After a bit, Claude came and we said our good-bye's to Papa. As I left, I hesitated just a bit. He said he was okay and we left.
We went to Ruby Tuesday's for a nice sit down dinner. We placed our order. Claude headed to the salad bar and I sipped my water and checked eMail's. Claude returned and had some of his soda with his salad. Then my cell phone rang.
It was Papa. He did not sound good at all. He told me he thought he was having a heart attack. I asked if it was a bad Atrial Fibrillation event. He told me he was sure it was a heart attack and it felt very different. I told him to sit still and hold the phone. I would call him right back.
I called Dr. Weckman's office. They told me to get him to the emergency room, not to bring him in. I called Papa and told him we were on our way and we were going to the emergency room when we got there. I asked him to sit still and hold his phone till we got there.
I explained to Claude what the call was about and that we needed to leave right then. I told the lady that was nearby that I was sure my father was having a heart attack and we needed to leave without our food. Not an issue for her. And we were gone.
Claude drove quickly and we got to Papa's apartment in great time. Put him in the front seat of the Jeep and I climbed in the back of the Jeep. We don't keep the back seat in the Jeep so it was an interesting ride back there.
Georgetown Hospital is doing some extensive renovations and the Emergency Room entrance is gated off. It took two tries to get to it. I ran in and told them I needed a wheel chair, that my father was in the car and we were sure he had a heart attack. They told me to pull into the Emergency Entrance for the ambulance and ring the door bell and they would bring me a wheel chair. Claude did this and they got Papa in a wheel chair and to an examining room right away.
This is where all that paperwork I do came in very handy. Questions come at you very quickly so they can react to what has happened quickly. Meds? The paper list comes out of the pocket on my purse so they can enter exactly what he takes, why he takes it, the dosage, etc. Medical History? Open the file on my Google Drive on my cell phone with his history typed in by year. Handed it to the nurse and she was amazed and happy. She quickly read through and gleaned the things she really needed to know. Weight? Birth date? Address? I knew that off the top of my head. It felt good to be able to get through all that so quickly and know correct information was given.
Papa was hooked up to monitors, an IV was placed for giving fluids and taking blood samples and blood tests were taken. We were told the results of the blood tests would take about an hour. We settled in to wait. Papa told us how he felt as this heart attack came on in his apartment. It was good for him to talk and for us to understand exactly how he felt. He said he felt it coming as we were leaving for lunch and started to stop us. Then he thought it was just a bad AFib event and he decided not to stop us. I'm sure this was the point at which I hesitated when we left for lunch.
Then I started watching the monitor and trying to learn how to read it. Two of the nurses gave me some instructions when they came in at different times and showed me what each line meant. Now, I really didn't understand all of it. But I did learn some key things to watch. Claude listened to all of this and I found him watching the monitor also.
My first scare at watching that monitor was that Papa's blood pressure kept going up, both the top and bottom numbers. It finally peeked and started to go down some.
The second scare came when we realized he was having small AFib events all the time. He was not even aware they were happening. But the monitor had 'AFib Alert' in red blinking almost all the time. Between them was the word 'brady'. The nurses told me that was when the blood bottomed out. So Papa was alternating between in irregular heart rhythm and no heart rhythm. Goodness. None of that was good.
A cardiologist came in, Dr. Joseph Thomas. We went over history for that day. He read the cell phone history. We figured the heart attack lasted over a 30 minutes period of time from the beginning to when Claude and I got Papa and went to the Emergency Room. Dr. Thomas said he would review all the blood tests, the readings from the monitor and he would have someone come in and give Papa a chest X-ray. Then he would tell us what he thought.
A lady came in with a portable X-ray machine. We got Papa up in the bed and she put the stuff on his chest and took her pictures with us standing in the hall way.
Eventually Dr. Thomas came back and told us Papa had a 'mild' heart attack. We had two options. First, we could have him admitted to the hospital for 3 days and watch him. Then do a stress test after we were sure his heart was settled down. Or, second, we could have him do a heart catheterization. We opted for the 3 day stay and observation followed by a stress test. Much less invasive. The hospital had to check out a patient and prepare their room before Papa could be admitted. We would wait in the ER.
One of the things they were watching was an enzyme was troponin. It should be a zero reading. It was down to 4 when they took Papa to his room. Evidently this 'troponin' tells them if there was a heart attack or heart damage. This was a new word to add to my vocabulary.
We had arrived at the Emergency Room between Noon and 12:30. By the time Papa was checked into his room, it was 6pm. Dr. Weckman came to check in after his office closed. He told us he would be in two times on Saturday and once on Sunday. He assured us Papa would not check out until Monday and that would be after the stress test and if he did well on the stress test. Papa was just happy to be in the room and have a television to watch. He was in a private room and in an amazing location so he could turn that volume up really high. Dinner was brought to him and he settled in nicely.
Claude and I had tickets to see 'Midtown Men' at the Lancaster Grand Theater in Lancaster, Kentucky. The show was to begin at 8pm. We thought we were going to have lunch, go home and get things done and then go to the concert in the evening. The tickets were at home and we had not dressed for an evening out. Before we left the emergency room I asked Dr. Thomas about the advisability of me going or should I stay there with Papa. He grinned and told me it was okay for me to keep my regular schedule for the weekend. They would just be gathering information and data to determine exactly what happened and what to do. Papa would be on monitors connected to the nurses station and they would know immediately if there were any issues. I was to go and enjoy myself. So we sent Claude home to get the tickets and return to get me in the hopes we would have Papa checked in to his hospital room and still have time to make it to the concert.
Amazingly, that all worked out. I went to the theater in my jeans and that was that. We had a lovely evening and totally enjoyed the concert. This is a group of four of the original actors from the Broadway hit "Jersey Boys". They have a band accompanying them and they sing music from the 60's. Lots of gray hair in the audience but everyone enjoyed themselves immensely. Claude purchased a CD and the Midtown Men autographed it for him.
Saturday evening Claude and I had a black tie event to attend. It was the KCTCS 2015 Celebration of Philanthropy Dinner. I purchased a beautiful new dress and shoes. The story of those shoes is in my last post. Again, we were encouraged to go ahead and keep our normal schedule. I carried all my 'prom' gear to Georgetown and put it in Papa's apartment. When I left him I went there and got all gussied up for our big night on the town. Claude came in and picked me up at Papa's. As we approached the Hyatt Hotel which is also where the Lexington Center is located, we were quite aware that everyone around there was dressed in jeans. There was a cheer leading competition going on. There was also a University of Kentucky game that night in the same place. Lots of activity. Fortunately, our table was paid for by Kentucky League of Cities and they also provided a valet parking ticket. We struggled through the traffic to get there but pulled up in front of the Hyatt in our bright yellow Jeep and hopped out in our formal duds, giving the Jeep to the valet guys. That is always amusing to us. Most people would go in a very expensive car. We arrive in our Jeep. The valet guys love it. I think they must prefer driving the Jeep than the expensive cars. Our table mates were Dawn and her hubby from KLC. It was fun to get to meet them and visit over dinner. We had a good time but left when the dancing started. We had a very early morning Sunday and needed to get home for a few hours of rest.
A lady came in with a portable echo cardiogram machine. I watched as she did echo. I even took a video of it for Papa to show after she finished. He was laying on his side in the bed and could not tell what was going on with the computer monitor.
Dr. Thomas came in and said Papa could go home. We did not need to do the catheterization. He wanted to see him in two weeks. He would add two medications to Papa's current regimen. At about 5pm, Dr. Weckman came in and told Papa he could go home and he would see him in one week. By 6pm, Papa was checked out and on his way home.
I dropped him off and went to CVS to fill the prescriptions. They said it would take 30 minutes at least to get them done. I told the lady I had not eaten since my bagel when I left home. I would go to Zaxby's and have a nice dinner and then come back. She was so relieved I wasn't going to wait. I think I may have done a nice thing for her. I so enjoyed that salad at Zaxby's. It was delicious. I went back and got the prescriptions and then back to Papa's apartment and set up his prescriptions again. Once I was sure he was okay, it was back to Sadieville for me.
As I think back over this event, I feel totally blessed in how it all unfolded. I have a little prayer I say to Heavenly Father frequently. I admit I don't always know exactly how to handle all that needs to be handled with Papa. I ask for his help in knowing what to do and how to be ready for whatever comes in his waning years. All the time I notice His hand in my care for Papa.
This time the heart attack happened while Claude and I were in Georgetown. When Papa called, I immediately asked Heavenly Father for a clear head and a calm heart to make decisions and support Papa to the best of my ability. While I know my system was keyed up, to say the least, with what was happening, I remained calm in the way things were handled, I had the things the doctor's needed to provided prompt care for him and to understand his medical history. When choices were presented as to how to handle this particular heart attack, we were all (Papa, me and Claude) on the same page as to what our first choice was for his care. Claude and I were able to attend the things we had committed to attend and I was still able to spend lots of time with Papa in the hospital. I settled into doing crocheting that I wanted to accomplish for Christmas. This time waiting in the hospital was not just sitting and waiting, I was accomplishing and creating while I waited, and that felt good. A good cardiologist was at the hospital when this happened. We were grateful for him and the manner in which he handled the situation. So many big and little things that I know were tender mercies from a loving Heavenly Father.
I also appreciated my father and his 'enduring' the situation. He really didn't want to stay in the hospital. But he did and happily told the nurses every time they asked how he was doing that he was ready to go home. I can't tell you how many times that gave him a shot in his stomach of blood thinners trying to get that INR up to a better number. Never did he complain. I can't tell you the number of times they pricked a finger for a blood test or gave a shot or drew blood from his arm. Never a complaint. We are taught at church that, after faith, repentance, baptism and receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, we are to endure. I always add to that, that we are to 'endure well'. Most people can begrudgingly endure many things. But to 'endure well' to me means we take that enduring to a grander level. Papa did that in my eyes during this hospital stay. He didn't like being poked and stuck and prodded and awakened every 15 minutes during the night, but he didn't complain. I believe he 'endured well'. This is a great example to his 65 year old daughter.
We have a appointment to see Dr. Weckman this Tuesday and Dr. Thomas on December 2nd. Hopefully they will give us good reports. I know we have done all we can and the best we can for Papa. Now we just leave the rest to the Lord's timing for him.
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