A Testimony Of God’s Faithfulness Chapter Four
In the Fall of 2022, I began to feel chest pressure once again. It was similar to what I experienced back in 2005 prior to my quad bypass, and again in 2020 before the placement of a stent. There was little question in my mind that something had changed and was not right. I monitored it and prayed about whether or not to take any action and felt that God was directing me to go to the ER. After sharing with Nancy, we decided there was little reason to go to our local hospital as they wouldn’t be able to do anything anyway.
On September 27, 2022 we loaded up and headed down to Nebraska Med which we decided was the best option for heart care in Omaha. We arrived around 9:30 AM and were put into an ER treatment room where I’d spend the next seven hours. They did an EKG, Echocardiogram, drew blood twice, chest x-rays and routine checks. That took most of the morning to complete. The ER was very busy so docs and nurses were in and out throughout the day but nothing stood out in their testing.
Historically that has been the story of my life. Back in the 80’s when my heart issues began to really bother me, tests never caught anything unusual until I had a portable monitor to carry for 35 days. Same was true back in 2005 and 2020 – standard heart testing just doesn’t catch the issues for some reason and that was the case at Nebraska Med.
They ran a second blood test midafternoon which again showed little change. So around 4:30 PM they decided to send me home with the instruction of checking in with my regular doc the following week. I wasn’t dying and in distress and it felt like they didn’t really have time to deal with me given all the activity happening in the ER that day. And they didn’t relate my description of chest pressure to anything needing immediate attention so out the door I went.
I saw my GP on October 3, 2022 and Dr. Markham ran an EKG and reviewed the Nebraska Med records. He added another med to my regimen and since I was leaving for Tampa that weekend he suggested I see my regular cardiologist Dr. Paul Philips as soon as possible after arriving in Florida. When I called for an appointment and described my situation, the PA was not happy about the actions that had happened at Nebraska Med (his exact words were ‘that’s all they did’?) and brought me in on October 12 to review records and schedule a nuclear stress test to get to the bottom of my symptoms.
I admit I was beginning to question myself. Did I really have something wrong in my heart? Or was it just in my head? I had prayed specifically that God would make clear if I needed to go to the ER back in September. I felt there was a clear answer to do so, but then got there and nothing showed abnormal and no action was taken. At least until I got to Florida and the folks who had been treating me the last two years took my word for it and put things in motion quickly – at least in medical terms.
The stress test happened on October 21, 2022. Symptoms remained the same – chest pressure and fatigue. As usual, they did an EKG before beginning and the technician said there were some abnormalities and needed to go see the cardiologist before proceeding with the test. She returned after a few minutes with the go ahead to do the nuclear stress test. They injected a dye that enabled the photography and then stressed the heart so they could watch the heart activity and capture those images.
The entire process was about an hour, with the actual test lasting about 25 minutes. I laid on a narrow table on my back and was slid into a large device (similar to an MRI machine) but not nearly as tight. When they injected the stress drug, it did create a sensation in my heart for a few minutes but was not that uncomfortable.
I certainly liked this type of test better than the treadmill variety and am confident they got a much better view of what the problem areas were as a result of the pictures that it was taking throughout the process. The hardest part was lying still for that entire time so the pictures would be clear and give them the best view.
Dr. Philips called me in on October 27 after returning from vacation and seeing the results of the test. He told me there were some abnormalities toward the bottom of my heart and it was likely a blockage or two creating the issue. His prognosis was the likelihood of a stent or two done during an outpatient cath procedure.
But like my 2005 experience, he admitted they wouldn’t know for sure until they went in and evaluated the situation. I was sent home with the orders to ‘stay calm and not do anything stupid’ so I wouldn’t aggravate the blockage and create an issue before the cath lab visit. They scheduled me for the first available slot and we went home.
The heart catheterization happened on November 3. We were to be on site at 7:15 AM and shortly thereafter the preparation process began. We got the paperwork signed and Dr Stein came in and went over what they thought would happen – enter through my right groin and discover potential blockages in the lower area of my heart. He is a seasoned cardiologist and surgeon and immediately gave me comfort that I was in good hands.
They came and rolled me into the cath lab at 8 AM and spent another 20 minutes prepping that area for the procedure. Overall it was a bit over an hour to get things ready for action. They hit me with the ‘happy juice’, which is what the anesthesiologist called it, and I don’t really remember much beyond that. Dr. Bernardo Stein did the procedure, and post event told me they gave me additional anesthesia meds since I was a bit more active on the table than they wanted. So unlike all prior cath events (this was #7) I don’t remember at all what happened in the lab.
I was in there a little longer than expected and got rolled back to my room and slowly woke up around 10:30 AM. One of the biggest pains in a cath entry through the groin is the need to lie still for four hours post event to allow things to come back together. I struggle to lie still for 4 minutes and had hoped the procedure might happen through the wrist which doesn’t require the long period of no movement, but because of the expected location of the blockages near the bottom of the heart it made a lot more sense to enter from below. There are some new tools they have to help the process – collagen which disintegrates by itself over a few days – but I laid there and waited (impatiently I’m sure).
Dr. Stein came in and reviewed exactly what had happened once he got inside. The expectation was 1-2 stents to address what the stress test identified as potential blockages. When he got inside, there were actually three different problem areas”
- One area blocked 90%
- Another area same vessel but lower blocked 90%
- A third area blocked 66% in the same vessel that had been stented back in 2020.
They placed three stents after successfully opening the blockages. He explained that the blockages that caused the bypass back in 2005 remain 100% blocked but are of no concern because of the bypass paths. He complimented the bypass surgeon for his work, and the stent placement from 2020 as both were well done and working exactly as expected. That was encouraging and bodes well for the future. Because of genetics, this will likely not be my last visit to a cath lab, and hopefully I’ll pay attention to my body and raise the flag when I feel the symptoms that let me know something is not quite right.
God again was faithful through the entire process. Certainly something could have gone wrong during the five weeks I spent waiting. Certainly the discovery could have been more severe and widespread blockages. Certainly any number of things could have gone wrong while they were fishing around in my heart. Yet God did what He always does and showed up and took care of me. I don’t deserve His goodness, but I’m grateful for all He continues to do in my life.