What An Experience Part II….

   I was whisked very quickly into a back room where my clothes were torn off, a Johnnie was put on, an IV was inserted into my arm, I was hooked up to an EKG machine, given an aspirin and asked many questions. Any family history?…do I have high blood pressure, diabetes, do I smoke, what am I allergic to, and on and on. I was very scared I think now looking back on the whole ordeal. I do remember asking my husband to call my kids and the rest of the family….and I guess I said I didn’t want to die. I was taken pretty quickly to a room where they prepped me for an angioplasty. They numbed my groin area on my right side and I am sure gave me some kind of pain meds. My cardiologist inserted a catheter into my right femoral artery. That catheter had a medicated stent that was injected into my RCA (right coronary artery) in my heart. That RCA, was 99% blocked. 

http://www.heartsite.com/html/cad.html  Here’s a great site that shows the different arteries in the heart.

   Once the medicated stent was put in, the next step for the doctors, was to put pressure on my groin. That particular artery they went through, is a major artery, that is also a bleeder. Three different people in the operating room took turns putting pressure on that artery for minutes at a time, until the bleeding stopped. The stent comes with a collagen plug at the artery opening.

   I was taken to the ICU on the 9th floor. I think they gave me something to sleep for awhile. The next critical action nurses were telling me was to not that right leg or my head. At this point my kids are showing up and the phone is ringing off the hook and I am getting animated. Keep that leg still and the head too!!….the nurses kept telling me. Well…..eventually I began to bleed and they had to put pressure on it again. They decided to put a rolled up blanket across my head to keep me from lifting it….that worked.

   I spent Saturday and Sunday night in ICU and was then transferred down the hall to a bigger room with my own bathroom….oh God it was nice to not have a portable cupboard toilet! I also had a really nice roommate named Ruby who was having a triple bi-pass on Wednesday. They released me on Tuesday afternoon, the day before my 55th birthday. Here is the results of what happened to me and where i am at now.

   I had a heart attack with some damage to my heart. I am now on 4 different medications.

1. Plavix…..75 mg. once a day and that is an anit-platelet drug.

2. Toprol xl 25 mg….once a day and this is a beta blocker.

3. Simvastatin 40 mg. once a day and this lowers cholesterol.

4. Aspirin 325 mg. once a day….thins the blood.

   Heart disease has many risk factors. They are:

1. Diabetes

2. High blood pressure

3. Obesity

4. High cholesterol

5. Family history

6. Smoking

7. Age and menopause in women

These were my risk factors…..

1. My older brother had a double bypass 11 years ago, so family history.

2. I’m a smoker

3. I’ve always struggled with my weight…so obesity.

4. Probably my age and I am menopausal.

   I was told by all the doctors and most nurses, that my smoking was probably the biggest contributor to my heart attack!! Wow. I had a nicotine patch on in the hospital for a couple of days. I decided I did not want to have it anymore. The doc said “take it off and throw it away!”…..so I did. He looked at me and said “are you going to smoke again?”……I said “no, never.” He said….. “Debbie, you’re my hero….and ANYONE who quits smoking is MY hero.” That was pretty cool and I now am a non smoker….after 30 plus years of smoking ….I can hardly believe it. This was a huge wake up call for me. I learned many lessons from this ordeal. One was to never doubt the love my husband has for me….he was AMAZING. He slept in a chair with his clothes on right next to me every night. He was there for me in every way. He brought Obie (our jack Russell, who has diabetes) to my daughters house in Portland. He would leave the hospital, twice a day and go there, to give Obie, his insulin shots, and feed him and then come back to me. He held my hand and walked me around the unit when I was feeling up to it, and when I got released, picked up all my medications, bought two of those plastic Sunday through Saturday pill cases, filled them up for me for the week I was in and the following week! I never had to worry about a thing….it was already done by him…..laundry, dishes, the animals being fed, groceries, work, anything….he did it and still is doing it as I recover. I love that man….more than I can say.

   Things I learned…..

That I have many friends and family members that love me very much. The nurses were getting upset because the phone would not stop ringing and my visitors were many.

I am ok without a cigarette.

I am probably not afraid to die now but I certainly don’t want to yet!

My health is very important so I need to eat right and exercise…what a concept for me! Exercise!?

Life is short, slow down and enjoy it…savor it.

I don’t have to be everything to everyone. If I don’t take care of me, I have no me!

God is good and he sure knows how to get your attention when he needs to!! I think I got slapped up side the head on this one!

I am such a lucky woman. I have a second chance at life, with a loving husband and family right behind me….what more could I have asked for? Please, if you are a smoker, quit today…you can do it if I can…trust me…anyone who knows me…knew it would take a miracle to make me quit and it did. God gave me a second chance and I’m taking it.

What An Experience…..Part I…..

 

   On or around December 21, of this year, I developed an allergic reaction to a new pair of sneakers I had just purchased. I am allergic to neoprene….highly allergic to it, but that’s another story. I got put on prednisone for the swollen lips and rash. I was to take 2 ten milligram pills for 4 days and then 1 ten milligram pill for 4 days to help me taper off. I was on day 5, on December 26 and that would be my first 10 milligram pill and my beginning to taper off the prednisone. I had been feeling very strange on this drug for a few days. The last time I took it, which was back in 2003, it gave me numerous amounts of energy and it worked very well for me….no side effects at all. This time, it felt strange. Christmas came and went and it was a really great one. My son stayed the night here with us Christmas Eve. My daughter arrived here at 11:00 a.m. xmas day and we all had a great breakfast together. After breakfast, we opened up our stockings and gifts….it was great! The rest of the day was spent at my brother in laws with my husband’s family and that was a lot of fun. I was not quite feeling myself but nothing notable was happening.

   Back to that December 26th day…..Hubby and I ended up getting a beautiful Christmas tree but it turned out to be a real dry one. Being concerned about the dryness, he wanted to get that tree out of the house. We figured we might as well take down ALL of the decorations once we started the whole process. That took a couple of hours to do or longer. I was having a hard time keeping up with my husband and that is NOT like me. This is what it felt like….A sore throat coming on and the tubes going from my ears to my throat were very irritated. Pressure behind my head and back of neck. Huge waves of nausea that got more and more persistent. ..dizziness that felt like the worst hangover I had ever had in my life….I thought I was coming down with the flu or having a panic attack. The ONLY place I felt comfortable was sitting on my closed toilet with my head on the sink….the nausea was overwhelming. Hubby called quick care and they were no help so he called Maine Medical Emergency in Portland. Two nurses called back and I spoke with each one for some time. They told me to come in and they would like to administer an EKG?? I wondered about that one?? Why……just to rule things out? Oh well. I hollered up to my husband, who was doing computer work upstairs and said….."They are saying they want me to come in…what do you think….should we go or stay?”   He says…."We might as well go.”

   Off we went. It was an exceptionally busy night at the ER. There was an accident and there were many firemen walking around with people. The ER staff kept coming by and apologizing for making us all wait. Finally I get looked at. I was so sick, I could barely sit still. Oh, I forgot to mention one of the symptoms was restless legs….my legs were jumping CONSTANTLY. They took my BP and other vitals. My heart rate was very low at 44. It was at that point that I remembered I was suppose to get an EKG. The nurse said “Oh…Ok….do you know why?” Nope…I don’t. Back to the waiting room again for a few minutes and then an EKG was administered in the hallway. “Have you had one of these before Debbie?” “Yes, I believe I have.” “Can you hold still Debbie while we do this test?” “I will try…but my legs won’t stop jerking…I’m sorry.” We got through it and I was back in the waiting room again. A few minutes later there was a crowd of people staring at me and holding a wheelchair. “Debbie….you are coming with us.” “Why am I going with you?” “Because you are having a heart attack.” “What???????????”

 

         More tomorrow………and please don’t be alarmed my friends. I am home and recuperating nicely and going to be alright.

Merry Christmas Everyone….

   In honor of my wonderful husband, here is the Christmas song he has been singing for the last week….well…he’s been humming it and blue…blue…blueing it, all over the house, and  he probably thinks I wasn’t listening….he’s so cute. Have a wonderful, happy, healthy and fun holiday and make sure you get back here to the blogs in one piece!

 

Moving Into The Christmas Holiday….

          

   Thanksgiving is over and we have had our first snow fall of the season. We got about 4 and a half inches, but whose counting!? Would you believe that just a few days before our snowfall, it was a record breaking 68 degrees here in Maine! That must be why they say “If you don’t like the weather in Maine, just wait a minute!” It’s true. You never know what to wear from one day to the next. It keeps things exciting!

   I have been busy over here on the plains making some last minute Christmas gifts for family and friends.  I found out we were invited to a family Christmas party on the 2oth! Any last minute work got kicked up a notch! I would show you some of the crafts I am working on but there are family members that read my blog! I can’t do that!! We must keep these things secretive you know! We had a great Thanksgiving. My day actually did not start out so great. My kids ended up not being able to be here. I woke up missing my parents terribly and between my kids not coming and that, I had a good cry. Once that was over with, I got on to the business of cooking and was fine. Just a minor set back, but I did miss having them here. My husband and his brother Joe deep fried the turkeys outside. This year they did a dry rub instead of a marinade. I think I like the marinade better from last year. The dry rub version was a bit dryer but still tasty. Here is hubby bringing in one of the turkeys…. and here I am….can you believe it….I am putting on a picture of me!,,,,taking a picture of my mother in law…taking a picture of me!

Don’t mind the stain on my pants from something that dripped while cooking!  We had a very casual day as you can see by the way we are dressed!  It was… a laid back turkey day this year. We opted for paper plates and cups and it worked out fine. We were able to spend less time picking up and more time visiting. It was really nice. Hubby brought me these flowers the day before for the table. He just showed up with them out of the blue. He is such a sweet man! My wonderful mother in law Alice, made two different kinds of stuffing….a Peach/Pork stuffing and a rice/shrimp one and both were amazing!! It’s so hard to keep everything hot and my oven never has enough room for it all so we kind of did a cafeteria style line up.

Roasted vegetables and butternut squash (from my garden)……

My sister in law brought the mashed potatoes and I made the gravy from a can of turkey stock. The gravy was ok but there is nothing like gravy from drippings. Next year we will have a bird cooked in the oven I think.

A good time was had by all and we stuffed our little stretched out tummies! Apple pie and pumpkin pie made them almost burst….but not quite!!

 

A little turkey for the dark meat lovers at the table!

Hubby…in between the candles holding some wire for some kind of techno thingamajig! It was a great day and I am very grateful for all of these family members that came.

   So we are moving forward to my favorite holiday….Christmas!! I will be decorating the house this weekend. The other day I took a walk into my backyard and gathered some Jack Pine boughs. I made two swags….one for my mother in law Alice, and one for me….all decorated and ready to hang on the doors! This last weekend, I went up to Alice’s and found some great boughs in her woods! I got xmas boughs and hemlock boughs. Hemlock boughs are so darned cute with those teeny little pinecones on them! At least I think they are Hemlock? I will be using them for my mantle and elsewhere in the house. I love the smell of fresh boughs!! Don’t you?? They are so plentiful here in Maine….we are very lucky. I also got a bag for Alice too and the cutest little Charlie Brown tree! She put it outside on her patio table, potted, with a nice wreath around the base of it. We are having fun with the holiday season and I hope you are too. I will try to be back before the big day comes but if I don’t, I am wishing you all the best of holidays, from our house to yours!! Until then, I will leave you with this Lobster Trap tree in Rockland!! Can you believe it?

Now if that isn’t a red neck Christmas tree, I don’t know what is! Ha ha….