Being Dead Hurts Like Hell!

[MiniDave]

In 2009 I had a stent put in - just the one, the rest of my arteries were in great shape - why that one decided to clog I'm not sure, but there you are. It was a fairly easy procedure and I went home the next morning and never had any more trouble from it.

Fast forward 11 years to Wed past, I got up that morning with no issues, tho I noted my back has really been hurting up between my shoulder blades for about a week now. Then I started having some discomfort, so I took a couple of Tums (my usual check sum) and it eased so I thought nothing of it till afternoon, then things changed in a hurry so I called the wife in out of the back yard and said "We're going - now!"

The hospital is not far away, but even so my pain was moving up from the 5-6 to 7-8 in a hurry, by the time I got into the ER it was already 9 or better, by the time I got into the ICU it was over 11. It seemed like there were about 15 people scurrying around doing things in the tiny ICU room, getting me hooked up to machines and giving me baby aspirin, then nitro. By then they had the port in so they started giving me a whole cocktail of stuff to ease my pain and including more nitro, which they started at 10, quickly upped to 15 and then 20 and a shot of morphine. I heard the Dr. in the ICU telling the crew "this is the real deal".....and the level of intensity of everyone in there amped up some more. At this point I'm hurting so badly I can barely breathe and sweating like a pig, arm hurting, all the classic symptoms.

My heart Dr. has his office attached to the hospital and he was on that day, and about the time he walked into the ICU - already scrubbed, gloved and gowned - I coded. Heart stopped, breathing stopped, done. He sent Rose out of the room and they went to work on me......

I had been sitting up, when I came to (no idea how long, could have been 1 minute, could have been 5) all I remember is being flat on my back with the ICU Dr. right over my face saying "we got him back!"

At that point they wheeled me into the operating room, and this is where things really become surreal. They don't put you under to do a catheter or insert a stent. They do have a nitrous mask on you, but the whole time he's asking me questions, music is playing, people are singing along.....they go into the main artery in the groin and have a large X-ray machine going in real time, and they encourage you to watch what he's doing on the giant TV screen! I was too sick and out of it to do that and I was still in a LOT of pain so my eyes were squeezed shut tight, but at some point I heard him say "OK, we have flow, you should be feeling a whole lot better now". 

I wasn't particularly feeling better, in fact I threw up twice while on the table and once more when they wheeled me into my room upstairs. I haven't thrown up since I was a teenager!

I also was still in a lot of pain from them using the jumper cables on me and doing cardio pulmonary resuscitation - where they tell me if you're not cracking the ribs you're not doing it right - I'm still really sore in the middle of my chest, and coughing is hell! By the way, you always see them on TV or in the movies where they rub the paddles together, shout clear! and jam them on your chest, where your body arches up in response to the shock - that's not how it works. They stick a pad on the left front and right rear and the wires connected to those pads are actually pretty small, not those big coils you see in the movies. The actual shock is very brief and you don't arch up like that - I'm told.

They said one end of my old stent had a plug in the end of it - that's all it takes to kill you.

They roto-rootered it out then he put in another, larger stent - I don't know the exact details, I'll find out later and I'm sure he'll have the "movies" for me to watch.

By that evening in the room upstairs I was pretty well relaxed and out of pain except for the center of my
chest where I think they must have at least cracked some ribs. By the next morning I was feeling almost normal again - which is just amazing, how you can go from being mostly dead to no big deal in 12 hours. However I am happy that they didn't have to put a zipper in my chest.

Yesterday afternoon they did an EKG and Echocardiogram - which is just a sonagram of the heart - she goos up the end of the wand and fairly jams it into my chest - right where my ribs are hurting. That took about an hour, and the doc came in this morning and gave me the word. Little to no damage to the heart muscles, one area is off about 5-10% in pumping efficiency but he says that's recoverable over the next couple of months. Even he was surprised that there wasn't more damage given the severity of the heart attack.

Really? Dead a few hours ago and now I'm fine with only a stent to show for all that pain (and money, I'm sure!) Pretty fucking amazing, if you ask me.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it. I already have all the bandages off and I'm home sitting on the couch like nothing happened, although I'm enjoined from lifting anything heavier than my 14 lb dog, I don't have any driving restrictions and I can even get laid starting tomorrow, if I want.

Lastly, thank you to all the members here for the good wishes and attention - I really appreciate the community we've built here!

[MPlayle]

Wonderful news to hear you are home and recovering!

[Willie_B]

Wow. Wonderful time to still be alive.

Medical science is moving along in large bounds.

[BruceK]

Holy crap!  Very glad you are back with us!   I hope Rose is doing okay too.   That's some scary shit there for both of you.  So fortunate that all the various pieces came together as they did to keep you alive.  Geez Louise.

I can tell you're doing okay now because you have enough energy and clarity of mind to write a post of what you went through that is gripping as hell.   

[tsumini]

Great news. Glad to hear you're OK.
Just recently heard about a guy serving a life sentence that after he coded he petitioned the court to release him as he had served his life sentence.

[John Gervais]

"I haven't thrown up since I was a teenager!"   77.gif


"... and I can even get laid starting tomorrow, if I want."

Yeah, sure you can...   ::)

:D

Welcome back, Dave!

[ve9aa]

F-AH !  I'm glad you are doing better.  I work in Healthcare...on some of those devices and machines you spoke about....but I've never been in the room when any of that is going on.  ie: I am not a nurse or Doc, but an equipment technologist.

Wild to hear it from your point of view.

just wow!

[MiniDave]

Great news. Glad to hear you're OK.
Just recently heard about a guy serving a life sentence that after he coded he petitioned the court to release him as he had served his life sentence.

How did that work out for him?

Rose likes to channel The Princess Bride and tell people I was only mostly dead....

[John Gervais]

Great film!  Did they give you one of those enormous pills?

[tsumini]

Great news. Glad to hear you're OK.
Just recently heard about a guy serving a life sentence that after he coded he petitioned the court to release him as he had served his life sentence.

How did that work out for him?

Rose likes to channel The Princess Bride and tell people I was only mostly dead....

A court in Iowa found that a murderer who was revived "is either still alive, in which case he must remain in prison, or he is actually dead, in which case this appeal is moot."

[MiniDave]

Great film!  Did they give you one of those enormous pills?

It would be  a miracle...... :D

[94touring]

So......car projects put on hold due to this minor inconvenience?   ;D  Glad you're doing well and made it through.  It wouldn't be the same without you.

[MiniDave]

Thanks, I appreciate it!

Only for a couple of weeks till they get my meds sorted and I see my Doc again, then we'll see......appt the 16th July

[BruceK]

So, in the meantime no pole vaulting, high wire trapeze work, or underwater demolition for you! 

[Jimini II]

Wow that must have been scary as Hell, glad your Wife was around to get you to the Hospital it is amazing what those Doctors can do.
Glad you are back with us Dave.

[Jims5543]

Well told story and surreal is a good work to describe it all, your words.

Good to see you on the mend and hope the pain subsides quickly.

[MiniDave]

So, in the meantime no pole vaulting, high wire trapeze work, or underwater demolition for you!

Well, I did just mow the grass......

Actually, my buddy came over and pushed the mower around, I rode the ZTR around the yard.

As soon as we started the mower, my next door neighbor came running out his back door.....the wife had yelled at him " if that's Dave mowing his grass you get out there and do it for him!"  ;D

[94touring]

Dead one day and mowing the grass the next.  Impressive!

[MiniDave]

Well......it doesn't take a lot of effort to ride around the yard on the ZTR....  ::) ;D

[G67mcs]

Wow!! Glad you are now ok and in recovery mode.

Garry

[MiniDave]

Thanks to everyone for the positive thoughts!

I wrote this story partially as a record of what happened, and partly to point out to everyone on this board that you have to take care of yourself. Stop smoking, ease off the booze, lose that extra weight once and for all, eat better and listen to what your body is telling you......but mostly that last thing.

[bryanp]

Jesus H Christ, Dave!!   I'm glad you're back with us!!  I called you with one of my many, inane questions, and thought it was weird when Rose answered.  I spoke with her only very briefly, figuring she was not in the mood for a verto clutch question.   I hung up, looked at my 84 year-old dad and said "Dave had a heart attack!"  Dad says, "but he's just a kid!" 

Get better soon, and take it eeeaaassssyyy!     Blue car is back together; will shoot videos this afternoon.

BE WELL

[jedduh01]

Thats ONE way to have a Memorable Start of July!
   Glad to hear you're doing better and on the super mend...

I wonder if you'll end up even BETTER shape now that its cleaned out and opened up... wonder if this has been slowing things down in the weeks /months prior...just gotton used to it.

[MiniDave]

Very good possibility that was happening Justin, and now I should soon be back to where I was before.

The other possibility is that it happened fairly suddenly as it was only a small blockage in the end of the stent - the whole artery wasn't occluded the way it was before. Whatever, it was enough to kill me had we not gotten help in time.

Bryan, good news that the car is back together and driving, can't wait to see the videos.....

[MiniGene]

I had heard you had suffered this but then I fell off the board for a could of weeks.  I'm just now reading your post--WOW!  A post that long usually gets a "too long-didn't read" from me but I was on the edge of my seat reading your description.  Holy cow---I hope I never have to expereince that! 

Glad you made it and you're on the mend!!!