Heart Condition Part XXIII
In my adult life I had made it a habit of not occupying a hospital bed for certain comfort ability reasons. Of all the complaints that I had heard throughout my medical career hospital food and hospital beds were the top two on the list. My bed was not the best in the world but it would serve its purpose for one night and I would soon vacate the premise and not have to worry about sleeping on one for another long period of time. The night aide came in after a few minutes and began her routine of vital sign taking which included the taking of my temperature.
I quietly made sure the color of the thermometer before placing it my mouth, being in the medical field for a long time you learn a few things before blindly participating in certain ital sign activities. My temperature was fine and had stayed that way ever since my arrival. As the thermometer came out I immediately turned my attention on my left shoulder which had basically stopped hurting now and I expected my blood pressure to continue its fall which I was not disappointed when the numbers appeared on the display. I silently spoke to myself about how I was pleased with those results because I knew since they continued their downward trend that they probably would leave me alone and allow me to get some sleep.
With all of her assigned duties completed the aide packed up her supplies and placed the bedside chart on the end of my bed and then asked if I needed anything. I replied “no” and then thanked her for asking. I then turned my attention back to the television and to watch the last few minutes of the football game. I had amazed myself with being so interested in a professional game, which I had not followed that league for many years but it was keeping me occupied I guess and that was a good thing. The game eventually ended and I felt tired enough to try and get some sleep.
I moved the call light over to the table and took my glasses off and of course I took my oxygen cannula out of my nose since it was hurting me in the position that I was laying. I took a quick deep breath and let it out slowly which reinforced my belief in that I did not need any oxygen since I was not short of breath at all. I turned off the television and then assumed my sleeping position and my mind began to run through its final cycles of thoughts before I decided to relax and try to fall asleep. However, I felt nature call me one more time so I slowly rose out of bed and made my way over to the bathroom. Nothing really exciting occurred in the trip and I shortly returned to my bed. I covered myself with the blanket and turned on my side to go to sleep.
I was close to dosing off when he nurse came in and checked on me one more time before I settled in for the night. These visits from the nursing staff was another reason why I did not like being in the hospital since I know that once a nurse came in other hospital staff would soon follow wanting to complete their duties. I know that these things had to be done and it was what was supposed to happen but they became annoying real fast yet there was nothing I could do about it but grin and bear it. The nurse said good night and closed the door behind her after she walked out. I turned back on my side and closed my eyes and quickly lost reality as my mind shut off for a few hours.
If someone came in during the hours of 2330 to 0230 in the morning I had no idea about it and to this day I still do not remember anything concerning that time period. I was tired from all the events of the day and it had taken its toll on my body. The nurse came in and said it was time for me to take my meds and to have a quick flush of my IV site before lab came in for my time draw. Of course the night aide followed the nurse in with her equipment for a vital sign check. All was ok and my IV site was still open and ready to be used if need be. A few quick checks of my lungs and breathing patterns and they were done with their duties. The nurse and I were chatting when the lab night tech walked in the door to draw my blood. The nurse said I looked good but that I needed to get more rest after the tech left.
As the nurse was leaving she noticed that my nasal cannula was not in my nose but she did not say anything and walked out of the room. I stuck my left arm out for the tech to draw my blood. The tourniquet tightened around my arm, the alcohol rubbed against the area that my vein rested in and then a quick poke of the needle into my arm. He was done in a few seconds and the tourniquet was loosened and a cotton ball placed on my arm. I reached over to the site and held the cotton ball tight against my hole while he placed the blood into the tubes. I did not have to ask what tests were ordered since I had completed those tests a thousand times during my career. He and I exchanged a few words and greetings and shortly afterwards he was gone and I was left waiting for the results.
I knew that the waiting process would take a while since these tests were not completed immediately, they took some time and my fate would be announced within thirty minutes give or take a few. I tried to go back to sleep but could not since I knew that my results would be delivered shortly so I laid there thinking about nothing for the most part. Not at any time, especially at this point, did I think that my lab results would come back abnormal. I had actually began thinking of when I would be able to return to work and contemplated that it would probably on Wednesday afternoon since it was already early Tuesday morning. The minutes ticked by as I sat and waited for someone to come in and give me some results. I had a quick thought that I could get up and go look on the computer for them but decided against it since technically I was supposed to be resting. So, like every other patient in the hospital I waited patiently for my results.
After waiting a while my body had decided that it finally was tired enough to fall asleep, so I fell into one of those quick dozing modes and did not wake again until my nurse came into the room and quietly called my name but I was already awake by the time she approached my bed. I noticed a needle in her hand so I naturally thought it was for my IV. I stuck my right arm out and she looked at it and shook her head. I knew then something was not right so I took the plunge and asked her if my CK and Troponin levels were elevated and she promptly nodded her head. I knew then what that shot was for and that it had nothing to do with my IV but it was going in my stomach area. Reality was setting in as I lifted up my gown and exposed my belly. She cleaned a small area with an alcohol pad and then took the cap off the needle. I laid my head back on the pillow as she inserted the small needle into my stomach and evacuated the contents of the syringe with the movement of the plunger. It did not take but a few seconds for the Lovenox to get under my skin and to begin its work.
Lovenox is a type of blood thinner that is injected under the skin instead of being infused into the body through an IV. It serves the same purpose as heparin which is the type of blood thinner that is infused through the IV bust is less dangerous with little complications or risk of internal bleeding. This medication is given to all patients who have elevated cardiac markers to ensure that clots do not form within the heart muscle, which then could break off and form a larger clot in one of the vessels and cause more damage or even death to the patient.
As the nurse took the needle out of my stomach area I moved my head down to look at her and then asked the big question of how elevated were my levels. This would be the defining moment and the definitive one that would seal my fate of whether or not I had a heart attack. The CK enzyme is not really specific to the heart muscle alone it can be elevated for many reasons in which the heart muscle is activated. Runners and many other types of athletes have elevated CK levels due to the exertion that they do on a daily routine. I was not a runner or an athlete but my hopes were pinned on a low number in any case. The Troponin I have mentioned before and will not go into any further details but both of these numbers were now the most important numbers in my life and I was just seconds away from hearing them.
My nurse immediately returned my question with the CK being over 400 and my Troponin being 4.9. I rolled my eyes back into my head now knowing that I had a heart attack and that I had bought myself a trip to Grand Junction to have further tests performed on my heart. Almost as soon as she got through telling me what my levels were the aide came in with her vital sign instruments and began to run me through the gauntlet once again. This time I did not say much just laid there and contemplated my fate with my condition and now focused on what was next. Not many changes had come about in my vital signs since the news bomb was dropped in fact my blood pressure was better at that point than it had been all evening. At some point my nurse left the room to answer a phone call which I assumed had to deal with me, but there was no way I could say that for sure and I really did not want to know either.
The aide finished her rounds and then asked if I needed anything and of course I said “no” and gave her a smile as she took hold of her vital sign tray and then headed towards the door. I said “thanks” as she closed the door behind her. I laid there for a few moments and just stared at the ceiling of the room and did not think of too much at that point. A funny thing happened at this point, I realized that my oxygen cannula was not on my head and that I should really have it on so that my airflow would not be impeded any, which was something the entire nursing staff had wanted me to do all evening long. Now that a serious condition had been confirmed inside my body I was willing to cooperate with this small task. How foolish I was and ridiculous I had been I thought to myself as I located the cannula.
Denial is a huge part of our human life. We deny so many things that we come into contact with that we do not even notice the majority of them. Many times we deny God and the warning signs that He gives us. Even though we continually ignore or dismiss these warning signs He allows us to plug along our life’s journey making our own decisions about how we should live our lives. We come to the point that God must do something to grab our attention and to pull us to the side of the road and wake us up to realize our exact position. Most of the time we then realize what is happening and actually stop and look around and make the necessary changes in our life. Some of us fail to do this step and end up finding out the end consequences are not too great and afterwards there is not much that can be done to correct all of the damage that we have done to ourselves.
God allows us to complete certain steps within our lives before He has to step in and say enough is enough. This path that we take can be a few days or as long as a few decades but whatever the length there comes a time when certain consequences of our path will catch up with us and God allows a large event to take place within us. How many times have we read in the Bible about disastrous things that have occurred to a person or a group of people, but I can guarantee that the majority of us have not thought about the process that led up to that disastrous event. I could have just told everyone what happened to me and left out all of the details of the processes that I took that led up to my heart attack, but I am writing this message to let you know that there is a process that we all follow to reach that great point in our life, and to also let you know that there is time to change your ways before God is forced to grab your attention in His fashion and not yours. My advice is to read these notes and then make the decision to change your life, your inner life before God has to make that decision.
DLB
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