On July 13, 2023, I went to my weekly coaching session. I was aware of a discomfort over my heart, but I thought it was pressure to release a belch, which never came. I went on to do my 20 lapses at the pool.
The discomfort persisted through Thursday. There were no other symptoms, no weakness, nor shortness of breath.
By Friday morning, July 15th, the discomfort became a dull pain. After breakfast, I told Trudy what I was experiencing. She urged me to go to urgent care. So, I drove myself to Lakeland Regional Health, urgent care at Pablo street.
They took my blood pressure, which was 159 over 98 - off the charts. When they took my EKG, the beats were irregular with signs of arrhythmia. I was told to go to the ER.
Instead, I drove myself to Watson Clinic Urgent Care.
It's incredible that no one thought to call an ambulance and ake me directly to the hospital ER.
At Watson, I was put on an examining chair and plugged into an EKG machine and checked my blood pressure. Same numbers as before.
The doctor gave me a troponin test. The troponin test is the most reliable test that measures the amount of enzymes released when the heart is damaged. The results came back indicating that the enzymes were elevated at 6900, indicating acute damage to the heart muscle.
As the doctor approached me, her face was ashen and she said, “You should be dead.” Normally cardiac enzymes are between 60 and 70. She said, “You had a heart attack two days ago!”
I shed tears, overwhelmed with a bundle of emotions – shock, fear, and gratitude that I was “still here.” She put her hand on my shoulder. “You will be OK,” she said, as she gave orders for the paramedics to take me directly to cardiology surgical ward five minutes away, at Lakeland Regional Health.
I was plugged into another EKG machine, as the paramedics strapped me to an ambulance gurney. I was wheeled out and moved backwards into the cavernous ambulance, filled with telemetry equipment. I told the paramedics, about my brother David’s pioneering work, while at the University of Miami Medical School 50 years ago. He sent EKG signals by wireless from a patient having had a heart attack in the field to the hospital, so that the ER doctors could guide the paramedics to do what was necessary to save a life. I told them, “This is why you are able to do what you are doing today.” They barely responded with a “that’s cool.”
As we began our five minute ride to Lakeland Regional, I joked “are you turning on the siren?” I No response. I was pumped up with adrenaline.
At the ER, two IVs were inserted into each elbow. Then I was moved to the cardiology ward. I was given a sedative and the rest was a blur. Dr. Mark Mines, head of Watson’s cardiology unit performed the catheterization, installing one stint in one of the frontal arteries. He will be my cardiologist from now on. Immedietly my BP dropped down to lower normal range, and it is still that way to this day.
From my initial visit at urgent care at 9:00 AM, the catheterization was performed at 2:30. I was impressed at the speed how I arrived at the Watson Urgent Care and when the stint was installed, ending in a hospital room.
Next stop was two and half days in the hospital for observation, including blood work, and an echocardiogram. My first overnight stay at a hospital. And the food wasn’t bad.
Dr. Michael Achinger, my nephrologist visited me twice to make sure the ink used in the catheterization didn’t compromise the kidneys. He was helpful in answering my questions on my heart condition. He is very solicitous. Prior to release on Sunday the 17th, my diagnosis and prognosis were explained. The lower left ventricle was moderately damaged with a borderline ejection fraction of 45%, with normal at 50-75%, which means how strong is the flow of blood between the ventricles. The prognosis was excellent with the heart muscle recovering in due time.
Overall, the service and care, the attention of all the staff was excellent. I lost count how many people took care of me from the urgent care until release from the hospital. Over 30?
Now, three weeks later, I am pretty much back to physical strength from before the heart attack. Emotionally and spiritually, I am undergoing a transition, perhaps laced with diminishing shock. I am aware that my timeline is now divided between before Heart Attack A and after Heart Aatack. I will always be a heart patient. This is very sobering and has caused me to pause and wonder what’s next in my life.
Mindfulness insight meditation is playing a large role in how well I am responding. The practice kicked in as I was having the event, and through all the activities of July 15th and beyond. I never despaired, nor felt qualms of maybe, “this was it,” except, that I didn’t want Trudy and Jana, and my family to suffer my loss. I stayed in the moment and accepted all that happened to me with new experiences and curiosities.
I am back to most of my activities and physical practices, yet I feel a sense of wondering. I have felt this before. I am in transition, with a sense, that something new, optimistic, and different is coming my way. But I don’t know what it is yet.
I remember studies that show the great number of brain cells found in the heart muscle, which seems to confirm that “the heart is the seat of the emotions.” What studies have shown nuanced changes in personality and emotions the patient after a heart attack? This is what I am feeling, and so I wonder where these feelings are coming from.
The Apostle Paul in the latter half of his first letter to the Corinthians chapter 15, says that humans are created with two bodies- a spiritual body and a physical body. The physical body “drops off” at transition, while the spiritual body continues. The heart attack could have ended my physical body, yet I would have continued living.
“For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” Philippians 1:21
Stay tuned.
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