Page 31 - 2025_Magazine_91-4

Personal Reflection/Anecdote

night, I had another “episode” in the middle of the night. Reaching for the nitroglycerin, I placed a pill
under my tongue, and eventually the pain went away.
For the first time, I wondered, “Maybe there is something wrong with me?”

Good News, Bad News

I’d had a stress test before and passed it with flying colors. This time the results were vastly different.
Good news: I passed the electrocardiogram test. I told the nurse about my shortness of breath and that
walking on the treadmill for 9 minutes was out of the question. Plan B: The nuclear option of injecting
dye into my veins was painless. It wasn’t long before the nurse stopped the test and told me I had failed it.
Taking the news in stride, I waited to find out what was next.
What happened next took me by surprise. Dr. Patel informed me that I had two blocked veins and that
he wanted to insert two stents to increase the blood flow to my heart. He scheduled the outpatient surgery
for the first week of July.
“I’m sorry, Dr. Patel, but I’ll be in Detroit attending a DKG conference,” I answered. He was adamant
that the surgery could not wait until I returned from Detroit. Again, we went round and round trying to
find a date. My social calendar was full. I didn’t have time to be sick or go to the hospital. My summer
was planned.
Good news: We agreed on an earlier date, and on June 26 (my birthday), I entered Medical City North
Hills hospital to have two stents placed in my heart. Bad news: The surgery was not successful because the
veins were too clogged to insert the stents. The doctor informed me I would be having open-heart surgery
to bypass these two veins on Wednesday, June 28. He told me a special heart surgeon would be performing
the surgery. In the meantime, Dr. Patel had me admitted to the Cardiac ICU.
Sitting on my hospital bed, talking to my “sister” Connie, who had arrived to check on me, we realized
that I would not be going to Detroit and that my plans needed to be cancelled. I had a hard time wrapping
my head around the fact that I would be having open-heart surgery on Wednesday. Wishing me a happy
birthday, Connie left for the day and said she would see me tomorrow.

The Final Episode
All those months of denying that anything was wrong finally caught up to me. It was June 27, and
I was lying in my hospital bed awaiting surgery. The morning nurse walked in and raised my bed so I
could eat breakfast. Sitting there, I commented that I didn’t feel well and felt sick to my stomach. Falling
back on my bed, I heard the nurse
yell, “Code Blue!” I was having a full-
blown heart attack. For approximately
7 seconds, I was not on this Earth.
Thank goodness, I was in the hospital,
and thank goodness, the cardiac nurses
knew what they were doing. Soon, I
was among the living again. Bill and
Connie rushed to the hospital. The
news: My open-heart surgery would
now be late afternoon—that same day!

This Can’t Be Happening to Me
I spent the next 10 days in the
hospital taking very powerful drugs.
Lying in bed, I kept repeating, “This

Collegial Exchange · 29