Heart Aches

Phone calls at 7am are never good around here. Everyone knows not to call before 8am 'cause we are most likely asleep and they will get either Mr or Mrs Cranky Pants answering. So when the phone rings just after 7am, it's not good.

See the man in that picture? Healthiest 66 year old you have ever met. Walks everyday, eats nothing but healthy food, rarely drinks, doesn't smoke, perfect BMI, heck he's healthier than his 30 year old daughter (ahem). BUT his heart is faulty.

2 years ago he woke up with pains in the middle of the night. Being a "man" he let it go and until a few days later when he still didn't feel right was oblivious that he had experienced a heart attack. Oh it was painful, but not what he "expected" a heart attack to be. Anyway, steints put in later, he was feeling 100%. Then one of the steints collapsed caused by scar tissue. Heart attack #2. More steints. Throw in a few more steints because of blocked ones shortly after and you have his whole history in a pargraph.

So back to the phone call this morning, he was taken by ambulance at 2.30am this morning to the hospital with pain in his arm and jaw. Tests had already been run and everyone was adament that it was just an episode of some kind, definitely not a heart attack, he should be out by 2pm after another stress test aka walking on the treadmill while being monitored. Only because he had previous heart issues did he even make it past the ER to be admitted.

So after Liam's swimming, him & I headed up to the hospital and spent the day bedside. When we arrived they took another sample of blood, told him they'd be back with results in a couple of hours then he'd be discharged. The tests confirmed his 3rd heart attack. So tomorrow he will be transferred to another hospital that this cardiologist will do another angiogram. Last time he had steints done he was warned that if the steint closest to his heart went again he would need a bypass, fingers crossed it isn't that one. All the doctors were astounded that it came back "extremely positive" for a heart attack. He had experienced the pain which had gone away on their own, had no further pain and was feeling great.

The morales of the story/my ramblings:
1. heart attacks DO affect healthy people
2. in all 3 of Dad's attacks they have been NOTHING like you expect a heart attack to be ie. no "heart" pain, but pain in other areas
3. I need to find where you exchange hearts 'cause this one is definitely faulty. It's ageing me and Mum about 20 years everytime he has an "episode"
4. Liam loves hospitals and all the attention he got from the nurses who thought he was adorable

After the sad news of good friends loosing their baby at 14 weeks pregnant last week plus Dad this week, I think I'm ready for a holiday somewhere warm and where no-one can reach us with bad news!