My Dad’s Heart
October 28, 2006 | In: Family
I’ve been a bit lazy about blogging these days. I usually slack off, taking a while to document something which happened one or two weeks prior to me posting about it. Well, this entry won’t be any different than those in the past. (( grin ))
Anyway, last weekend was a scary time for me and my family. My father had a heart attack on Saturday while working at one of the stores on his route. The first incident happened early in the morning, during which he called 911. Determined not to be like my grandfather (stubborn), he called for an ambulance which met him at the front of the store and took him to the emergency room.
It wasn’t long after he arrived at the hospital that Mom called me on the phone. She wanted me to head up there to be with him, as she wasn’t in a position to do so herself. When I arrived, he was going just fine; his EKG appeared normal and none of the blood tests showed that he had a heart attack.
After a while, I started to feel hungry and decided to grab some breakfast from the cafeteria. When I came back, with coffee in hand, Dad was having another heart attack. It was similar to the one he had earlier in the day: heavy breathing, pain in the chest, etc. He was still conscious, too. This time the EKG clearly showed that something was happening with his heart.
They immediately prepared him for cardiac catheterization, which is where they stick a small tube up through a vessel near the groin, allowing them to search and remove obstructions. Fortunately, they were able to find a blockage and repair it by inserting a stent. This means that blood has been restored the region of his heart affected by the obstruction, so there shouldn’t be much damage, if at all, as a result.
Dad ended up having to stay in the hospital for two days, as a result of all this. He came home on Monday and is feeling very good, but he is required to spend about two more weeks off of work.
Anyway, I’m so thankful that Dad called 911 instead of trying to work through the pain. I’m certain that he would have been much worse, if he hadn’t; I have no doubt.
Lastly, everyone at the Indiana Heart Hospital was very nice to us.
