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On Thanksgiving Day, my Dad put up a brave front but everybody could tell that he wasn't feeling his best. On Friday night my Mom found him sitting on the edge of his bed, kind of slumped over and complaining about chest pains. He had already taken two of his heart pills and a bunch of Tums (just in case the pains had been caused by the turkey neck and two heaping bowls full of beans he had just eaten on top of a giant Thanks Giving dinner where he ate more food than I've seen him eat in over two years). My Mom called the Paramedics, who didn't think it was a heart attack but decided to take him to the Emergency Room anyways based upon his history of Heart-Related problems. I think they should issue him a Punch Card, where if he gets 9 trips to the ER then his tenth one is FREE.
The ER doctor, who was described as "Twitchy" by my Mother, didn't find anything that made him think it was a Heart Attack, but decided to admit Dad for some intensive monitoring and an Angioplasty. We were told that there was a very high possibility of kidney failure and/or stroke with this.
WE ALL PANICKED.
Lucky for us, the Cardiologist stepped in and said "Let's go ahead and do a __________ test first, and *then* talk about the possibility of an Angioplasty" (I had to leave the name of the test blank because I can't remember the name of it, but it's where they used a machine like the Ultrasound machine to take pictures of Dad's heart without having to open him up. A Cardio-electrcephelogram? Sure, that sounds right...).
We all stood in the darkened hospital room and watched the heart pictures being taken and feeling a little bit better each time the Cariologist said things like "Well THAT looks good... THAT'S fine... No problem THERE..." and by the end of the photo shoot the Cardiologist felt comfortable in saying that no Angioplasty would be needed.
However, they ARE keeping him for a few days, observation of how he reacts to some new medications.
So in a nut shell, he's okay! A bit grumpy that his body doesn't work like it used to, but okay! He'll be staying in the hospital till at least Monday while they continue to observe.
The ER doctor, who was described as "Twitchy" by my Mother, didn't find anything that made him think it was a Heart Attack, but decided to admit Dad for some intensive monitoring and an Angioplasty. We were told that there was a very high possibility of kidney failure and/or stroke with this.
WE ALL PANICKED.
Lucky for us, the Cardiologist stepped in and said "Let's go ahead and do a __________ test first, and *then* talk about the possibility of an Angioplasty" (I had to leave the name of the test blank because I can't remember the name of it, but it's where they used a machine like the Ultrasound machine to take pictures of Dad's heart without having to open him up. A Cardio-electrcephelogram? Sure, that sounds right...).
We all stood in the darkened hospital room and watched the heart pictures being taken and feeling a little bit better each time the Cariologist said things like "Well THAT looks good... THAT'S fine... No problem THERE..." and by the end of the photo shoot the Cardiologist felt comfortable in saying that no Angioplasty would be needed.
However, they ARE keeping him for a few days, observation of how he reacts to some new medications.
So in a nut shell, he's okay! A bit grumpy that his body doesn't work like it used to, but okay! He'll be staying in the hospital till at least Monday while they continue to observe.
