Early Evening. Early Spring.
Sigma fp.
I had an interesting day today. I was at swim practice when I noticed a friend at one end of the pool looking "not right." I headed directly over and asked what was going on. He had a pain in the left side of his chest. It was a pain or pressure he'd never felt before. We hopped out of the pool while the rest of the swimmers continued their workout. We quickly got dressed and I got him into my car. We headed to the nearest ER. His EKG was abnormal, his blood pressure was sky high and the pain was not going away. He got stabilized, medicated and then transferred via ambulance to a cardiac center with more comprehensive resources and staff. With aspirin, morphine and a nitro patch as well as continuous monitoring, his EKG stabilized, his BP dropped back down to normal levels and blood test showed no troponin. According to the attending cardiologist he probably dodged a bigger problem.
We're not sure what caused the symptoms yet. It was a tough swim practice but not that much different from usual. At any rate, it was a lesson re-learned for me: If you get a strange chest pain don't ignore it or hope that it will go away on its own. Get it checked out. And for goodness sake, if you are having chest pains don't drive yourself to the ER.
I have every hope that my swim friend will be back in the pool in no time. We'll make sure he goofs off more and over-achieves less. Not everything in life needs to be a sprint...
A weird day for me as I didn't touch a camera all day long. We'll fix that tomorrow.
Take care of your friends. They're gold.
I had a friend do the same for me on a bike ride. All turned out well but I am eternally grateful for his concern.
ReplyDeleteGood moves you made. I hope the treatment doesn't bankrupt him. There's going to be an interesting debate to be had over the US healthcare model over the coming weeks and months. Stay well!
ReplyDeleteHe's well insured. Few, if any of my friends are in the position to be bankrupted by a short stay in a hospital... We're just too old not to have money saved and at the ready. The people I worry about are the uninsured and underinsured. That's where U.S. healthcare gets tricky.
ReplyDeleteGood job on both your parts. Never laugh off chest pain. As for medical care, I work in a large art museum. Full-time staff have medical benefits; part-time staff do not. Either way, I don't think there are any of us who could financially sustain a major continuing medical problem without outside resources (i.e., family wealth). We are all either uninsured or underinsured.
ReplyDeleteAlways a risk when the symptoms appear but a 911 call may have gotten him what he needed even quicker, something to think about.
ReplyDeleteYour are a great friend Kirk! Your decisive action at the very least reduced any lingering damage to his heart and best case saved his life.
ReplyDeleteEric
Kirk, you did good.
ReplyDeleteNext time though, 911.
09/10/2018. In my daughter's apartment alone. Crushing chest pressure, cold sweat, saliva flooding into my mouth in quantities too large to swallow. Laid on the bed and 15-20 minutes later I was well enough to get up and call 911. I walked out and met the ambulance crew.
Result:
99% blockage, widow maker. From the onset of pain to the catheter room was probably 30-45 minutes. All other arteries looked fine they said.
After 3-4 months of cardiac therapy, which consisted of an hour or more of aerobic activity, I was told I had 95% of normal heart function. I didn't lose any weight, but my body fat percentage went from 33 to 26. I adjusted diet and activity levels to help me stay that way.
Your pal probably knows to follow up with stress tests and all that as what he had was probably a warning of worse to come if he doesn't proactively address it, so I'll just say you're a good friend and he's lucky to have a friend like you.
ReplyDeleteWell done, Kirk!
ReplyDeleteNot feeling right is such a major trigger for healthcare professionals, but not always for onlookers.
Your prompt action saved him from a more difficult to recover from ACS.
Stress test and echo done this morning. Follow up with personal cardiologist this week. Now released from the hospital and doing fine.
ReplyDeleteWe should all have cardiologists on tap.
Good job Kirk. When we have coffee I'll tell you why I'm alive. Had a similar experience. I thought it was allergies.
ReplyDeleteSame here. Problem with heart attacks is you get no warning symptoms, they literally come out of the blue. Mine occurred when I was out for a run. Finished the run and the symptoms subsided. Left it for a couple of days but didn't feel quite right. Called my doctor who called an ambulance. Had a triple bypass 5 weeks later as I was 99% blocked. The only reason I survived was because I was so fit. DON'T DO WHAT I DID, you may not be so lucky.
ReplyDeleteIt's not always chest pain! Mine was jaw pain and headaches..
ReplyDeleteHaving met a very rich woman many years before, who had lost her jaw to cancer,
i wasn't crazy about teeth jaw pain. Sigh ! I had 3 customers where i worked, who were cardiologists working near by! They were mad with me, for never saying anything.
Yes, the jaw pain one night, spread to chest and right arm.. 911.
Major heart attack, 1 week to stabilize then 3 stents.
That was 12 years ago. In two weeks gonna check close up on heart..
Luckily i live in Canada am on Canadian pension,so finances are never a problem .
One thing I would like to add to everyone's comments.
ReplyDeleteDuring my cardiac rehab sessions I met a woman whose husband was in therapy with me.
He had some symptoms and went through four different tests. Electrocardiogram, echo, level one stress test, and a level two stress test. He was told after each test that things were fine. After each test his family doctor asked if he still had the symptoms and the answer was yes.
To the family doctor's great credit he ordered a coronary angiogram. They found 3 blockages.
If you ever have symptoms and you ace all the normal tests, but you are still having symptoms then demand that they perform the coronary angiogram.
I had 3 days in the cardiac ICU to discuss the different tests and what they do, and do not, show. Two months prior to my widow maker a cardiologist performed an electrocardiogram and an echo. I was told all was well. Speaking with other cardiologists over the last year only one of them said they would have ordered a stress test.
What were my symptoms two months prior? I felt out of breath while showering, like I needed to stop and take a deep breath. That was my widow maker making itself known.
Just wanted to inform anyone who might be symptomatic and is being told all is well. It might be, but trust me, you can't afford to roll those dice.