"There But For The Grace Of God Go I"

On the morning of Sunday December 9th I was out on the road for my usual morning bike ride... About halfway in a pain began to form in my left pectoral area and radiated into my left arm... It was subtle at first but quickly became intolerable... I realized continuing was impossible and had to stop... I called Sandy for a rescue and that rescue was her calling 911... Now I was laying on the side of the road, in the dark ( ~ 5:30 am ), the temps in the upper 20's with pain beyond anything I can compare to... I was so cold...

In what seemed like forever I heard the sirens coming... and then the sirens started to fade away... But quickly they got louder... In the meantime a runner and his partner happened along... I remember him saying he was a paramedic and asking what was wrong... Another brief memory is being in the ambulance and hearing someone saying "nitroglycerin" and "fentanyl"... Next memory was seeing Sandy's face briefly among quite a few others and apparently that was in the ER... Then finally I woke up in a room in the CCU of the Cedar Park Hospital...

Diagnosis :
Acute ST Segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction
Acute Systolic Heart Failure
Stent location is the Left Anterior Descending Artery 

Damage :
I am not quite clear on this but I believe my heart is now functioning at about 25-30% of its capability... if this is any indication of how my body reacted, my weight on 12-11 was 124 lbs and as of 12-18 is 116.8 lbs ( in 9th grade I wrestled in the 115 lb weight class )... not a recommended method of dieting...

"Say Hello To My Little Friend" :
Zoll Life Vest - a wearable defibrillator which I must wear 23 hrs 45 mins a day for a projected 3 months or so... other than the itchy rash its caused on my back and electrodes digging into me while I sleep, its great... 

 

Prognosis :

I'm alive... its really not a question of whether I should or shouldn't be... I am and so my thoughts and determination is to continue to plan the bike ride for September... Until I come to the realization that its not going happen or its declared medically unwise to do so its going forward... I am under no delusions of how long and hard the road back will be...

EMS, Doctors and Nurses :

From the EMS that scooped me up on the side of the road and triage in the ambulance, to Dr Pandya Sanjay, who performed the surgery and all the nurses of the CCU at Cedar Park,  Sandy and I are eternally grateful... we have such admiration and respect for their commitment of taking care of me... such incredibly dedicated, intelligent and compassionate people...

Sandy :
No matter what I throw at her she is rock solid and there for me... words cannot express my love for her so pardon me while I don't try... 

I would be remiss not to mention the out pouring of love and support from family near and far... I love you... thanks for being there for us...