Can you take me to the ER?

Those aren't exactly words that you want to hear at 4:30am from your husband, but I did indeed just 2 weeks ago. 

 

Tom had been cutting brush in the yard on Friday, Sept 26.  On Saturday, he had 3 loads of dirt brought in that he spread out with a small tractor and raked out with a landscaping rake.  He also hauled a bunch of the brush back to a burning pile and was working on burning it on Sat as well.  He likely worked harder than he usually did, but the tractor did most of the really hard work.  On Sunday morning, Tom woke up around 4:00 am with a pressure in his chest/shoulders/neck area.  He says is wasn’t painful, but felt like having a child sitting on him.  He got up, went to the bathroom, and tried to figure out what was going on.  After he had burped a few times, it seemed like the pressure was relieved somewhat, so he thought maybe he was just having some indigestion or that it was muscle pain from what he’d been doing out in the yard.  By 4:30am, he had tried lying back down, but realized something wasn’t right, so he woke me up and told me he didn’t feel well.  At first I thought he meant that he was feeling sick to his stomach, but soon realized that it was something more alarming.  I quickly got clothes on and Tom headed out to the car while I scooped the kids up out of their beds and plunked them in their car seats.  They didn’t have any idea what was going on, so they were still waking up as we sped down the highway to the hospital, which is only about 5 minutes away.  I helped Tom into the emergency triage room, where the nurse took over, then went back and parked the car and brought the kids in.  We sat out in the waiting room only about 10 minutes (where the kids were quickly glued to the TV) before they brought the three of us back into Tom’s emergency room.  On the way there, the nurse told us that Tom was having a heart attack and they were making plans to transfer him to a larger hospital in Rochester (St. Mary’s Hospital, which is connected with the Mayo clinic).  They had hoped to transfer him by air ambulance, but because the fog had rolled in, they were going to need to take him by regular ambulance (which is about a 45 minute drive).

When we entered the emergency room, Tom was all hooked up to the ECG (or EKG) machine and they were giving him lots of pills to try to dissolve the clot and get some blood to his heart.  The kids weren’t really sure what was going on, but both sat on my lap just taking it all in.  When the paramedics arrived to transfer him, Tom asked the kids to come over and give him a hug.  Ethan went and said goodbye and hugged him, but Kaitlyn refused to, just turning to me and starting to cry.  This, of course, made me tear up (which I tried not to let the kids see) but I had been calm up until that point.  They had us step out of the room while they took some sort of x-ray scan of his chest and a nurse brought the kids each a small stuffed animal.  I decided I’d better figure out what to do with the kids, so I called one of our friends (the elders of the meeting in Winona) and asked them if they could take my kids while I went to the hospital in Rochester.  There aren’t many people you feel comfortable calling at 5:00am and unexpectedly dropping your kids off with, but Jack and Jaci G. are the kind of people you know you can count on.  We watched the ambulance leave the hospital, then we drove home to get the kids some clothes (since I knew they would feel funny sitting in Sunday morning meeting in their pajamas!).  When I got to Jack and Jaci's, there was Jaci waiting for me all dressed and with her coat on.  She told me that she was ready to drive me to the hospital and that Jack would be fine with the kids.  I hadn’t considered that I might even need someone to drive me, since I was still feeling very calm and really wasn’t feeling upset, for some strange reason.  The kids were handling things very well, too.  I don’t think they really realized the severity of what was happening to Tom.  Anyway, I took Jaci up on her offer and we were headed to the hospital in no time.   They were still doing the surgery when we got there, so we had plenty of time to sit and wait.  I was glad for Jaci’s company, so I didn’t have any time to sit and worry.   

By 7:30 am, Tom was already checked into a hospital room for recovery.  Since arriving, Tom had had PCI (or angioplasty) done by inserting a wire and balloon through his wrist and 2 stents placed to clear 3 blockages in his right coronary artery and his left circumflex artery.  Tom was being monitored closely but was recovering really well.  Tom’s parents came around lunchtime and a couple hours later, we headed back to Winona to get the kids.  Both of Tom’s sisters and families also showed up to see Tom that afternoon/evening (at different times), so it was a busy place for a little bit.  Perhaps it was too busy, because I could see that Tom was getting tired.  Tom’s parents took the kids back to our house and took care of them for the night while I stayed in the hospital room with Tom.  Neither of us slept much that night.  After all the excitement and drama was mostly over, the reality of the situation hit home.  Tom’s emotions kicked in and he had to deal with that and insomnia, despite being overly tired.  As for me, I felt like I had with a newborn baby ... like I couldn’t really fall all the way to sleep, because I needed to make sure he was ok.  Plus, those hospital blankets aren’t exactly what I’d call “cozy.”  Even after getting a second one, I was still shivering all night long. 

On Monday, we had a visit from the doctors and their entourage (it is a teaching hospital, so there are lots of extra people around who are learning things ... Physicians Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Doctors in Residence, Specialists in Residence, and who knows who else); we got educated on what we should be doing at home to keep Tom healthy; and Tom had his echocardiogram (which is an ultrasound to look for any damage to the heart).  It showed that Tom’s ejection fraction (the portion of blood that is pumped out) was at 63%, which was GREAT and that he had only a slight amount of damage to the bottom portion of his heart, which they suspect may repair itself.  So, we are so thankful for a wonderful outcome!  By 4:00 Monday afternoon, Tom was being discharged from the hospital ... can you believe that? 

Since getting home, Tom has had to take it easy, rest a lot, and he can’t lift more than 10 pounds until 5-6 weeks after the stents were placed.  He slept a lot the first week and his parents stayed until Tuesday morning to help out with the kids, let us get some sleep, and do a few things that needing doing around the house.  They came back this week and helped get the heavy jobs done, like connecting the snow blower to the tractor, some yard work and things that Tom would normally be doing right now, but shouldn’t be.  Tom started cardio rehab last week for 3 days/wk and is mostly having to keep from tripping over his feet on the treadmill ... he says “I can’t go that slow!”  So, I am not worried that it is too much for him!  Tom will be starting back to work on Monday.  He is feeling so much better but still gets tired easily.  It is hard for him to watch other people doing the things he feels like he should be doing, but he is handling it graciously.  The thing that tires him out the most is the kids being kids ... squabbling, not listening to me, arguing with us, etc.  These are things that are part of having children, so I am trying to keep them away from him when I see it is getting to him.  I have tried to get it through the kids’ heads that Daddy can’t handle to much noise and bickering right now, but kids don’t really get that.  Anyway, every day gets better and it is so good to see him improving.  We are so thankful he is still here! 

Thanks for all your thoughts.  It has been very humbling to know how many people care and we are so thankful for what this experience has done to soften us.