Heart attack It's a Long Road Part Two

Around the time I was going to be released my potassium level went up. For those of you who were like me and didn’t know the significance of that, let me explain it to you this way. When the government is going to execute a prisoner guess what they inject into his veins, yep you guessed it, potassium. Potassium in high doses will stop the heart.

My immediate thought when they explained this to me was, “Great. I just had heart bypass surgery. This is not good.” My family had brought me bananas as that was the only thing I really wanted to eat. Bananas are high in potassium. I now had to watch out for foods containing potassium. They gave me drugs to control the level of potassium and a short time later they sent me home. If you can imagine, my diet was really restricted to eating everything that tasted awful. Fortunately for me ,I really couldn't eat much anyway.

One of the curious side affects of the bypass surgery was a heightened sense of smell. I got to the point that I could tell the size of glove the nurse was wearing by its smell. Every time they came to check my vitals they would inspect the picc line in my neck and I would get the scent of the gloves. This curious side effect had a significant impact. Along with the smell of the gloves I could also smell the cleansers that were used on the eating utensils. The smells on the food tray were so offensive to me I could not eat the food. I lost weight. Actually by the time I left the hospital, I had lost forty five pounds. I was no longer fat. One of the first things the heart surgeon had told me was I had to lose weight. I was in the hospital about seven to eight weeks. I was not allowed to smoke, as a matter of fact I did not even have an urge to smoke while I was there. I left a non-smoker. Another thing the heart surgeon told me had to stop.

About a week after I got out of the hospital, about six to eight weeks after the bypass surgery I had another heart attack. I was back in the hospital. What happened was that the remaining artery, the one the surgeon could not do anything with, had completely clogged. They treated it chemically and in about a week they sent me home.  This basically means they did nothing, the drugs were for keeping me stable until my body acclimated to the change. I still have a completely clogged artery. Recovery was slow. I had almost immediately decided I was going to write about this experience. As soon as I was able to sit up and stay awake I tried to write. The words did not come; I could not write. I tried several times, same result - nothing. I was home now and I had to adjust to a new reality, the colostomy bag. This is an uncomfortable necessity. Until the take down I had to travel with a backpack wherever I went. In the backpack was a set of clothes including underwear and socks. I also had everything I need to replace the colostomy bag if it became necessary. I had extra bags, cleaners, adhesives, towels and scissors. More than once while I was out and about I needed to use these supplies.

I remember when I woke up the nurses were surprised at how well I took this unanticipated inconvenience. They mentioned to me that many patients had a very hard time dealing with the colostomy bag. I could see why that would be and maybe I took it so well because I really wasn’t all there.  This part is important ,listen. It took me two years years to recover. The physical part was difficult, but what was more difficult was the mental part. When I left the hospital I thought that all that I needed to do was recover physically, that was the easiest part. What happened (and it happened almost instantly) is I lost total clarity and awareness. I thought that mentally I was unaffected. I remember a very close friend asked me if I was alright and he specifically asked me how my memory was. I told him it was fine. “Why?” I asked him; maybe he knew something.

I thought I was able to make good decisions, that I was back to normal. I got home and my memory was so bad I was beginning to think I was getting Alzheimers. I could not remember what I had just said. I started making lists; I never before made lists, primarily because you have to look at the list for it to be of value and I never did. I found myself making a list to see what I forgot, not to see what I had to do. Eventually my mind cleared and my memory improved. I was relieved. I thought I was all better, back to normal mental capacity. A few weeks later I woke up and it was like a veil was lifted from my eyes and I could see where my thinking had been muddied. I recently found out this is a common side affect as stated in this article:

http://www.health.harvard.edu/fhg/updates/update0206c.shtml

A few weeks later I went back to work; at first I went in a few hours a day. I immediately noticed that it was taking me much longer to accomplish tasks that should have been done much faster. I attributed it to my weakened physical condition. A few weeks later; another layer was lifted and I could see that I was not working at my pre heart attack standard. This clearing of mental cloudiness continued for about two years.  

If you ever find yourself in similar situation, you need someone with a clear mind to make your decisions for you. If my wife had not been there to argue with the GI doctor, I could have bled to death. The opportunity for me to make bad decisions was almost unavoidable. That I didn't is, in itself, a miracle. Six months after the ileostomy I had to go back in for what is referred to as a "take down". That is another major surgery where the surgeon reconnects the intestines, removes the colostomy bag, sews up the remaining incisions and permanently sews up my belly. That surgery went off without a hitch and I was back home within a few days; again another six to eight weeks to recover from this surgery. After my release and before the "take down" surgery I was advised to visit my primary physician so that he could keep an  eye on my recovery, which I did. Of course I did not have a regular doctor, so I had to find one. I decided to go to my mother’s primary doctor, as he had done a good job with her many ailments.

After reading my records, he looked me in the eye and said, "It is a miracle you're alive; God’s not done with you yet.” He reminds me of that almost every time I go for a check up. Before the take down I needed to have another colonoscopy. We decided we were not going to use the same GI doctor, so we went in for a consult with the new doctor. He looked at the records and you could see the expression on his face change as he read the chart. He looked at me and said, "Somebody up there likes you.” Two medical professionals look at my records and attribute my survival to the intervention of God. I returned to full time work about nine to ten months after the heart attack. 

Coming Soon

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