Serious as a Heart Attack!

How many times have you heard someone use this phrase to emphasize that a particular subject was very serious? Well, let me tell you, until you've been there you have no idea just how serious it is.

Friday morning, March 10, 2006, I started feeling pain in my chest. I took a nitroglycerin table and laid down in bed. The pain quickly passed, so I got up and started my day. At about 8:00 I felt pain again, and again took a nitro pill and laid down. Again the pain quickly passed. When I again felt pain at 9:00 and took another pill, I began to get concerned and when the pain returned after only about 10 minutes, I knew it was time to go to the hospital.

We arrived at Hospital Nacional in Panama City about 10:00 and I was immediately put on a gurney and hooked up to an EKG machine, while Nora took my retired military ID card and got me checked in. The EKG appeared normal, so no one, including me, got too excited.

Nora had been trying to contact Dr. Garcia-Mallorca, who turned out to be out of town on a medical conference. She then called a few members of my Masonic fraternity for help and within an hour Cardiologist Dr. Norberto Calzada was at my side. After ordering more tests and running another EKG, he had me moved to the Intensive Care Unit. Later in the day, he informed us that after reviewing all the tests, it appeared I had suffered a very mild heart attack, and the pain I was continuing to feel was Angina. He scheduled a heart catheterization for Saturday at 8:00 AM. At this point, we all thought I'd get a bit of angioplasty and go home good as new in a few days. However, Dr. Calzada discovered three blocked arteries, one 100%, another 90% and the third less, so my quick procedure became a bypass operation.

Between Saturday and Monday morning I was visited by Craig Morrissey, the CHAMPUS administrator, Dr. Carlos Montero, head of the blood bank, Dr. Pedro Echeverria, head of the surgical team, the anestheseolgist whose name I unfortunately did not write down, and of course, Dr. Calzada, who came to see me twice every day while I was hospitalized. All of these fine people assured me I was in capable hands and encouraged me to keep my spirits up.

When it turned out that the blood bank didn't have quite as much O negative blood as the surgeons felt comfortable with, Nora again called friends, family and my Masonic brothers, who also alerted the VFW and in just a few hours, there was plenty of blood in the bank. The last word I got on the blood situation was from Darryl Dalley who told me they were still getting donations on Thursday. My heartfelt thanks go out to all those who donated and those who helped find donors.

I'd like to take this time to comment on the human side of my hospitalization. My doctors told me very early on that my attitude would count about 85% towards how quickly and easily I recovered. What they didn't say, but I soon found out, was that my positive attitude affected the way the staff treated me. They were, as far as I could tell, kind, compassionate, caring, and gentle with all patients, but they always made me feel extra special with a smile, a kind word, a genuine concern about how I felt, and a gentle touch. I simply can't say enough good things about the compassion and caring of the staff at Hospital Nacional. While nothing can make 8 days of pain enjoyable, those fine folks made it a lot more bearable.

Monday morning I was fed, thoroughly sponge-bathed and shaved from my neck to my ankles. By 1:00 PM I was in an operating room. I woke about 6:00 PM in good spirits but with a very dry mouth. The next two days were spent in the ICU ward, with my spirits high and condition improving every day. On Wednesday I was moved to a private room on the third floor and most of my tubes were removed. There I was able to get out of bed, with help, and eat lunch in a chair. On Thursday, the rest of the tubes were removed and I was able to walk around the room and go to the bathroom on my own. Nora helped me walk down the length of the hall outside, and by Friday afternoon I felt strong enough to walk to the cafeteria and get a cup of coffee.
Dr. Calzada released me on Saturday morning and the only hitch was in the Pharmacy taking a long time to prepare my final bill, but I was on the way home by noon. I've been home a week now, and have gone shopping, and on Thursday visited Dr. Echevarria to have the several dozen stainless steel staples holding my five incisions together removed. Dr. Echeverria, by the way, is one of those who freely gives his cell phone number to patients and made me feel he genuinely cares about me as a human being, not just another patient. In fact, all my doctors make me feel that way.

It's been a painful process and nothing I took for the pain made it go away, just diminished it a bit. I'm still unable to get comfortable in bed and sleep in a marvelous reclining chair with a built in five point vibrating system, but every day the pain is less severe, and today (Sunday) for the first time in over two weeks, I had a few hours pain free. All in all, things are looking up.

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