Day 3 began with some excitement. My roommate's heart rate spiked up to 190 and it seemed like half the hospital came in to deal with him. I was so tired however that I fell right back asleep. It turned out he was OK but this episode meant he was going to have to stay at least another day and he was looking forward to leaving.
A cardiologist showed up, talked to me a bit, discharged me and Lauren came and took me home. Long story short, they don't know what caused the event but they know there was an event. So I now have a prescription for some sort of cholesterol lowering medicine. I'm not allowed to do anything strenuous, so marathon training is now on hold. Looks like next week will be spent at various doctor offices. Ugh.
Well the good news is I dodged another bullet. The bad news is we don't know what kind of bullet it was.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Day 2 in the hospital
Day 2 was all about the cardiac catheterization. Had a liquid breakfast and I'm not talking the fun kind. I had a 2 PM tee time in the Cath room but got pushed back an hour. I had to sign a bunch of papers before hand and entered some trial program so that if there was a blockage the hospital could take some sort of action. Stent, Angioplasty or worst case a bypass. I know I expected them to find a blockage and I think they did to. Alas, my veins turned out to be wide open and clear. I know this is supposed to be good news but for me, it didn't answer the question of what caused my cardiac event.
If you ever need a cardiac catheterization here's one thing they don't tell you. After the procedure you have a hole in your groin where they run the probe up. I ended up on my back with a 10 lb sand bag holding a plug in my groin. That sucked big time.
The day ended with me passing out and awaiting a conversation with the cardiologist Friday morning.
If you ever need a cardiac catheterization here's one thing they don't tell you. After the procedure you have a hole in your groin where they run the probe up. I ended up on my back with a 10 lb sand bag holding a plug in my groin. That sucked big time.
The day ended with me passing out and awaiting a conversation with the cardiologist Friday morning.
Friday, August 14, 2009
The ER
On April 3rd this year, a girl lost control of her car, hydroplaned across the grass median strip of Rt 295, right into me. I was taken to RWJ in Hamilton. I ended up in ER room #3 and Marcy was my nurse.
It's now Aug 12 and I am in ER room #3 and Marcy is one of the 5 people working on me. Oxygen, EKG, blood test, they wheeled in a X-ray machine to take a chest x-ray. I had an IV installed and at least felt like I had a fighting chance. Somewhere along the line I called Lauren and told her where I was. She was on her way and arrived a short while later. What a way to spend her 24th birthday.
My initial blood work looked good as did the chest x-ray. But the EKG did not. It was decided I needed a CAT scan of my chest. After this was done the cardiologist stopped by for a long chat. He wasn't sure if I had an actual heart attack or not but I definitely had a cardiac event. He told me he thought that I was lucky to have survived this. 3 lives down now, 6 to go. Yikes.
Analysis of my cat scan showed some calcium build up and it was determined that the next step would be a cardiac catheterization - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_catheterization - this meant I was staying the night. I was eventually moved up into a room that was the staging area right before ICU. They monitor you 24 hrs but it's not nearly as restrictive as ICU is.
Marie and John both stopped by for a visit, Marie took Lauren out for a quick birthday dinner as John and I hung out. They all went to my place to pick up some clothes, a book, my phone charger and my iPod. I talked and texted with quite a few people and I'd like to thank all of them for their concern, thoughts and prayers.
I went to sleep confident that a blockage would be found tomorrow, it would get fixed and we'd be done with this nonsense. Alas, it was not to be.....
It's now Aug 12 and I am in ER room #3 and Marcy is one of the 5 people working on me. Oxygen, EKG, blood test, they wheeled in a X-ray machine to take a chest x-ray. I had an IV installed and at least felt like I had a fighting chance. Somewhere along the line I called Lauren and told her where I was. She was on her way and arrived a short while later. What a way to spend her 24th birthday.
My initial blood work looked good as did the chest x-ray. But the EKG did not. It was decided I needed a CAT scan of my chest. After this was done the cardiologist stopped by for a long chat. He wasn't sure if I had an actual heart attack or not but I definitely had a cardiac event. He told me he thought that I was lucky to have survived this. 3 lives down now, 6 to go. Yikes.
Analysis of my cat scan showed some calcium build up and it was determined that the next step would be a cardiac catheterization - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiac_catheterization - this meant I was staying the night. I was eventually moved up into a room that was the staging area right before ICU. They monitor you 24 hrs but it's not nearly as restrictive as ICU is.
Marie and John both stopped by for a visit, Marie took Lauren out for a quick birthday dinner as John and I hung out. They all went to my place to pick up some clothes, a book, my phone charger and my iPod. I talked and texted with quite a few people and I'd like to thank all of them for their concern, thoughts and prayers.
I went to sleep confident that a blockage would be found tomorrow, it would get fixed and we'd be done with this nonsense. Alas, it was not to be.....
Drive to the Hospital
So after talking to my brother in-law I talked to my daughter. She also insisted I go to the ER. I said I would.
Instead I decided to get a shower. Maybe that would help and besides I was disgusting after the run. The shower actually convinced me I needed to go to the hospital. I quickly dressed and went downstairs to my car. By now it was pouring out - in fact it rained a full 4 inches in about an hour.
The trip to RWJ is only about 10 minutes but because of the rain and flooding it took 15-20. Halfway through the drive I regretted it, I was in big big trouble and I knew it. Somehow I made it to the hospital and the emergency area but by now was in great distress. I could barely breath and had shooting pains down both arms. My chest felt like it was in an ever tightening vise.
I couldn't find parking close and ultimately parked a couple hundred yards away. As I walked to the ER it occurred to me that I was going to drop dead right here in the parking lot. The pain got much worse and it was obvious to me I was in the throes of a full blown heart attack. I was scared and really expected to just collapse.
I made it to the ambulance entrance and banged on the glass doors. A few nurses came running out and could tell I was in distress. They immediately put me in a room in the ER. Maybe I had a chance after all.
... to be continued
Instead I decided to get a shower. Maybe that would help and besides I was disgusting after the run. The shower actually convinced me I needed to go to the hospital. I quickly dressed and went downstairs to my car. By now it was pouring out - in fact it rained a full 4 inches in about an hour.
The trip to RWJ is only about 10 minutes but because of the rain and flooding it took 15-20. Halfway through the drive I regretted it, I was in big big trouble and I knew it. Somehow I made it to the hospital and the emergency area but by now was in great distress. I could barely breath and had shooting pains down both arms. My chest felt like it was in an ever tightening vise.
I couldn't find parking close and ultimately parked a couple hundred yards away. As I walked to the ER it occurred to me that I was going to drop dead right here in the parking lot. The pain got much worse and it was obvious to me I was in the throes of a full blown heart attack. I was scared and really expected to just collapse.
I made it to the ambulance entrance and banged on the glass doors. A few nurses came running out and could tell I was in distress. They immediately put me in a room in the ER. Maybe I had a chance after all.
... to be continued
The Event - 8/12/09
After last week's horrible run, I ran on Sat and Monday with no problems at all. In fact on Monday I felt like I was coming around. Played golf on Tuesday in the heat and was fine, so fine in fact I actually considered playing more holes. Woke up Wed and decided to go for a 4 mile run. The run was fine, I felt good and again, felt like I was making progress. Finished the run, did a cool down walk and went to stretch. This is when the fun began...
When I got to the car to stretch I immediately knew I was gong down. I quickly threw my towel on the ground before my knees hit and put my head down. I quite possibly blacked out for a second or two, but I was clearly in trouble. I could feel my chest tightening and was extremely light headed. I have never experienced anything like this before.
Every attempt to sit or stand resulted in me back on the ground with my head nice and low. I was in trouble and knew it. But I had no phone and none of my neighbors were home. If someone would have come out or showed up I would have had them call 911, that's how bad this was.
After 15 or 20 minutes it started to drizzle and this helped a bit. Then it started pouring and I had to do something. I got in my car. Just sitting in the car for a couple of minutes helped and I decided to get in my apartment. I made it and spent a few minutes on the floor but really felt no better. I heard my laptop alert me of an IM, it was my sister. I couldn't sit up to type back so I called her and told her what was going on. Without hesitation she told me to call 911 and I said I wanted to give it a few more minutes. Her husband called me and told me to get to the hospital either an ambulance or have a neighbor drive. I said I would.
.... to be continued.
When I got to the car to stretch I immediately knew I was gong down. I quickly threw my towel on the ground before my knees hit and put my head down. I quite possibly blacked out for a second or two, but I was clearly in trouble. I could feel my chest tightening and was extremely light headed. I have never experienced anything like this before.
Every attempt to sit or stand resulted in me back on the ground with my head nice and low. I was in trouble and knew it. But I had no phone and none of my neighbors were home. If someone would have come out or showed up I would have had them call 911, that's how bad this was.
After 15 or 20 minutes it started to drizzle and this helped a bit. Then it started pouring and I had to do something. I got in my car. Just sitting in the car for a couple of minutes helped and I decided to get in my apartment. I made it and spent a few minutes on the floor but really felt no better. I heard my laptop alert me of an IM, it was my sister. I couldn't sit up to type back so I called her and told her what was going on. Without hesitation she told me to call 911 and I said I wanted to give it a few more minutes. Her husband called me and told me to get to the hospital either an ambulance or have a neighbor drive. I said I would.
.... to be continued.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Today's run sucked
It's several hours after today's run and I'm still wiped out. Managed to complete 4 miles but it wasn't easy or pretty. The first 2 miles seemed fairly normal but then somewhere in the 3rd mile it started degrading. Eventually I switched to survival mode as if I was in the last 10 miles of a marathon. Run - walk - run - walk, hope to get hit by a car... stagger in.
It's obvious to me that I have to stop running in this heat & humidity, at least until I drop a few pounds and get closer to being in shape. The run today knocked 4 lbs off me, I know it's all water weight but jeez still. So either tomorrow or Friday I am going to try running very early in the morning to avoid the heat.
It's obvious to me that I have to stop running in this heat & humidity, at least until I drop a few pounds and get closer to being in shape. The run today knocked 4 lbs off me, I know it's all water weight but jeez still. So either tomorrow or Friday I am going to try running very early in the morning to avoid the heat.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Golf league last night
Finally hit the ball beautifully last night. Hit 7 of 9 greens in regulation and shot 39 despite 4 3-putts. Greens were pretty crappy after all the rain so I'll blame it on that.
JD and I split the match last night which I'll take considering one of opponents had a 27 net. Even Tiger isn't beating someone with a 27 net.
After hitting the ball so well last night I am really looking forward to playing later this week.
JD and I split the match last night which I'll take considering one of opponents had a 27 net. Even Tiger isn't beating someone with a 27 net.
After hitting the ball so well last night I am really looking forward to playing later this week.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Marathon training officially starts
With the annual bus trip behind me it's time to start. Ran a very slow 3.1 miles today. Not surprising considering I'm carrying 198 lbs.So the immediate goals this week are to run at least 15 miles and try to get down to 195. These are very easy and attainable goals.
Longer term goals are 30-40 miles per week and my weight down to 175.
FYI for future posts the running week starts Monday and ends on Sunday.
Longer term goals are 30-40 miles per week and my weight down to 175.
FYI for future posts the running week starts Monday and ends on Sunday.
World of Almo is back
Between Twitter and Facebook it's become difficult to post all three places. However since I'm currently jobless with plenty of time on my hand I'm going to try to update this more often. Of course there is another Marathon looming on the horizon so the training has begun, there are still concerts to report on and I really need to start putting up some Music reviews.
Keep checking back.
Keep checking back.
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