But on Friday morning, around 4:00 - two days before our anticipated departure - Dan woke me saying he didn't feel well. He was in a great deal of pain, mostly in his teeth, upper jaw, back of his neck and down his back. He was feeling nauseated, and was sweating profusely. It took me about five minutes to determine that he needed to get to the emergency room, so I told him to throw some clothes on and get in the car. Luckily Baylor Scott & White Hospital is about seven minutes from our house, and at 4:00 in the morning, I may have gotten him there even faster.
Once we were in the ER, things moved very quickly. I sat in a corner of the examining room, trying to stay out of the way of the 16 medical professionals diagnosing and caring for Dan. The EKG confirmed what I feared ... he was having a heart attack! He was immediately whisked into a surgical room, where they fed a catheter from his right wrist up to his heart and placed a stent to open the artery. Dan tells me that as soon as that stent was in place, the pain ceased. By 5:30 or 6:00, he was being taken to a room, and he spent two nights in the hospital, coming home after lunch on Sunday.
Tests confirmed that, because of the speed with which he came in, was diagnosed and treated, there was little to no damage to his heart. None the less, he will be on a regimen of various medications for at least a year, and some of them for longer. He is feeling good, and resuming most of his normal activities already. He'll be seeing our primary care physician today, and has a long list of questions for her.
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| This morning, at breakfast, feeling fine and looking like normal again! |
I can't begin to express my thankfulness - first to our son, Chris, who drove from Houston and was at my side all day Friday and until Saturday morning; and secondly to our church family who outdid themselves with prayers, visits, gifts and taking care of not only Dan, but me. If my memory serves me right, 19 folks came to see him in his hospital room over those two-plus days. Some of them took me to lunch or dinner. Some brought books and snacks to help pass the time as I sat by Dan's bedside. They all asked what they could do once we got home, offering to mow the lawn, shop for groceries or help with anything else we might need. Three more, plus a neighbor, dropped by the house yesterday to check on us. It has humbled me and made me so grateful for these amazing friends. I don't know how people face trials like this without faith, prayer and the support of God's people.
On Monday I went to see the travel agent to begin the process of making a claim against our trip insurance. That is in process now and, hopefully, we'll get back our money and be able to re-book a trip, sometime in the near future. We're not thinking of it as having been canceled ... just postponed.
Many have expressed sympathy that we didn't get to go on our big European adventure, but all I can see is God's providential care. If Dan was going to have a heart attack, it was a huge blessing that it happened BEFORE we left. I shudder to think what the outcome might have been if we were stuck on that 9-1/2 hour flight, over the Atlantic, when this hit him!
1 comment:
Wow! I know exactly what you went through - sounds a lot like Steve's heart attack. He aslo said that as soon as the stent was placed, he felt so much better! I'm glad you were home, rather that half a world away. I'm glad t hear that Dan is recovering well. He'll just get better and better every passing day.
God Bless,
Laura Hagen
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