Whoa! Didn't see that coming!

The events September brought into our home were defining, stupendous, magnificant, spectacular, horrible, scary and humbling.

Matt tells me one morning, "if anything even happens to me remember you will have insurance for a year, life insurance though the fire department, my retirement..." I thought it was odd that he just thought to give me a very clear and concise rundown of exactly what would happen in the event of his death. He doesn't remember our checking account number but gave me a 10 minute exact description of services. I figured he had just been to a benefits meeting or something at work. Soon after he told me that he had some chest pain while working out and made a doctors appointment. He meant like right then. He walked out the door. He wasn't sure if it was just the effects of a cold and cough or if there was something real. A friend of his, and fellow firefighter, recently had a heart attack so he was feeling nervous. He came home from the doc with instructions to see a cardiologist the following day. He went by himself and had a full set of tests run. Everything looked great. His cholesterol was at the top of the normal range, not considered high. His echocardiagram looked good and all other tests presented "normal". He continued to feel chest pain if stressing himself. They decided to do a stress test. He aced the stress test coming in 2nd only to a Marathon runner. The pain did return so they did one final "extra" test. It was a nuclear dye test. Nothing was picked up as a concern so he left. A week later he went in for a review of all the tests. The prognosis was concerning. The doc said that final test had shown a small area that may not have been getting enough blood in his heart. That was usually the result of some sort of blockage. He was scheduled for an angiogram (to look), possibly an angioplasty (to open it), and potentially a stent. At the old ripe age of 37 he was feeling very discouraged. A blockage would be the result of bad genes and untreated high cholesterol. Expect...his cholesterol numbers fit in their box. Discouraging. A few days later he went in for the procedure. About 45 minutes into it they came out to tell me that he had chronic issues. Of the three arteries bringing blood to his heart one was great, one was gone and one was blocked! WHAT! My first question was, "What do you mean gone?". Turns out that one had been blocked in the past. His body compensated by creating it's own intricate bypass system. It's something the cardiologist said takes time. He normally see's it in someone 70 years old because of the time it takes to create. So, this is not new. It means he has been in trouble since his 20's. The next question from me was regarding the 3rd artery blockage and whether it would be stented. That artery was 99% occluded (blocked). Just 1% away from failing. The process for the stent should have taken 45 minutes. Instead it took about 3 hours. He had a bizarre 'loop de loop' they had to naviagate around. Turning sharp corners with instruments, wires, stents and the like is tricky. The doctor was spectacular and got the job done. He opened everything up and placed three stents equalling roughly 40mm. He would have just gotten one but none would fit around that funny turn. He built one out of three. He also opened up an area down from that was comprimised as well. A patch of tape covered the small hole in his groin and to recovery he went. From that point forward every doctor, nurse, lab tech and custodian stopped by to say, "What! Wow! You are too young". Their concerns were genuine but that wore on him quickly. Yes! He is too young. Far too young! However, the fact it was found and fixed BEFORE he just dropped dead is a flat out miracle. How he hadn't already had a heart attack we have no idea. How all those tests showed normal results irritates me. The cardiologist said very matter of factly, "I don't know how we didn't kill you on the treadmill!" He said his case has changed his practice. His age, no warning signs, the test results in combination with such radical issues is jaw dropping. It turns out as well that the final test that showed "maybe something" is not usually a test insurance will cover. They want them to stop at the treadmill. However, it saved his life. Matt was very private about the pain, concerns and surgery. Now he is very open about it. He feels that he might just be the blessing that saves other lives. Had it not been for his friend that shared he would have never given his own pain a second thought! He was the poster child for psychological responses! He was scared, then he was mad that everyone has always said his cholesterol numbers were acceptable and now here he was getting heart surgery because of them. Confused followed and was quickly replaced with shock. He felt very fragile and "old" for a day or so and then transformation occured. He had been really quiet and mellow for like two weeks. Two days after the surgery he jumped off the couch and said, "I have to tell everyone. I have to save other people! If Pat had acted like this I would be dead!" Following that statement he spent the next 3 days on the phone. We should have bought stock in his cardiologists business. That man's phone is ringing off the hook!