It's been quite hectic for me the past week as I was in Nanaimo from March 29 to April 5. I was supposed to go to Las Vegas with N from March 30 to April 6. I didn’t make it to Vegas as I got a call from my mom Thursday night that my dad had a heart attack. So instead of going to Vegas Friday I went to Nanaimo late Thursday night (March 29). My dad is fine now. He had a balloon inserted into one of his arteries to open it and then had a small stainless steel thing called a stent inserted in that stays in there permanently. The procedure was called an angioplasty. Coincidentally I came down with a cold Thursday (March 29) so haven’t been feeling that great. I'm still feeling under the weather.

Luckily, I was able to cancel my Cirque de Soleil “O” tickets as there is no penalty for canceling 24 hours before the show. I cancelled my flight and now have a credit with Air Canada to use by Jan. 27/08. If I fly to Vegas then I need to pay a $155 fee. If I fly somewhere else the fee might be more. My friend who was supposed to go with me cancelled her flight and is surprising her mom in Nanaimo by using the credit to fly home.

My dad was golfing by himself on Thursday. He started at the 10th hole. When he got to the 16th hole he experienced chest pain as he was walking down a hill. I later found out that this hole was aptly called “Cardiac Hill”!!! He sat down and rested for a few minutes and continued golfing at # 17 and #18. He then went and got something to eat and then went home. My mom got home a few hours after he did as she had golfed a full 18 holes with some ladies. Usually my dad comes out to help my mom bring in her golf clubs etc but that day he didn’t. Anyways eventually after my mom had been inside for a bit my dad mumbled and grumbled about chest pain. My mom asked him if he ate anything out of the ordinary as she thought it might be heartburn. She went to get some heartburn/indigestion stuff but then decided that they should go to the doctor instead to check it out.

The doctor gave my dad aspirin and a “pink lady” drink to coat the esophagus and told him to chew the aspirin. Within a short time my dad’s chest pain disappeared. The doctor also did an ECG on him. Then the doctor called an ambulance to have my dad taken to the hospital. My mom was a wreck and quite frantic as she has never been alone before. Both of us were quite stressed out Thursday night and didn’t get much sleep. On Friday morning my dad called and said that he was being transferred to Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria so my mom and I followed the ambulance down to Victoria.

The Coronary Care Unit is quite new and modern-looking. My dad had a huge state of the art room. The room seemed so big as it was equipped for 2 beds but my dad’s bed was the only one in there.

Shortly after he was admitted the doctor came to let us know what was going on. They were going to do an angiogram which puts dye in through his wrist and then checks to see where the blockage is. There were 3 possible outcomes: 1.
It could be cured by medicine, 2. Angiogram. A balloon is inserted into the artery and a stent (stainless steel coil thing) is inserted to keep the artery open, or 3. Bypass which means cutting the ribs open and using a vein from another part of the body to bypass all the clogs. When my dad heard a bypass was a possible outcome of the test he was really scared as he has a friend who had a quadruple bypass and knows what he went through..

My mom and I went and got something to eat and then when we came back to my dad’s room to wait for him. Coincidentally it was after 3pm and we watched the Young and the Restless in his room. My dad was wheeled back in his bed before 4pm and luckily he didn’t have to have a bypass. We were all so relieved. We found out that his right coronary artery was 95% blocked and there was very minimal damage to his heart. He does have a few areas partially blocked on the left side but they were not blocked enough to be of any concern. After the angioplasty they were going to try and get his blood pressure down. His left hand was all swollen as the nurse in Nanaimo had tried to put the IV into the back of his hand but couldn’t get the vein so put the IV in his wrist instead. But because there was bruising on the back of his hand and he was on heavy bloodthinners the bruise disappated into the rest of his hand so it was all purple and swollen. It looked really gross. He has to raise his hand now so that blood can flow out. Even a few old scratch scabs that he had before the heart attack were leaking out as his blood was so thin.

So, he was released from the hospital on Sunday and has just been doing short walks each day and some stretches. On Tuesday he washed both of their cars and was pooped. Said he should've only washed one. He can’t play golf or do any heavy lifting for 2 weeks and can’t drive or go back to work for a month.