About, and from, the Heart
“Sooooo, you had excruciating pain in your chest and abdomen.
“We think you had a myocardial infarction (sounding like something for which you should at least say “excuse me.”) Tests show that you have blocked arteries. We want to do a coronary artery bypass graft.”
The most intelligent thing I can think of to say is “huh?” You can’t say what you’re thinking: “Oh, this is going to hurt.”
“Yes,” they continue, “we cut open your chest, hook up your heart to a machine to keep it pumping, take blood vessels from your leg, and use them to make a bypass around the blocked artery or arteries.”
Open My Chest?
“Wait,” I say, “you’re going to cut open my chest? What do you do about my breastbone?”
“Oh, we saw right through that.”
Like that makes me feel better. I’m picturing surgeons going to Home Depot and looking over the latest Poulan or Milwaukee saws and trying them out on a tree in their back yard.
I had what most of us call one or more heart attacks and apparently the only way to stay alive in the near and more distant future was to undergo what the docs call a CABG (the docs and nurses in the hospital called it a “cabbage) or coronary artery bypass graft. Turned out I had four blocked arteries.
Fortunately, all went well in the five-hour operation, and amazingly, it didn’t hurt and hasn’t hurt since the surgery almost two weeks ago. This, I believe, is due to skillful surgical skills and a well-thought-out pain-management plan. Plenty of other things were painful or uncomfortable in the six days I was in the hospital – including four days in intensive care.
Grateful
I’m grateful for the skill of the surgeon and cardiologist and the care of all the people who took care of me since the surgery. And I’m grateful to the people who prayed for me and to our Father, who, presumably, wants me to hang around a bit longer.
But two other random thoughts. Many times, during all of it I thought about how fortunate I am to have health insurance and how unfortunate are the millions in the U.S. and world who don’t. In my opinion, the U.S. has wonderful health care, if you can afford it. But what about people – including millions of children – who can’t?
Those of us who are searching for God, especially those who want to be followers of Christ, the healer, should advocate for congressional approval of the continuation of the benefits of the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare) for people who can’t afford health care. A truly Christian country would do no less.
The second thought on the subject comes from an observation in the two hospitals which provided my care. I estimate that at least 40 percent of the total caregivers – from doctors to nurses to room cleaners – are immigrants or children of immigrants.
We Benefit from their Care
How lucky we are that they have chosen to live in the U.S. and engage in a caring profession! I’m not saying they are better or worse caregivers, just that hospitals – like many other industries – would be hard pressed to fill their positions without them and Americans benefit from their care.
While I’m mentioning people and things for which I’m grateful, I can’t end without expressing my heartfelt gratitude to you, my readers, for hanging in there with me over the more than 12 years I’ve been writing the blog. I don’t know many of you, but I appreciate your interest and for overlooking what I’m sure have been many errors, omissions, and opinions which may not reflect yours.
I’m also grateful for the many expressions of support and love I’ve received from family and friends, and, of course, for the loving care of my wife, Amparo.
