My Labor Day Weekend

I saw my Dad have a heart attack.

My parents came down on Thursday evening. We had dinner together, caught up a little and then headed to bed. My dad had some chest pains in the last few days, but they were light and passing. He has a history of heart disease and a had a triple-bypass 15 years ago. His recent problems, even going back further than just this last week, due to different aligments.

Thursday night he had his most severe episode yet. Mom came into the room and told me "Kyle, I need you to take us to the hospital. I think your Dad is having a heart attack." I quickly decided it was much better to call 911 than to attempt to bring him to the hospital myself.

The EMS was there quickly and by that time Dad's chest pains had subsided. He was even thinking this just a false alarm, and it was not necessary to go to the ER, but they took him on to the hospital, arriving around 1:00 AM.

Shortly there after, the pains returned and this time strengthened. Now, it was no longer in his chest but into his arms and his back. The pain would come in ever increasing waves. Nitro glycerine, morphine and the other drugs did nothing to hinder the pain, and it continued this way until around 3:30.

Finally, the pain stopped, and he was able to rest. By 5:00 lab results showed that he had indeed had some type of cardiac event. Around 8:00 they transfered him from the South Baldwin Medical Center ER to Thomas Hospital which had a cardiac stent facility. Later that morning he had a heart cath which showed 80%-90% blockage in one of his by-passes. He later had a stent inserted to alleviate the blockage, and he did well with the procedure. He was discharged on Sunday, and he got to spend a few days in our home before leaving back to Georgetown this morning.

There in the middle of night in the ER was a scary moment. Witnessing a heart attack is not something I ever longed to see, but it is something I will never forget. Your heart is something you take for granted. How can you help it, given its silent, steady beating your whole life. Yet, when it comes under distress, you are then aware of its primacy in keeping your body alive. A primacy only exceeded by God Himself.

We are grateful the attack was not a massive, deadly one. While the glycerine and other medicine did not immediately remedy the pain, they likely helped and kept the heart attack from being worse. We are grateful for the providence of God and getting Dad through this. If you are going to have a heart attack, it can't happen at a better place than a hospital.