A Reflection
OBLIGATORY FACEBOOK POST You probably heard. So Sunday I went for a run with Austin . We were having a real nice run and went through the two mile mark at a pace quicker than usual. Suddenly I had to stop with a burning pain in my arms and shoulders. To make a long story short, I had a heart attack mid run.
These reflections are added later on and is not a recreation of the truth.
My neighbor (Not Austin) noted that something did not seem right as we headed out on the run. I do not know exactly what was not right. Yes I do dress haphazard on a run
Austin and I actually discussed the role of luck in our lives as we ran. It was a rambling conversation between two egg headed nerdy neighbors.
I was very lucky and fortunate as I was thinking of doing an organized race on Saturday. That would not have ended well. Austin walked me home, Jenna drove me to urgent care, a buggy with lights drove me to the hospital.
Riding in an ambulance is hopefully a once in a lifetime experience. The last time I was in an ambulance, I was in the the tenth grade. It have no recollection of that ride in the buggy with blinking lights. I remember we went down Main Street Vancouver and seamlessly took SR14 to Lieser Road. It is not the route I would have taken however that is part of the experience. Along the way there are many people who know more than you. Let them drive, let them operate let them give medical advice.
I was greeted by a large group of doctors and nurses and they did a kick ass job. So far it looks like everything may work out fine. It should be noted I was brought in to the hospital mid run so I was a sweaty pungent mess. I need to check whether they cut my clothes off. I hope not, as I was wearing my favorite red shorts my wife brought me in Kauai.
A heart attack fucking hurts. There is a pain that is hard to describe and it is something I obviously never experienced. There was a brief point in time where I thought to myself that I could actually die.
Passive Aggressive Side-note – As an a side that I probably will not discuss elsewhere, I will allow this to hide here in this little refraction of life. I don’t know if it was the tremendous amount of pain I was experiencing, I was not all that afraid of dying. Death is not a preferable option that I am not terrified. Then again, I have always been terrified of a heart attack and today I was abruptly introduced to that beast.
Sat there in a room, almost off the set of a medical television drama, feeling as if I was performing a minor role in this scene. A young man suddenly brought out an electric razor and started working away somewhere just out of my vision. Yes in many stories, the reader asks the question “Did the Dog/Person/Uprising die in the end. I will cut through the literary build up of storytelling tension and give you this little tidbit. I took a shower a few days later and was surprised to see that my midsection is now hairless. If you have a too much information file, please file that information there. The pain in my shoulder blades persisted and somewhere amongst the chaos somebody slipped me a stint of fresh air. Stents were inserted either into my groin or my arm and somehow they travelled through my veins and made their way straight into my heart. It was love at first sight, we throw that term around rather loosely, yet I felt measurably better.
Doctor Kumar, performed this scientific magic trick of epic proportion. He was a sunny optimistic guy from the minute we met. He commanded the situation, gave me the information I needed and performed what needed done with adept precision. I could breathe again and my wife gave me a warm and thankful kiss and I was wheeled up to Hotel Vancouver. Hotel Vancouver was a term used in ICU to refer to ICU. Despite the wires, diodes, gurneys and lack of music this place was a relative country club. My view out the window was pretty outstanding or maybe I was looking out the window as if I was high on adrenaline, endorphins or somebody snuck edibles into the water system.
Towering Pine trees dotted the night time sky and a gentle rain started to fall. Everybody knows the hospital can be traumatic, I felt quite the opposite.
Quick Flash Back – many years ago, I moonlighted as a shoe tester for one of the big shoe companies in Portland. They hooked us up with wires, diodes and feedback machines and asked us to run down a street in NE Portland. I do not recall what the machines at Big Shoe Corp. were recording at the time. I rather doubt they were looking for heart blockages.
A common quip of those who are healthy and have a heart attack is why did we not see blockages well in advance. In my humble opinion capitalism has a foothold in this equation.
Doc Barry -“It is very hard as a PCP to have those conversations with people who have had heart attacks, especially if they are active. We just don’t have a good method of screening for heart disease at this time that is cost effective and scalable to the population.”
And my mind would wander just like that.
Back to Hotel California. That is what my roommate, he was going through his third or fourth iteration of this, called the ward. After this it is your basic hospital story. Nurses woke you up for one reason or another every hour or so. That has to be a very tough job, taking the vitals of people who are trying to sleep. Blood pressure was taken automatically every hour and after an hour or two you got used to having your arm magically inflated. One thing I never experienced before was getting a shot directly in the belly. I thought that was reserved for people who got bit by rabid marsupials.
The sun came up it was Tuesday morning I looked out the window as the sun came up over the eastern horizon and watched people walking toward intended destinations and cars moved with a decided lack of urgency. The earth kept spinning around without me.
Sun comes up, it’s Tuesday morning
hits me straight in the eye
guess you forgot to close the blind last night
Oh, that’s right, I forgot, it was me.
It is time to go home. That is a story for another day.
My Pictures Of You 
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