Dad's Heart Attack

My Dad is doing alright.  He is weak and will need some rehab.  I am so glad that he didn't die because there is some repair work that needs to happen in our relationship and I would have been VERY sad not to have had the chance to do that.

In his own words in his recent email letter to our family:

'The story about me goes: Last Sunday, I lived through something that I should have died from. After 7 years of dealing with two stage four cancer tumors and now a massive heart attack that has left me with 3/4 of a heart that works, I am well adjusted to my own mortality. You don't need to tippy toe around me. We can joke about me and discuss it any time you want. Just don't ask me how I am doing. I mean I am a double stage four cancer guy who just had a massive heart attack. I am doing terrible as far as normal is concerned. But, I am having a ball in most other ways..

Here is my history leading up to the MI (Myocardial Infarction or heart attack). Three or four years ago when my total cholesterol was in the 240 range, triglycerides 350, I felt a heavy feeling, not actual pain, around my heart in my chest after eating burger king hamburgers. And, I still love them. This feeling was broadened to include brownies made with butter, beef roast, five or six broiled pieces of chicken breast which I loved the spices on them and ice cream by the 1/2 gallon. Any fat filled food gave me that feeling. The heavy feeling would go away after an hour or so and if I drank a few glasses of water.

One week ago Friday, as I was shoveling snow, I couldn't lift the shovel like normal. There was pain around the heart which I discounted and drank some water and took an aspirin. The pain went away. Then a few hours later, it came back.  Both arms ached like bad. The same through Saturday, every 5-6 hours an episode of pain that didn't go away for 30 minutes or so.. Sunday morning at 0500 in my little bathroom the pain was so severe and unrelenting that I knew it wasn't going away. I yelled to Myra, "Call 911." She panicked and said, "Are you sure? I don't know how." I yelled  back, "Figure it out and hurry." The pain was crushing in the upper chest. I started sweating on the forehead and neck. I walked to the living room and collapsed on the sofa. The EMT team arrived in a few minutes, two ambulances and a fire truck and we sped away to the hospital. 

They ran an EKG which was normal and drew cardiac blood tests which were normal. This was a huge puzzle as I was moaning in very severe pain. Finally, an older doctor came to me and said, There is a little spot on the last EKG that shouldn't be there. I FEEL as if you are having a heart attack. If it is what I think it is you need a stent right away. We are sending you directly to the front of the line in the cardiac catheter lab. (There were four other old men snow shovellers who were being worked up for stents). On the table upstairs the doctor came to me and said, "Mr Taylor, you are having a heart attack as we speak. We will insert the stent right now." They ran the tube through the femoral artery starting in the groin up to the center of the heart, dissolved the clot with blood thinners, placed the double stents and finally relief of the horrible pain. The rest is boring. The crisis was resolved. I haven't felt any pain since and I don't expect I will. That old heavy feeling is also gone. I believe I am more healthy than I have been in many years since my veins are clear. I hope my heart will recover to at least 90% which they said might happen after several months.'