I'm getting some inquiries from miscellaneous folks, so here is an update on how I spent my weekend. Maybe in more detail than you want to know, but this is my way to share without repeating the same story over and over. Most importantly: I'm OK, I'm home, I'm resting!
You may know that I've been battling some chronic health conditions over the last few years. Recently I've had difficulty with high blood pressure, and my docs decided to put me on a daily beta blocker. Maybe that helped cause trouble, or maybe it just helped to expose existing trouble.
On Friday of last week, I slowly realized I was super-tired -- totally exhausted and very short of breath, much much worse than ever before. I tried to take my own blood pressure with two different home devices; both failed. I felt lightheaded and thought I might faint. When I couldn't stand at the sink long enough to fill a water glass... I called my primary doctor, called a driver, and headed for the nearby Emergency Room at our local hospital in Frankfort (FRMC). In retrospect, I should have called 911. I didn't want to accept that I may have a serious problem, and my thinking was fuzzy... maybe I was just dehydrated?
I was seen quickly, and they took my blood pressure a few times. I don't know what the pressure was, but the heart rate (beats per minute) was 20: Bradycardia.
Suddenly everything was happening in double-time. I overheard discussion that they did not have the "right kind" of cardiologist on staff, so I needed to go the nearby Med Center at the University of Kentucky (UK) in Lexington. NOW. By helicopter. While waiting for the helicopter to arrive, a young doctor created a fairly large hole with a tube in my neck, on the right side. "Just in case quick access to the heart is needed during the ride." Gulp. This is getting serious.
Normally if you asked me to ride in a helicopter, you would get a firm, "No way." Afraid of the 'copter, afraid of heights. But on this day I was relaxed and unworried; I had made it to where I needed to be to get help, these were the helpers, so I could relax. I watched our beautiful Bluegrass scenery unfold under the clear blue sky and thoroughly enjoyed the short trip. Maybe I was medicated, but I prefer to think that my guardian angels were very near.
At UK it was near the end of the scheduled workday. I needed a pacemaker implant, but that doctor was not available until the next morning. So another young doctor went about creating a "temporary pacemaker" using the hole in my neck - in case of need during the night. Gulp again. It was a rather lengthy, complex process involving lots of pressure, heavy hardware taped to my shoulder, and intricate wire-bending. Not to mention hookups to multiple portable machines, multiple times: ultrasound, X-ray, EKG. Finally they were done, and I could sleep (covered in dozens of electrode stickers). A few hours later the contraption came undone and had to be constructed all over again. Should I be worried yet?
Come Saturday morning, an older doctor appeared with an air of authority. The electrical impulses were not connecting between the upper and lower chambers of my heart. creating the need for a pacemaker (not a defibrillator). "Don't worry, I've done thousands of these." I welcomed the presence and prayers of the Episcopal priest with whom I had recently worked for many years. After rolling down to the cold Cath Lab, I repeated the Lord's Prayer until sleep came.
And that was it. Problem solved! After one more night, they sent me home. I have a big new bandage near my left shoulder; can't wait for bandages on both sides to come off next week (itch, itch). I will have a little black box by my bedside for the rest of my life, remotely checking on the pacemaker every night. I have a few physical restrictions. But I feel great and am breathing normally, yay! I do still have other issues that I wish could be resolved so easily. But I'm still here.
I am so very grateful for so much. Grateful to my closest friends and family, who showed up in person and in spirit to provide support, grateful to the medical teams who did their jobs superbly, grateful for the miraculous technology that makes it all possible. I am grateful to God for my faith and comforting angels, and for being alive in a time and place that makes such a technological miracle into a commonplace occurrence.
