heartache- hospital-hurricane Harvey-whata ride

[barbee6043]

ACTUALY, call this heart attack! hospital! hurricane Harvey!!! what a ride!!!!!!
this time 3 weeks ago I was as usual working on my duster-- brakes this time. hot humid,SE Texas I am 69, I take breaks, but for couple days I felt off. I go to local doc an he takes EKG and tells me to get to the hospital. he will call an ambulance. we drive there to hospital on North edge of Houston. 2 hours later, they tell me I had heart attach, they put in 2 stints and say more in 2 days... in 2 more days they tell me I need triple bypass, stints would only be band aide. now hurricane Harvey is just hitting Galveston!
SOOOOOOO, I got home yesterday, Sept 9th, Sat at 6;00 pm after what???? 18 days in that hospital! it takes 5-7 days for body to get ride of Plavix blood thinner they gave me for stints. it takes me 9 days. so, I wait for bypass/ then Harvey during this time hits at Galveston and later wanders up coast to Houston...Houston flood ever.. worst US flood ever?... my hospital for days runs off generators. power ... on and off..... days of no TV waiting for my surgery... we live 50 minutes from hospital in country. wife can't get there for 7 days. all interstates are flooded. Houston calls it a 1000 year flood. it is bad........bad.... several downtown hospitals completely evacuated, they we flooded. Nat Guard were flying in criticals from those hospitals to mine which has no consistant power. big choppers coming and going day and nite. off and on for days. and I wait for Flavix to go away, to be back on the grid, cell phone is horrible. NO computer. no wife for a week. and I am one of the LUCKY ones..... ha
then after 9 days, Plavix goes away, Houston is in worst flood in history, choppers quit landing, back on grid, wife can actually get to me.....now, it is WEEKEND<<< they schedule NO cabbage operations on weekend.. MON????? NO.. holiday.. same thing.. then last TUE I get my triple bypss/ 4 days later I am HOME!!!!! I was strong for 69 year old, God held my hand thru this, He spoke to me..

first day HOME in 18-19 days..... sitting outside feeling sunshine I havn't felt in almost 3 weeks. I never been inside for longer than 2 days before in my life! ha

 

[zkx14]

Wow, Glad you made it and welcome back!

 

[No name needed]

Welcome home. now heal up.

 

[R4Sedan]

God, was with you on this. Glad you and your family are ok.

 

[gdrill]

Wow, glad it all worked out. Obviously you are strong, that may have taken a greater toll on some.

 

[nm9stheham]

Wow what a saga! At least you were in a good place to be taken care of in your condition, despite Harvey. A repeat of the attack away from the hospital might have been IT. I bet your wife was going crazy with worry.

Been there, but without the bypasses. Just rest and rest; your heart muscles have been damaged and will take months to heal. It'll come back at it's own pace and pushing it will just NOT work. Give it 6 to 12 months at least; you are older now and so the longer time may be in order. Once there, you may get a treadmill stress test; that will be a key test to see how well things are going to recover; passing that at maximum heart rate is a great sign.

Change your diet significantly to get the fats and cholesterols down as much as you can. Work hard to get BELOW the cholesterol limits set for you by the docs. Less red meat and more fish, chicken, and pork. Take that part seriously and it will serve you well. I bet you have a statin as part of your prescriptions; that one is important for keeping cholesterols down; take it religiously!

 

[66fyssh]

Wow, thanks for filling us in. That was some ordeal you went through, but its great you kept your patience and got through it. The body usually gives us signs when it needs rest. You definitely need to rest now.

God is great!!

 

[barbee6043]

I was lucky. out of ICU in 2 days, 2 days on Cardo floor , usually takes 5-6 days.... I think they were tired of seeing my face!!! my 2 drain tube came t yesterday afternnon before headed home. I am black, blue, swollen everywhere, sore... but I try not to take pain meds.. yes I was one then in the ICU! I actually thought the Morphin was not working!!!! ha
I pray all turns out well for for Fl. my son in law is a lineman in Mo. he was sent there tp Tx at beginning of Harvey for what 3 weeks in Victoria Tx, between corpus and Houston.. he left fri for fl and got there yesterday morning. hope he and his crew c rew has a few days off before their 20 hr days!!!

sorry I know I am still foggy!!!!!!!

 

[nm9stheham]

Yeah, I saw a lot of line trucks heading down I-81 in western VA on Friday. Long hours indeed!

 

[jimjimjimmy]

Sugar and carbs are way worse than animal fats .man made and modified fats now are a different story .

 

[barbee6043]

the whole deal was a lot of bad and also good timing. the good part is I got to hospital. 2 hours later they tell me I am having /had heart attach. they put in 2 stints. they want to do more in two days. they tell me I have 2 arteries 98% blocked and a 3 rd bad. then after that 2 days waiting, they tell me I really need a triple bypass. but I have to wait 5-7 days for Plavix blood thinner to leave before they can do surgury, Hurricane Harvey is headed for me and Houston.... this takes me from a tue to thur. we live 50 min north of Houston. its thur.... wife get half way to hospital and has to turn around. raining so hard she can see the hood of the truck, I had told doc that morning LET me go HOME,,, I will take my chances. I will return after the storm. NO way will he.
so I go from that thur to next fri waiting for Plavix to go away! all during the flood. ha... so by that weekend I am ready BUT they schedule no operations during weekend or that labor day!!!! but during the flood, they have to take in criticals for operations, from flooded hospitals scattered around Houston. I am NOT critical.......so last Tue I get my bypass and came home sun late afternoon! today is MON, almost a week after my operation.!!!
during the flood medical and army chppers were bringing in criticals from flooded hospitals, and taking out those that could be taken out. one of my nurses was in Houston from Fl on vacation,,, during this flood. she came in on a chopper to help out.. the nurses that were caught at the hospital in the beginning of all this flood were "locked" in.... some had spent 5-6 days there. could not leave. some could not get home if they wanted to.
some Houston interstates are just now getting open. closest the flood waters got to my hospital was 1 /4 mi away, in a high $ subdivision.

I am sure all this I write is sorta blurred. I am BLURRED~~~~~ ha

 

[jimjimjimmy]

hang in there I had a quad 3 years ago of course I never had a hurricane to deal with but im better than new now your right stints are a patch job surgery may be scary but it is a proper fix . I know you feel like a truck hit you and backed up over you and hit you again 3 months you will feel better in a year you will be good and 2 years you will feel better than you did when you were a teenager . good luck .

 

[barbee6043]

hang in there I had a quad 3 years ago of course I never had a hurricane to deal with but im better than new now your right stints are a patch job surgery may be scary but it is a proper fix . I know you feel like a truck hit you and backed up over you and hit you again 3 months you will feel better in a year you will be good and 2 years you will feel better than you did when you were a teenager . good luck .

tanks for the words of encouragement!! yes it was a week ago tomorrow I had the surgery. yes several big Pet's ran o ver me, with 80,000 loads!! ha

I am walking a lot. my main trouble is at night. have to urgently get up to pee every 1 1/2-2 hours!

 

[MobileCustoms]

wow! Best wishes!