here. Shortly after we got engaged (roughly 3 months), Bill started complaining of chest pains. We blew it off for a few days - saying it was stress, anxiety, heart burn, etc. Bill had been laid off from his previous employer and had a huge interview a few days later - we figured it was anxiety related to the stress of the interview and new job potential.
It finally got really bad, bad enough that it woke him up from his sleep. We decided to go to the hospital. They didn't see anything abnormal, but decided to keep him for a 24 hour observation. Thankfully they kept him over night, and thankfully we had a good Cardiologist who said "Well, he has a family history of heart issues, so let's do a stress test". The stress test (running on a treadmill while being monitored) showed a few small "potential issues" but nothing major. They *almost* sent us home -- again, the cardiologist said "Let's do a heart cath. Let's just be sure. We don't want to send him home and have a heart attack just because we wanted to avoid a test."
I will never forget what it felt like to walk from the waiting room into the cath lab. I will never forget walking into the actual room itself, and being shown pictures of Bill's heart. The reason for his chest pain? One of the main arteries had a blockage. Not just a blockage, but a 90% blockage. It wasn't in an area that he could do a stent, and it would require surgery. Major - open - heart - surgery.
The next 24 hours are still a blur. More testing. More blood work (lots more). Different IV site. More prep. More testing. More ultrasounds. Very little sleep and lots of crying on my behalf. I don't think I've ever cried so much in such a short period of time.
To this day, it is STILL the scariest thing that I have ever been through and nothing ever prepared me for walking into the Cardiac ICU and seeing my Husband with so many, many tubes, IVs, monitors, etc. The recovery was pretty awful. They eventually moved him off the CICU and onto the heart rehab floor. They continued to check his blood sugar EVERY HOUR for DAYS. They say that you can't really rest in a hospital - that is an UNDERSTATEMENT. We had someone in our room every hour, sometimes several times an hour, for DAYS. We were practically begging to go home just because we were EXHAUSTED.
Since this - Bill has now gotten an insulin pump and his blood sugar remains in MUCH better control. He is no longer spiking and dropping like he was previously. He is on new medications for his heart, and as long as he takes them - his cholesterol remains in "check".
Unfortunately, he still has chest pain. To the point that it has been worse than the pain he was feeling BEFORE the heart surgery. They have done two more heart caths since - and both have come up clean. The long term prognosis is wonderful.
Thank you for all the thoughts & prayers we've received in the last week. Bill's most recent episode of chest pain was diagnosed as "Cardiac Syndrome X" - which is, in short, unexplained chest pain with no 'emergent' threat.
Bill's been in my prayers. You all have. I can't imagine how frustrating his diagnosis must be.
ReplyDeleteI'm excited to see you in the blogger world! I added you to my blog roll :)