Mom's version

Here is Mom's letter about what happened and what her prognosis is. Some of you will be getting this in the mail.

Wisconsin Snapshots – Addendum March 14, 2007


Dear Family and Friends –
Some of you already know why I’m writing again so soon. For the rest of you, the fact that I’m writing lets you know that I’m OK, in spite of the latest news…
I short – I had a heart attack. Fri. March9, was not an ordinary day, by any stretch of the imagination. Just FYI, I’m going to describe the symptoms, so you will recognize them if needed, and for the rest, I’m going to keep it short. I don’t have much stamina right now (I’m becoming a believer, when they say don’t lift over 5#, there’s a reason!) and this is my first day home.

I was up for about an hour, 6 a.m., reading and watching the sunrise from the camper window seat, then got dressed and started to drink my usual morning glass of water. My lower jaw teeth, ALL of them, started to ache fiercely – I thought maybe the water was too cold, but after about 5 minutes, I decided that wasn’t the problem. Within about 5 more minutes, I started experiencing nausea that just kept increasing. I went into the cabin, by then feeling like I really had to go to the bathroom. I didn’t; just had the pressure. All the time my teeth/lower jaw hurt like crazy. I finally sat at the kitchen table, in my mind recognizing this was a heart problem but I kept thinking how can this be, I’m walking and perfectly healthy (a little denial, there). Finally, as I sat shaking like a leaf, Carrie asked what was going on – she had been leaving me alone, seeing that I obviously didn’t feel well and I usually am just plain grouchy and don’t want to be talked to when I’m under the weather. I told her, I think I have a problem, related the symptoms and asked her to double-check on-line for female heart attack symptoms. She also called friend Lissa while she was doing that, and Lissa said HANG UP and GO! So Carrie sailed down the stairs instructing the gang to get shoes on and load up, Grandma needed to get to the hospital! I was not too far gone to admire how quickly the kids responded – we were out the driveway within 5 minutes. I’m so proud of how they responded when it really counted!
At the Two Rivers Hosp. Emergency room, they had problems getting IV’s in, my usual bugaboo, and it didn’t help to have the doc urging them to get the nitro in fast. After they got me stabilized, a whole tale in itself, they opted to airlift me to Green Bay. It’s a bummer to have to pay so much for a helicopter ride when you can’t even look out the window! But the crew gave me a really cool T-shirt J The kids got to see me loaded and lift off, the highlight of their day…
I was taken directly to the heart cath lab, where the doc said he expected he’d be at least putting in a stint, if not prepping for surgery. Boy, was he surprised…my good ‘ol arteries were clean as a whistle! But, they did find damage to the apex (tip of the heart, left ventricle, for those of you who remember your health classes J ), and although they found no debris from a blocking clot, their best guess is that a piece of soft plaque broke loose, blocked long enough to damage, and was long gone by the time they went in. Good news was there was no intervention, i.e. surgery, needed. The docs (who by the way are rated tops in WI, it’s an outstanding hospital) are still scratching their heads over my case, one said he had never seen anything like it. Trust me to pull one like this…
In ICU, I had a scary delayed action to the cath procedure; just let me say that as I was going numb and it was getting dark, I was wondering if I was supposed to be looking for the “white light”. A tale for another time.
I was really doing pretty well by Sat. evening, but then the cath incision site kept breaking open and bleeding (that causes a little panic in the ranks), and proceeded to do so off and on (usually just after I took my sleeping pill, doggone it!) for the next two nights and most of one day. They finally got it all settled down and I came home with a long list of meds and a very good prognosis.
They are calling this “apical akenesis”, or apex not moving correctly. It’s dead, in other words. BUT … this area will fill in with scar tissue over the next few months, so there won’t be worry about clots forming from pooled blood in that tip, my general heart function is strong and well within normal range, all my blood work came back “normal” (another mystery for them), I don’t have high blood pressure (except when my heart decides to take a vacation), cholesterol is great, and with any luck and good behavior (that’s the really hard part of recuperation, believe me), I’ll be “good as new” in about 3 months. Some of the meds they may want to be continued, but you know me, I’m researching already for alternatives – some of the side affects of the blood pressure meds (I know, I don’t have that, but it’s to protect the heart, they tell me) is worse than the cause. Same thing with cholesterol meds. Sigh. The cardio nurse informed me that Coreg is “holy water” in the heart world, but I sure don’t like the lightheadedness that goes with it. Me and the doc are going to be negotiating!
Th-th-th-that’s all, folks! Candy