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Carol Perkins: The Heart

Previous Column: The Wind and the Window

By Carol Perkins

My husband is a private person, but if this account saves a life, I had permission to share.

When I got home from my women's lunch, Guy was in the recliner. "I've been having chest pains for two hours." He had been cutting up a limb left from a storm when the pains began. He came inside, rested, and went back. The pain continued. "When I couldn't lift the limb to the back of the truck, I knew I was in trouble." Put on your shoes; we were going to ER." We debated whether to call an ambulance, but he wanted to go to Bowling Green where his doctors are, which we did.

The ER was packed. Some were obviously sick and others were laughing, sharing phone pictures, and eating. Family gathering. I was not in the mood! When he wasn't taken "back" immediately, I approached the registration desk in a panic.


Immediately, the Triage nurse did an EKG while I waited. It was "all over the place." In seconds a wheelchair appeared, which I knew was for him. I followed as they whisked him through the double doors and into a room where six people went to work. I was told to wait in the hall. A scene from a TV show.

A nurse followed me out and said, "He's having an active heart attack." All I could say was, NOW?" He assured me they were saving him and I believed him. I later asked about the prolonged chest pains and learned that people often mistake these pains for gas pains because they last so long. The best advice is to seek help! Don't ignore them even when they go away and return later. It could NOT be gas.

I sat in the patient lounge for only a few minutes until a nurse wheeled him upstairs to the CATH lab with the team following; I waited in another waiting room. A phone call gave me updates. The first informer he had ONE blockage behind the main artery at the back of the heart; a blood clot-100% blockage and the team was removing it and inserting a stent. Within an hour, they completed the procedure and saved his life.

The doctor explained what they did and that Guy also had another issue: AFIB, which can cause strokes. Changing his lifestyle and meds hopefully will keep him alive for many years. When the doctor finished, I said, "I know you hear this a lot, but I deeply thank you for saving him." He walked back into the room and gave me a hug. How many strangers/doctors would do that?

As I was zooming down the parkway and interstate Friday afternoon, little did I know that Guy was in the middle of a heart attack. So many things could have gone wrong, but I try not to think about them. Divine intervention and a team of good doctors and nurses saved his life. Now the work begins; no more bread, sweets, pasta,...


You can contact Carol at carolperkins06@gmail.com.


This story was posted on 2022-08-18 11:40:24
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