It all started five to six weeks ago, when I started out on my standard run. About four or five minutes into the run my chest felt a chest discomfort, like indigestion. I stopped and walked a while and it went away. Unlike the previous time, this time it was very mild and I was able to finish my run. Again, I was in denial. For a long time before this occurred I felt tired during my runs, well at least shortly after I started and that also went away. I need to point out that I’ve slowed down considerably and I don’t know if this is just a result of old age or due to the blockage that they would find when I went to the Emergency Room (ER) at Balboa Naval Hospital.

From that day on I would experience mild discomfort in the chest area and on occasion I wouldn’t have any. Each time I stopped and walked I was able to finish my run. I told myself if it were blocked arteries it would have come back like it did the first time when I continued the run.

In the ER cubical I was directed to take off my shirt. Then I was hooked up to a heart monitor, an automatic blood pressure cuff, and on my finger was a blood oxygen monitor. Like before I repeated my symptoms at least five times. First to the check in receptionist, then to the vital signs tech, then to an ER nurse, then to an ER doctor, and finally to a cardiologist. The cardiologist determined that I should be given an angiogram to determine if I had an artery blockage. I was scheduled to have the procedure done the next day and I needed to report at eleven. Just before departing I was taken for an Xray. I think they also drew some blood. I went home now believing I did have a problem similar to the previous time and it would be fix, like before, and I’d be on my way. Unlike my previous time when the cardiac catheter was inserted into a leg artery this one would be inserted in a wrist artery. Furthermore, It would be an outpatient procedure; assuming everything went as planned I would be sent home. I left the hospital feeling very optimistic.

As I was being wheeled on my gurney, the nurse explained that there would be many people there performing various jobs on me all at the same time. In the procedure room I was moved to the procedural table; I shifted myself. While I was being positioned and prepped, I was given a shot of Novocain in my wrist where the cardiac catheter would be inserted in an artery. The people were scurrying about in all directions as I attempted to figure out when the anesthesia was going to take effect. I thought I was awake but when the doctor told me we were through and that she had to talk to me. I saw that only about twenty minutes had elapsed and guessed that everything didn’t happen as planned and I began to worry. You know when someone says, “We need to talk,” is generally not going to be good news. When I was sufficiently awake and returned to recovery she told me they had found a blockage in a high risk area. So, they didn’t put a stent in because they wanted me to make an informed decision; I wonder, do I really have a choice? Briefly, I think my choices are: drug treatment (which will not fix the problem), the high risk stent, or bypass surgery, which they don’t like to do on old people because of anesthesia problems. I’ve got the impression that the high risk stent is what they would recommend. I have an appointment April 23 to discuss what will happen. Meanwhile I’ll just worry, check my will, write a letter to my kids, and post this page when I get back and have a course of action. You’ll know it failed if I don’t add to this after the scheduled procedure.

There are numerous mixed and confusing thoughts running Helter Skelter through my mind, it’s hard to do anything or concentrate. Perhaps I’m overthinking this. I guess I’ll just have to wait. I’m going to ask the doctor what they would do if I had an attack that required me to call 911. I’m also going to ask what they would recommend if I were say sixty.

When I asked the doctor about what they would do if I were sixty, he said, “You may look and feel sixty outside but inside your body is eighty-seven.” He explained to me that high risk was one in a thousand as opposed to low risk which is one in three thousand. While there is a risk it’s not quite as bad as I thought—fifty-fifty or less. Yes, I could die on the table but it’s not as likely as I first thought; perhaps one in a thousand. I was scheduled to have the procedure on May 8^th. They would put a stent in place that should solve my problem until I die of something else, that is if I don’t die on the table.

We managed to arrive at seven, which was my check in time. I’m pleased to say that from that point on everything went well. I was taken to the pre-operation area, stripped, had an IV inserted in my arm, and visited by my surgeon and cardiologist. Around eight I was taken to the procedure room and prepped. After a few minutes I was given, I surmise, my anesthesia. From then on I was in and out of awareness. My nose inched, heard them laughing, the light blinked on and off, and then it was over. The procedure went well and lasted about an hour and a half. I was returned to recovery where I had to remain on my back for four hours. Because the insertion area was in the groin area I remainded in the hospital over night for observation. Late in the afternoon the following day I was discharged. Over the next few days I rested and I'm still taking it easy to allow the wound to heal. I expect to resume my normal activities May 19^th: running, dancing, wining, and exercise.

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