I am not much of a blogger. I love to follow blogs but never thought I would have my own blog. I just didn't think I had much to blog about until now.
January was the month that has now changed the rest of my life. January was when the first heart attack happened. January was when I finally got the trucker to go to the doctor after he realized he was in trouble. That Sunday night in January was a little crazy. My little Peija man was in the hospital in Tremonton after a late night/early morning appendicitis surgery. When I got home the trucker was not feeling so well. As I watched him sleep he seemed really uncomfortable. He kept holding his left arm and acted like he couldn't get comfortable. When asked if he was okay he just said it was the jalapenos he had on his pizza that night. During the night he was up and down and come to find out the next morning he was in extreme pain and was in a cold sweat during that time. He is a man and of course he wouldn't go see the doctor even the next day so he left on the truck again. I think this was the longest week ever. Not only did he do one trip but he went back to Vegas after that but he did take his son with him. I don't think he would have made it without him.
When he did get home he consented to go see the doctor. This was the first of many doctor visits. Dr Jones put him on several meds included blood pressure medicine and a full aspirin assuming he did have a heart attack. He did a number of blood tests and we were to come back the next week to see him. At the next visit we found out he was border-line diabetic, had high cholesterol and his liver was showing some odd numbers. The meds were helping him to feel better but Dr Jones felt additional testing needed to be done and so a treadmill stress test was scheduled for February 7th. The test lasted a total of 7 minutes and in that time his blood pressure did rise as would be expected but also dropped. The cardiologist wanted to do an angiogram immediately but of course the trucker would have none of that so the cardiologist gave him his card and said "here is my number - you will need me".
In as much as we trusted Dr Jones we wanted to hear from him what the stress test results were and what he felt should happen. We were told that it wasn't if he had another heart attack but when and we needed to take immediate steps. Dr Jones also told us that he would guess the trucker would need bypass. This is when I knew at that point that our lives were changing. In Logan we could have had the angiogram done but if there was any repair that needed done we would be referred to either McKay-Dee or Salt Lake. With this information we decided to just start at McKay-Dee so we could get the tests done and repaired by the same doctor. We scheduled this with McKay-Dee for February 23rd but then realized that our insurance did not cover McKay-Dee so on to St Marks we went. We met with Dr Brown on February 22 at St Marks and he scheduled the angiogram/angioplasty for March 1st. This was great news because he could do it all at the same time. They could do the angiogram and see if stents were possible and then move him over to St Marks from the cath lab and put in the stents. He would need to stay overnight in the hospital and we would be able to come home the next day. He would need to be off work the rest of the week and then all back to normal. I guess that is only in fairy tales but not in our world.
After the angiogram Dr Brown explained to us that the heart attack did happen in the lower half of the truckers heart and that artery was 100% blocked. He has several spots in the other arteries that were very narrow and because of this it would not be the best option to put stents in. There would be way too many needed and he felt it would only extend his life by 2 years. He recommended bypass {gasp} and without the bypass he would not make it another year. The next heart attack would kill him. We didn't have very good odds at this point. Dr Brown (bless his heart) immediately went and got Dr Kerwande the surgeon and brought him to us along with a couple of his staff. We were able to talk with him right then and ask all the questions we had about what he recommended and what the future held for the trucker. I feel so blessed to be able to find Dr Brown and in turn Dr Kerwande. We were treated extremely well and with the utmost respect and feel that we are in good hands.
The trucker needs to be off his Plavix for 5 days before surgery so the bypass (which they call CABG) is scheduled for Tuesday March 8th. They did the ECHO cardiogram while we were there yesterday and we go back down Monday for blood work and an ultrasound of his carotid artery. So we are at home now and the trucker is resting from his procedures yesterday. He was told he was done smoking and they have given him some medicine to help him through that. He is off his Plavix and his aspirin (which keeps his blood thin and not clotting) until surgery which means he needs to just rest and really take care of himself so we can make it to surgery.
So the rest of week will be a tough one. We are getting calls from The Heart Center and also St Marks to get everything scheduled. The surgery should last from 3-4 hours. They are planning on at least 3 bypasses and possibly 4. The trucker will be in the hospital from 4-7 days and will need to be very careful for 6-8 weeks as to let his sternum heal. They will take veins from his chest and also his legs. I can't imagine what is going through the truckers mind. He doesn't really say too much but I know he is concerned about the surgery and about money and not being able to work. I am trying my best to help him the best I can. I can only be supportive and be there for him and together we can get through this.
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