What began as some mild symptoms (occasional shortness of breath, a little chest tightness, and a rare sensation radiating down his left arm) took Jim and me on a journey we hadn’t anticipated. Jennifer Stevens, our PA, ordered a stress test. Jim failed it, prompting the addition of a cardiologist to Jim’s list of specialists. Dr. Akinwande ordered a heart catheterization that was done on Dec. 6, 2023, at Kosciusko Lutheran Hospital.
We arrived at 8:30 am that Wednesday. Paperwork and prep were finished at 11:00, and Jim was taken elsewhere for the heart cath. He returned to the room just before noon. At 12:05 Dr. Reed explained that Jim’s main cardiac artery was 95 percent blocked. Three to five bypasses would be needed to get around the blockage. Wow! We thought we came in for a heart cath and the placement of a stent or two. Surprise!
Jim wasn’t released to go home. Instead he would ride that evening by ambulance to Fort Wayne Lutheran where cardiac surgery would be performed. Knowing the seriousness of the blockage, the doctor didn’t want to take a chance of any of that nasty plaque clogging his arteries breaking free and causing a heart attack before his “plumbing” could be repaired. Jim sent me home after dinner to take care of Java (our chocolate lab) while he waited for transport. He texted at 10:36 to say he’d survived the bumpy ride to FWL.
After days of tests and new medicines and walks around the ward with his IV pole, Jim learned surgery would occur on Monday, Dec. 11. Until then, he strolled around the ward (29 laps = 1 mile). Because Jim was used to walking Java three times a day, walking with an IV pole seemed normal—sort of. I spent most of those days at the hospital with Jim. Dog-loving neighbors (Diane and Jane) let out Java to take care of her potty needs during those days.
We were told what to expect the day of surgery. I would be informed when they took Jim into the operating room, when they put him on by-pass (meaning when they’d stop his heart and let the by-pass machine do the blood-circulating work), when they took him off by-pass and let his heart begin its job again, and when he arrived in a room after leaving recovery. Wow! A lot to process. For both of us.
The day of surgery I felt support from family and friends. My sister Mary stayed with me and tele-worked from our Warsaw home and the hospital. Dear friends, the Harveys, stayed with us the day of surgery. Karen, my “soul sister,” spent a couple hours with us as we waited. Care Pastor Jamy from Warsaw Community Church sat with us a couple times that day offering comfort, humor, and prayer.
After surgery Dr. Roether explained that the 95 percent blocked left anterior descending artery (a.k.a. the widow maker) was severely diseased and moderately calcified. A 90 percent blockage presented in one of the arteries off the main and 99 percent in the other. The right coronary artery, moderately diseased and moderately calcified, revealed lesser degrees of blockage: 50 percent, 60, and 75. But the ramus coronary artery presented with 90 percent blockage. All that blockage resulted in a quadruple by-pass. While the coronary “plumbing” wasn’t healthy, his heart is. Thank God!
A few days later, Jim asked the good (no, make that great) doctor why, with all that blockage, he hadn’t had a massive heart attack. He explained that Jim had a lot of things going for him: he was a nonsmoker, he wasn’t obese, and he had been active—going to the Y occasionally and walking Java three times a day. Something known as vascularization had been occurring. Jim’s arteries developed new pathways, created new vessels to supply blood to the heart. Jim is sure Java saved his life. Those three walks a day for 9 years made all the difference in the world. Thank Java!
Jim was released from the hospital the following Saturday, Dec. 16. He continued walking indoors. And as he walked that circle around the four main rooms, a furry brown shadow walked with him. I’m thrilled to report that Jim, Java, and I are walking outdoors again, weather permitting. Jim is doing cardiac rehab three days a week and getting in 5,000 steps a day between walks with Java and trips on the new treadmill.
Jim believes he was given an second chance. As he noted on his Facebook post: “I am resolved to try to make some more connections, do some things that can help others, maybe start a small business, travel and see some more of the world.”
February is American Heart Month. While the month is nearly over, we still need to be heart conscious. The CDC tells us that “heart disease is the leading cause of death for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups in the US.” Statistics in 2023 reveal that one person dies every 33 seconds from cardiovascular disease. High blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, and smoking are key risk factors. Other medical conditions and lifestyle choices create greater risk: diabetes, obesity, unhealthy diet, low physical activity, and excessive consumption of alcohol.
Here’s the Thing: Let’s not limit the focus on heart health to one month. All year long we should listen to our bodies and be on the lookout for symptoms, share them with our health professionals, take the medicines prescribed to treat risk factors, and make necessary lifestyle changes. And if a procedure or surgery is recommended that will improve our heart health, we should seriously consider it. Second chances are a blessing that not everyone gets. And, by all means, if we’ve got a dog, let’s walk it—for its health and for ours. n.
Let’s talk. annaspalding1956@gmail.com
———
Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of articles written by a group of retired and current teachers — LaNae Abnet, Ken Ballinger, Billy Kreigh, Kathy Schwartz, and Anna Spalding. Their intent is to spur discussions at the dinner table and elsewhere. You may also voice your thoughts and reactions via The News-Banner’s letters to editor.
