I had finished working a solid day of talking -- four high school basketball games. So when I headed home after stopping for a burger and a couple of drinks, I thought nothing of the fact that I felt a little tired and a little sore.
Turned out there was more than fatigue involved.
A lot more.
Within an hour of getting home, I was en route to St. Joe's Hospital. My wife had called paramedics I told her I was "feeling very uncomfortable."
Next thing I knew, I was being wheeled into an ER ward. A doctor quickly looked at me and said I had suffered an "incident."
I was feeling better and wanted to go home but knew this wasn't going to happen. In a short order, I underwent a battery of tests and suddenly found myself in Room 4012 with little idea how I got there.
If your head is whirling trying to digest all this, imagine how I felt.
From there, things got more complicated. There were EKGs and blood tests. Needles were placed at various strategic angles. Every couple hours, a nurse took my blood pressure and wrote the results down with a grave face. I am no expert on these things but 165 over 109 works better as a stock quote than your blood pressure figure.
A severe looking doctor named Schuchard came in to tell me I had two basic choices: take a stress test and possible find out what the hell was wrong with me or undergo an angiogram and find out for sure. I liked the first idea because I might get out of the hospital in one day. However, my wife and my sister-in-law (who suffered a heart attack a decade ago) quietly joined the doctor in suggesting to take the other route.
Turned out to be the best idea of the year.
The angiogram showed a 95 percent blockage in one artery and 75 percent in another. The severe-looking doctor performed his magic, inserted two new stents and, 36 hours after this adventure started, I was headed back home.
A day later, it still seems a bit surreal. But it makes a fellow grateful to be able to welcome in the new year in a couple of hours.
I have some new suggestions about diet, a bevy of medications and some simple rules I must follow. If I take care of those items, the new year (which starts 150 minutes from now as I type this) should be a good one.
Accordingly, I have this wish for everyone for 2010: may it be quieter and more peaceful for you than this week has been.
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