Dad's Days of Heartache
The following is a very looooong entry about the last couple days. Just skim it and get what you want from it. I tried to be thorough, giving links to WebMD.com for good information about the procedures Dad encountered. To all that knew Dad was going through this and were praying for him, thank you so much.
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Dad’s Days of Heart Ache
Tuesday, March 27, Dad had an appointment at the New Ulm Medical Clinic to have a stress test.
A synopsis of how the stress test came about: The test had been advised by a doctor on March 15th when Dad had had a routine return visit for another health issue that had normal results. I had taken Dad to this appointment since it was routine and because Mom was enjoying a day out. But, Dad had told me that he had had chest pain. This triggered me insisting that we tell the nurse about this complaint, which in turn put us in line to see another doctor about his pain. A blood test and an EKG were ordered by this doctor. The results were that the blood test was normal, but the EKG showed that his heart rate was slower than it should be. With these results, the doctor advised a stress test. This brings us to the stress test.
Monday, March 27 started out with Mom and me thinking that the stress test would be run, and then we all would go on our merry way by early afternoon. The results were much different – with the stress test causing other stress.
The appointment was set for 9:00 a.m. After arriving, the appointment started with the usual: Dad being taken near the area of the stress test, a medical personnel asking Dad about his meds and his symptoms (with Mom answering the specifics about the meds and Mom helping the med personnel get answers since Dad is hard of hearing AND sometimes doesn’t understand what is being asked of him. I was there to support Mom and Dad, and to be in the loop in case Mom needed extra pair of ears.) After those preliminary things, they took Dad to the next room, which had the “bed” cart and the equipment for the tests. Since Dad has Parkinson’s, a walk on the tread mill is unsafe since Dad shuffles when he walks. Also, the Doctor said that they wouldn’t be able to get his heart rate up far enough to get the necessary results. Thus, the stress test was drug-induced and Dad would be lying on a cart while this procedure took place.
Mom and I were waiting in the first room while this was taking place. We asked if we could be in that room with him, but they said it would be too crowded because of all the equipment and the number of personnel on hand. Before the test actually was started, according to Mom, the doctor stopped by and had told Mom that this test could actually cause a heart attack. (I happened to be out of the room looking for a newspaper so Mom and I could do the daily word puzzle to pass the time. We thought it best that at least one of us remain in the room at all times until the test was done. I’m glad we made that decision.)
After I returned, Mom told me this, then we talked and read the paper for awhile. After a stretch of time, the Doctor came back and asked that we come to the room where the test was taking place. There, we found out that during the testing, Dad had started having chest pains and that he now had an irregular heart beat which is arterial fibrillation. The Doctor proceeded to tell us that decisions had to be made about whether we wanted to send Dad to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in the Cities or Rochester to have an angiogram to find out if an artery was blocked or just stay in New Ulm (just mentioned it because it was one of the options). Dad was in the mind set that he was going home. But we had to remind him that the least of all the options were that he would stay in New Ulm overnight. Since Dad had reacted to the test in this way, the Doctors and Nurses had to treat him as if he had had a heart attack. Also, because of the arterial fibrillation, they wanted to keep him in the hospital to try to clear up that problem and to stabilize him.
This news shocked both Mom and me. So, we asked questions to try to clear up in our minds exactly what was happening. Because I had experience similar events with Lloyd (my father-in-law) when he was going through his heart attacks, I was a bit more familiar with some of the things the Doctor was explaining. I could tell Mom was struggling with the information, I suspect mostly because this came to her as a shock. Since we weren’t exactly sure how to proceed, the Doctor offered to talk to one of the Doctors at Abbott Northwestern to get more information. The decision at that time was made to have Dad admitted to New Ulm Hospital because they needed to get him stabilized and treat him with medication to try to help his arterial fibrillation and medicine that helps in the event that he had had a heart attack. While this was going on, Dad and Mom could discuss the options. After Dad had been admitted and the Nurse was done getting Medical information (allergy and prescription info,) Mom and I decided to go get a bite to eat. By this time it was approximately Noon. Mom’s and Dad’s day was thrown in a tizzy and their minds were reeling. They needed some time to pull back and think. Dinner time would be a welcome break. With Dad settled in his bed, resting, Mom and I found the cafeteria and had our meal.
After our meal, Mom had decided that we should let C.J. (Mom’s dog) out of the house for a potty break, since no-one would most likely not be back home for awhile. We checked on Dad before going. Since he was sleeping, we then left for Mom’s place. We spent a half hour or so there, letting C.J. run outside awhile and taking a break from the hospital scene. The time away gave Mom the opportunity to contact other family members. She used it to get their opinions about which hospital Dad should use. Also, while we were home (Mom’s place), I had called Russ to inform him of what was happening. He stopped by the hospital before going home from work and was at the hospital when we returned. After returning, we again discussed the hospital options. Abbott Northwestern and an angiogram were Mom’s and Dad’s final decision.
After notifying the Doctor, the Doctor set in motion the necessary steps to transfer Dad. The Ambulance picked up Dad just after 6:30. (Since Dad was hungry and hadn’t eaten his noon meal, the nurse arranged a meal and held off the ambulance until after he had eaten.) Russ and I had left just before that to go home. Mom, Russ and I had decided that I would go with Mom up to Abbott Northwestern, so I could give her moral support and help her navigate to the hospital. (The nurse had given Mom pamphlets with the directions.) Russ and I were to go home, get my overnight clothes, then meet Mom at Dairy Queen in Winthrop. Mom would get a meal there. So that’s what we did.
While we were en route, Charlie (my brother) arrived at the hospital so he could be there when Dad arrived. (Miranda, Charlie’s daughter also came along.) I don’t know all the things Charlie attended to, but he was there when we arrived. In addition to talking to more Nurses, and taking care of the necessary forms and questions, we talked awhile. Charlie had offered for us to stay at his place overnight. Mom chose not to take him up on his offer because Dad has the habit of getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. She wanted to be there so that she could make sure he didn’t try to walk to the bathroom and either fall or tear out his I.V. and unhook the monitoring devices. I chose not to go because I didn’t want to have to navigate through traffic in the morning and wanted to be available to help Mom with Dad.
I’m glad I didn’t take Charlie up on his offer, since two things happened. Dad got up several times during the night. And the procedure (being scheduled at 11:00 a.m.) happened at 7:00 a.m.
Before getting ready for sleep, we told Dad that he was to use the Nurse’s call button when he had to go to the bathroom. We wanted the Nurse’s help, for safety reasons and just in case the Nurse was to monitor his bathroom stuff. Well, Dad did NOT call the Nurse any of these times. He just started getting out of bed, without warning us. Each time, we got a bit excited, and jumped to the task. With the cords and tubes dangling from him, we were concerned that he would become unhooked and all the efforts to get him ready for the procedure(s) would be compromised. We managed to keep him from becoming unhooked. But, the night was a bit tense.
Since the angiogram actually took place much earlier than expected I was glad I had stayed the night. If I had stayed at Charlie’s place, I wouldn’t have made it back in time to be with Mom. The waiting for the answers is a tense time and Mom needed moral support. I was glad I could be there.
While Dad was gone, having the procedure Mom and I took time for breakfast. We had stopped at the waiting room first to check in. The waiting room attendee gave us a pager so that we could go have breakfast and still be able to stay in touch. He would page us when we were needed by the Doctor. The angiogram didn’t take very long. We were just finishing up with breakfast when the pager when off. The thing flashed, buzzed and vibrated. Since we weren’t expecting the angiogram to be done so soon, the commotion of the pager alarmed us and we rushed back with our nerves in a frazzle. The frazzle wasn’t necessary we soon found out. The Doctor explained the angiogram showed that Dad’s arteries were not blocked. He also explained that he found a small amount of plaque in the arteries. For a person of his age, Dad’s arteries were quite healthy. The Doctor diagnosed Dad to have Mild Coronary Disease. What a relief!
Now all that had to be done was to care for the arterial fibrillation. The doctor said that since it wasn’t clearing up with medicine, a procedure called electrical cardioversion should be used. (Remember, there is always the choice that nothing be done. But, Mom chose to go ahead with the procedure. I don’t remember if Mom consulted Dad, but the procedure was done.) Basically, the Doctor would shock Dad’s heart and after the shock the heart normally goes back to a normal rythmn. The Doctor at that point didn’t know if they would do the procedure that day or the next. But, he would consult scheduling and get back to us. In the mean time, Dad came back to his previous room (no room change needed since an angioplasty wasn’t required.)
After arriving back, Dad would have liked a meal and some coffee! But, the nurse wanted to hold off with this until she found out whether the electrical cardioversion procedure would be taking place the same day or the next. It was a good thing she did this. Dad was able to have the procedure that afternoon. And, if all went well, Dad would be able to go home that evening. Going home was the other thing on Dad badly wanted. He was exhausted and was tired of being there. We were all relieved when we received that information.
While waiting for this time to come, I conversed with Justin (my son). He was able to make time to come see his Grandpa. They took Dad out somewhere around 1:00 p.m. The procedure would take only 5 minutes. Then, they would monitor the results, making sure that he didn’t go back into arterial fibrillation and give him some time to wake up in the recovery room.
Justin had arrived just before they took Dad down for the procedure. Dad was tickled pink that Justin would come see him. Justin kidded him that the way he sees it Grandpa came to visit him, since Justin lives about 15 minutes away.
While Dad was out, Justin, Mom and I went to the Hospital’s McDonald’s (inside the Hospital complex). We arrived back before Dad did. But a Doctor was just outside the door when we arrived. He explained that all went well and that Dad just needed to wake up some more before coming back to the room. Success! Dad would be able to go home this evening.
Dad came back to the room after a bit. Justin conversed with his Grandpa a bit longer, then had to go. Verna (my sister) had called a bit later. She explained that she and Mya (her daughter) would be arriving just after 4:00 p.m. We let her know the great news and after her arrival and some visiting, we all prepared to go home.
We tidied up the room, I got my things round up and Mom got Dad’s and her things ready and Dad got dressed.
I was to take a bunch of things with me and get Mom’s van and meet them out front. Verna and Mya helped Mom and Dad carry things and a Nurse wheeled Dad down to our meeting place. All was great. We said our goodbyes to Verna and Mya and were on our way. With the exception of getting on the “wrong” road (relatively easy fix), we were on our way home. We arrived at home around 7 p.m. I stayed the night to be available for Mom, just in case Dad needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. She was concerned that he might not be steady on his feet and might fall. If he fell, she’d need help getting him up.
But, Dad was exhausted. After a light supper and a little wind down time, Dad and Mom went to bed. I slept on the couch in the living room so that if Mom didn’t hear Dad get up, I might hear him when he walked by the couch. As far as Mom and I know, Dad didn’t get up until 4 a.m. After a brief time up, Dad went back to bed for a couple more hours.
Dad, Mom and I went to New Ulm Clinic for what we thought was a routine stress test on Tuesday morning. By Tuesday night we were in Minneapolis with a long night ahead of us. Wednesday had more events and by Wednesday night we were back home. Two days away doesn’t sound like much, normally. But these two days seemed extremely long.
Thursday morning arrived and Dad seemed to be recovering quickly. While at Abbott Northwestern, a Nurse had suggested that Dad use a walker once returning home. But, Dad didn’t need it. He was improving quickly. Calvin and Mary (my brother and sister-in-law) arrived at Mom’s and Dad’s mid-morning; bringing back C.J. (he had stopped by and picked her up sometime Tuesday afternoon.) C.J. had missed Dad as much as he missed her. After some visiting time, Calvin and Mary went home, taking me with them and dropping me off at my home on their way home. I talked to Colette later on Thursday afternoon. She was visiting Mom and Dad. She explained that Dad was pretty much back to his old self. One of Mom’s major concerns for the next few days is keeping Dad from lifting anything very heavy. Dad is under strict orders not to lift anything over 10 pounds due to the incision in his groin area (for the angiogram). Oh, if I haven’t said so yet, Dad did NOT have a heart attack.
A synopsis of how the stress test came about: The test had been advised by a doctor on March 15th when Dad had had a routine return visit for another health issue that had normal results. I had taken Dad to this appointment since it was routine and because Mom was enjoying a day out. But, Dad had told me that he had had chest pain. This triggered me insisting that we tell the nurse about this complaint, which in turn put us in line to see another doctor about his pain. A blood test and an EKG were ordered by this doctor. The results were that the blood test was normal, but the EKG showed that his heart rate was slower than it should be. With these results, the doctor advised a stress test. This brings us to the stress test.
Monday, March 27 started out with Mom and me thinking that the stress test would be run, and then we all would go on our merry way by early afternoon. The results were much different – with the stress test causing other stress.
The appointment was set for 9:00 a.m. After arriving, the appointment started with the usual: Dad being taken near the area of the stress test, a medical personnel asking Dad about his meds and his symptoms (with Mom answering the specifics about the meds and Mom helping the med personnel get answers since Dad is hard of hearing AND sometimes doesn’t understand what is being asked of him. I was there to support Mom and Dad, and to be in the loop in case Mom needed extra pair of ears.) After those preliminary things, they took Dad to the next room, which had the “bed” cart and the equipment for the tests. Since Dad has Parkinson’s, a walk on the tread mill is unsafe since Dad shuffles when he walks. Also, the Doctor said that they wouldn’t be able to get his heart rate up far enough to get the necessary results. Thus, the stress test was drug-induced and Dad would be lying on a cart while this procedure took place.
Mom and I were waiting in the first room while this was taking place. We asked if we could be in that room with him, but they said it would be too crowded because of all the equipment and the number of personnel on hand. Before the test actually was started, according to Mom, the doctor stopped by and had told Mom that this test could actually cause a heart attack. (I happened to be out of the room looking for a newspaper so Mom and I could do the daily word puzzle to pass the time. We thought it best that at least one of us remain in the room at all times until the test was done. I’m glad we made that decision.)
After I returned, Mom told me this, then we talked and read the paper for awhile. After a stretch of time, the Doctor came back and asked that we come to the room where the test was taking place. There, we found out that during the testing, Dad had started having chest pains and that he now had an irregular heart beat which is arterial fibrillation. The Doctor proceeded to tell us that decisions had to be made about whether we wanted to send Dad to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in the Cities or Rochester to have an angiogram to find out if an artery was blocked or just stay in New Ulm (just mentioned it because it was one of the options). Dad was in the mind set that he was going home. But we had to remind him that the least of all the options were that he would stay in New Ulm overnight. Since Dad had reacted to the test in this way, the Doctors and Nurses had to treat him as if he had had a heart attack. Also, because of the arterial fibrillation, they wanted to keep him in the hospital to try to clear up that problem and to stabilize him.
This news shocked both Mom and me. So, we asked questions to try to clear up in our minds exactly what was happening. Because I had experience similar events with Lloyd (my father-in-law) when he was going through his heart attacks, I was a bit more familiar with some of the things the Doctor was explaining. I could tell Mom was struggling with the information, I suspect mostly because this came to her as a shock. Since we weren’t exactly sure how to proceed, the Doctor offered to talk to one of the Doctors at Abbott Northwestern to get more information. The decision at that time was made to have Dad admitted to New Ulm Hospital because they needed to get him stabilized and treat him with medication to try to help his arterial fibrillation and medicine that helps in the event that he had had a heart attack. While this was going on, Dad and Mom could discuss the options. After Dad had been admitted and the Nurse was done getting Medical information (allergy and prescription info,) Mom and I decided to go get a bite to eat. By this time it was approximately Noon. Mom’s and Dad’s day was thrown in a tizzy and their minds were reeling. They needed some time to pull back and think. Dinner time would be a welcome break. With Dad settled in his bed, resting, Mom and I found the cafeteria and had our meal.
After our meal, Mom had decided that we should let C.J. (Mom’s dog) out of the house for a potty break, since no-one would most likely not be back home for awhile. We checked on Dad before going. Since he was sleeping, we then left for Mom’s place. We spent a half hour or so there, letting C.J. run outside awhile and taking a break from the hospital scene. The time away gave Mom the opportunity to contact other family members. She used it to get their opinions about which hospital Dad should use. Also, while we were home (Mom’s place), I had called Russ to inform him of what was happening. He stopped by the hospital before going home from work and was at the hospital when we returned. After returning, we again discussed the hospital options. Abbott Northwestern and an angiogram were Mom’s and Dad’s final decision.
After notifying the Doctor, the Doctor set in motion the necessary steps to transfer Dad. The Ambulance picked up Dad just after 6:30. (Since Dad was hungry and hadn’t eaten his noon meal, the nurse arranged a meal and held off the ambulance until after he had eaten.) Russ and I had left just before that to go home. Mom, Russ and I had decided that I would go with Mom up to Abbott Northwestern, so I could give her moral support and help her navigate to the hospital. (The nurse had given Mom pamphlets with the directions.) Russ and I were to go home, get my overnight clothes, then meet Mom at Dairy Queen in Winthrop. Mom would get a meal there. So that’s what we did.
While we were en route, Charlie (my brother) arrived at the hospital so he could be there when Dad arrived. (Miranda, Charlie’s daughter also came along.) I don’t know all the things Charlie attended to, but he was there when we arrived. In addition to talking to more Nurses, and taking care of the necessary forms and questions, we talked awhile. Charlie had offered for us to stay at his place overnight. Mom chose not to take him up on his offer because Dad has the habit of getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. She wanted to be there so that she could make sure he didn’t try to walk to the bathroom and either fall or tear out his I.V. and unhook the monitoring devices. I chose not to go because I didn’t want to have to navigate through traffic in the morning and wanted to be available to help Mom with Dad.
I’m glad I didn’t take Charlie up on his offer, since two things happened. Dad got up several times during the night. And the procedure (being scheduled at 11:00 a.m.) happened at 7:00 a.m.
Before getting ready for sleep, we told Dad that he was to use the Nurse’s call button when he had to go to the bathroom. We wanted the Nurse’s help, for safety reasons and just in case the Nurse was to monitor his bathroom stuff. Well, Dad did NOT call the Nurse any of these times. He just started getting out of bed, without warning us. Each time, we got a bit excited, and jumped to the task. With the cords and tubes dangling from him, we were concerned that he would become unhooked and all the efforts to get him ready for the procedure(s) would be compromised. We managed to keep him from becoming unhooked. But, the night was a bit tense.
Since the angiogram actually took place much earlier than expected I was glad I had stayed the night. If I had stayed at Charlie’s place, I wouldn’t have made it back in time to be with Mom. The waiting for the answers is a tense time and Mom needed moral support. I was glad I could be there.
While Dad was gone, having the procedure Mom and I took time for breakfast. We had stopped at the waiting room first to check in. The waiting room attendee gave us a pager so that we could go have breakfast and still be able to stay in touch. He would page us when we were needed by the Doctor. The angiogram didn’t take very long. We were just finishing up with breakfast when the pager when off. The thing flashed, buzzed and vibrated. Since we weren’t expecting the angiogram to be done so soon, the commotion of the pager alarmed us and we rushed back with our nerves in a frazzle. The frazzle wasn’t necessary we soon found out. The Doctor explained the angiogram showed that Dad’s arteries were not blocked. He also explained that he found a small amount of plaque in the arteries. For a person of his age, Dad’s arteries were quite healthy. The Doctor diagnosed Dad to have Mild Coronary Disease. What a relief!
Now all that had to be done was to care for the arterial fibrillation. The doctor said that since it wasn’t clearing up with medicine, a procedure called electrical cardioversion should be used. (Remember, there is always the choice that nothing be done. But, Mom chose to go ahead with the procedure. I don’t remember if Mom consulted Dad, but the procedure was done.) Basically, the Doctor would shock Dad’s heart and after the shock the heart normally goes back to a normal rythmn. The Doctor at that point didn’t know if they would do the procedure that day or the next. But, he would consult scheduling and get back to us. In the mean time, Dad came back to his previous room (no room change needed since an angioplasty wasn’t required.)
After arriving back, Dad would have liked a meal and some coffee! But, the nurse wanted to hold off with this until she found out whether the electrical cardioversion procedure would be taking place the same day or the next. It was a good thing she did this. Dad was able to have the procedure that afternoon. And, if all went well, Dad would be able to go home that evening. Going home was the other thing on Dad badly wanted. He was exhausted and was tired of being there. We were all relieved when we received that information.
While waiting for this time to come, I conversed with Justin (my son). He was able to make time to come see his Grandpa. They took Dad out somewhere around 1:00 p.m. The procedure would take only 5 minutes. Then, they would monitor the results, making sure that he didn’t go back into arterial fibrillation and give him some time to wake up in the recovery room.
Justin had arrived just before they took Dad down for the procedure. Dad was tickled pink that Justin would come see him. Justin kidded him that the way he sees it Grandpa came to visit him, since Justin lives about 15 minutes away.
While Dad was out, Justin, Mom and I went to the Hospital’s McDonald’s (inside the Hospital complex). We arrived back before Dad did. But a Doctor was just outside the door when we arrived. He explained that all went well and that Dad just needed to wake up some more before coming back to the room. Success! Dad would be able to go home this evening.
Dad came back to the room after a bit. Justin conversed with his Grandpa a bit longer, then had to go. Verna (my sister) had called a bit later. She explained that she and Mya (her daughter) would be arriving just after 4:00 p.m. We let her know the great news and after her arrival and some visiting, we all prepared to go home.
We tidied up the room, I got my things round up and Mom got Dad’s and her things ready and Dad got dressed.I was to take a bunch of things with me and get Mom’s van and meet them out front. Verna and Mya helped Mom and Dad carry things and a Nurse wheeled Dad down to our meeting place. All was great. We said our goodbyes to Verna and Mya and were on our way. With the exception of getting on the “wrong” road (relatively easy fix), we were on our way home. We arrived at home around 7 p.m. I stayed the night to be available for Mom, just in case Dad needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. She was concerned that he might not be steady on his feet and might fall. If he fell, she’d need help getting him up.
But, Dad was exhausted. After a light supper and a little wind down time, Dad and Mom went to bed. I slept on the couch in the living room so that if Mom didn’t hear Dad get up, I might hear him when he walked by the couch. As far as Mom and I know, Dad didn’t get up until 4 a.m. After a brief time up, Dad went back to bed for a couple more hours.
Dad, Mom and I went to New Ulm Clinic for what we thought was a routine stress test on Tuesday morning. By Tuesday night we were in Minneapolis with a long night ahead of us. Wednesday had more events and by Wednesday night we were back home. Two days away doesn’t sound like much, normally. But these two days seemed extremely long.
Thursday morning arrived and Dad seemed to be recovering quickly. While at Abbott Northwestern, a Nurse had suggested that Dad use a walker once returning home. But, Dad didn’t need it. He was improving quickly. Calvin and Mary (my brother and sister-in-law) arrived at Mom’s and Dad’s mid-morning; bringing back C.J. (he had stopped by and picked her up sometime Tuesday afternoon.) C.J. had missed Dad as much as he missed her. After some visiting time, Calvin and Mary went home, taking me with them and dropping me off at my home on their way home. I talked to Colette later on Thursday afternoon. She was visiting Mom and Dad. She explained that Dad was pretty much back to his old self. One of Mom’s major concerns for the next few days is keeping Dad from lifting anything very heavy. Dad is under strict orders not to lift anything over 10 pounds due to the incision in his groin area (for the angiogram). Oh, if I haven’t said so yet, Dad did NOT have a heart attack.
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