This saga began on Monday morning the 15th of Febuary, 2010.
I called to check in with Scott after my 4:30-9:30 am shift at the Y before I got in a quick work out. Spoke with Scott and everything was fine. I told him I would run and grab a couple of things from the store on my way home and call to see if they needed anything else.
I called his cell 2x's and he did not answer which is not like him. I then called the house and Barbara answered but Scott did not come to the phone. I called the house again and asked what was wrong. Scott got on the phone and calmly told me to come home he needed to go to the ER right away. We were having a snow storm and the roads were not very good, but I got home as quickly as I could.
Scott told me that he had a dull ache in the center of his chest all night long, but did not think much of it, just that maybe he had slept wrong. Until he got up and was getting the girls and our guests breckfast. His hands and feet went numb, he got nauseated, lightheaded and faint. So he went to lay down.
I took him to Norton Suburban ER. The hospital where both of our girls were born. They gave him an EKG which prompted the hospitalist to contact a cardiologist. The cardiologist immediately started freaking out demanding Scott's prior medical records. I was going on 3 hours of sleep, and was getting a bit wigged out by the way the cardiologist was ranting and raving. I fumbled for Scott's phone which had all of the numbers of LPTS and people who had access to his files. I could not find his phone, but had a collegue of Scott's, Amy, in my phone, so I called her to see if she could help me. The seminary was closed for snow, and we were not going to get these medical records in any sort of quick order. The cardiologist was pacing and nervous at the nurses station talking to the hospitalist and he said that Scott was having an Acute Massive Heart Attack. I was like, look, I can't get you these records do what ever it is you need to do to save Scott's life. The next thing I know, he is being loaded onto a stretcher taken by ambulance to Norton Audobon Hospital for a heart cath.
The heart cath came back clear. No massive heart attack. So whatever was going on had nothing to do with his heart. Or so they said.
Scott was on his back for the alloted 4-6 hours after the procedure and when it was ok to get up and use the restroom, the artery opened up and he bled. ALOT! He just stood there and looked at it. The nurse got him on his back ASAP and he then had to stay in bed another 6 hours with out moving.
The next day, (Tuesday the 16th) a dr. came in for 3 seconds and told Scott he was free to do. End of story.
The day after that, (Wednesday the 17th) we went to a follow up with the cardiologist who again reiterated that his heart was fine, see another type of dr. if you want to try and see what was wrong. Both Scott and I left that appt. feeling frustrated because he still had the same symptoms!
Our house guests came back on Saturday the 20th and left on Sunday the 21st. On Monday the 22nd Scott insisted on teaching his evening class even though he was visibly sick. Tuesday the 23rd, again he insisted on going to work, I was very concerned and with out telling him first I called the Dean and a collegue of Scott's to let them know, that Scott was really sick and not paying attention to it. By that night he has cold chills and a high fever. I made him cancel his appts. for Wed the 24th and he stayed in bed all day. I had been bugging him all week to call a pulmonaologist. He hadn't. On Thursday the 25th, I called him after work before I worked out as usual and he could barely talk. He insisted I go work out, and I begged him to see a Dr. he said he was fine, go work out and just bring him home some cough syrup.
I came home ASAP with out the cough syrup. I called a urgent care center on my way home and they said get him to the ER ASAP.
Scott was in the den (he is never in the den) barely breathing and exhausted. I quickly packed a bag got the girls in the van and dropped him off at Suburban ER. I could not stay as I did not have a plan for the girls.
By 7pm, I had a neighbor come and spend the night with the girls. I headed up to the hospital, he was STILL in the ER alone and struggeling to breathe. The Dean luckily had came to stay with him or he would not have gotten anything to eat.
This was Thursday the 25th, the rest is really a blur. He had surgery for pericardial effusion on Monday, March 1st. The neighbors and a friend from the Y helped to care for the girls. Sometime even spending the night. Scott's best friends Steve and Dale both came in at different times to stay with me and were a great help/comfort in this very trying time
.
The girls behavior during this crisis was EXCELLENT.
Maya had no idea what was going on and went with the flow quite well. Ella on the other hand had her breaking point and was just flat out depressed. On top of all of this Maya was the first to run high fevers and go on antibiotics, then Ella spiked one with a terribly painful double ear infection.
Scott was released from the hospital on Friday night the 5th of March. He got home and settled by around 9:30 pm.
Ella was up sick every couple of hours, ( I told Scott welcome home, just like in the hospital, no sleep) It took Ella a couple of days to really warm back up to her dad.
We saw the surgeon on Tuesday the 9th to remove his stitches and the assistant made it very clear to Scott how serious this was and always will be. If he so much as gets a sniffle he is to high tail it to the cardiologist. For the rest of his life. This could re occur and if caught early enough may be able to be treated with steriods. If left untreated could cause irreversible heart damage and he could have to have a heart transplant. All of this from an air borne virus that anyone could have caught. Our family all caught it in different degrees. Scott just got hit the worst.
Ella is still having some behavior issues, that I feel are related to her being mad at Scott for being gone for so long and not understanding why.
Today was a good day.
