The Sch00lteacher saga. Part One, The Heart Attack.

[sch00lteacher]

It surprised me when my friend Plasticman33 left the following message:

What happened schoolteacher, I didn't know you were hurt?

Hope you're on the mend!

I guess it has been awhile. A lot of you know bits and bites of the story, I am not sure if anyone knows the whole story. So I am going to break it down into three parts, and introduce myself to the new and old users alike. I hope you don't consider this a big case of narcism. That isn't what it is all about. I am a teacher, and this is basically, a lesson.

I am a high school history teacher in Charlotte, NC. Have been for about 4.5 years. I am forty something years old. Married for 17 years, two kids, boy 16 (17 next month), and a daughter 15.


The heart attack. Last day of April 2001. At work, not feeling well, chest pains, funny chest pains. I called my regular doc, they told me to come in later that afternoon. I did.

Got to doctor's office, they took my BP, immediately I got the idea something was wrong, just by the look on the nurse's face. They did some other stuff, and took my BP again a few minutes later. They then told me that they had called an ambulance to take me to the hospital. I was a little shocked to say the least, I really wasn't feeling that bad. Just this funny little pain. I wanted to drive myself down. They wouldn't let me.

Ambulance came, I got wheeled out through the waiting room, of course everyone staring at me. Felt like a fool the whole time. They took me to the hospital and right to a room, no stop over anywhere. Called my wife, she came right away. I still had no idea what was going on.

Later the doc came in told me what was going on, and that they expected a blockage in one of my heart arteries. They scheduled a stress test for the next day, May 1, 2001.

Fastforward to the stress test. I got into the room they do it in, never got it done. The doc noticed a change in my EKG from the night before. They looked at the ultrasound thingamajig. They then started to try and convence me that I wanted a heart catheterization done. No problem on my end. So they took me to the cath lab real fast like. I shoulda known something was up. I didn't. They stuck a needle thing up through my groin area. And just as they started. Bang.

The worst pain in my life. Then it, and the lab were gone. I actually had one of those vision things, saw some weird shit going on. Next thing I know I am back, they are working fast and furious. If you ever want to have a heart attack. Do it in the cath lab with like 3 or 4 cardiologists hanging around.

They cleard the 100% blockage, and put a steel stint in place. Took me to the CICU. I felt like dead shit for two days. I din't know how close I was to dying, and that I may have for a few minuets. I have blockages in my other two arteries, there are three of them. Not enough to worry about just yet, but someday... Part of my heart was injured, that's what happens in a heart attack, blood flow is cut off, the heart muscle starts to die.

Finally they sent me home. I spent two months sleeping, all I wanted to, or could do. I was really tired, wiped out feeling. During this time I went to cardiac rehab with a bunch of old folks.

I had scheduled my first hip replacement for the first week of June. Had to push that back to the end of June, had to get clearance from the heart doctor first. He gave it for the last week of June, and that takes us to part two of the saga.

 

[lovetoread]

Oh my goodness,I knew about the hip,but this must have been a scary thing to go through.

 

[sch00lteacher]

Oh my goodness,I knew about the hip,but this must have been a scary thing to go through.

I would not recommend it to anyone that is for sure.

It is funny, the closer you are to death, the less afraid you are of it. Does that make any sense? I really wasn't worried about it.

It did hit me big time later. Slid me right into a big ol' depression.

 

[Andreina]

If you ever want to have a heart attack. Do it in the cath lab with like 3 or 4 cardiologists hanging around.

I broke my nose while I was playing ice hockey. the next team waiting to come on was the team from the local hospital = 100% ER Docs and Surgeons . I know what you are talking about, schoolteacher.

Halo

 

[Mensa]

I hear you.

I would not recommend it to anyone that is for sure.

It is funny, the closer you are to death, the less afraid you are of it. Does that make any sense? I really wasn't worried about it.

It did hit me big time later. Slid me right into a big ol' depression.

Only those that have truly been there can know how very, very true that is.

 

[batter]

i knew bits and pieces of the story but it is easier to understand this way.
glad you are on the mend sch00lteacher.

i also understand about the depression. i watched the mrs get hit with hers 3 months after we were married. it is not easy to see someone slip away from you and into a situation you dont understand or are unable to remove that situation and protect them.
and yet 5 yrs later, i am still here with her and supporting her as she is much better than she was when depression hit her.

you are a great inspiration to others who may have gone through similar situations themselves or with loved ones.
glad to see you posting with a vengence!
stay well.

 

[sch00lteacher]

i knew bits and pieces of the story but it is easier to understand this way.
glad you are on the mend sch00lteacher.

Thats why I did it this way. A lot of people here knew part of the story. I talked with them about it, or left posts here and there. I wanted to make sure that everyone knows what happened once and for all, for a little while anyhow.

i also understand about the depression. i watched the mrs get hit with hers 3 months after we were married. it is not easy to see someone slip away from you and into a situation you dont understand or are unable to remove that situation and protect them.
and yet 5 yrs later, i am still here with her and supporting her as she is much better than she was when depression hit her.

you are a great inspiration to others who may have gone through similar situations themselves or with loved ones.
glad to see you posting with a vengence!
stay well.

Thanks, your very kind. And your embarrassing the hell outta me.

 

[scylis]

a big ol' needle to the groin? no wonder it went of at that moment!

but i can totally sympathize with you on the bad ticker subject. had one since i was born, myself. got lucky, though. was born around a half hour by jet from either the Mayo Clinic or the University of Iowa Hospital in Iowa City, one of the best all around medical centers anywhere and one of the best centers for cardiac care anywhere, respectivly. and i can also sympathize with the lessening of the fear of death, too. i mean, when i think about it, they didn't even give me a snowball's chance in Hades for living more than two weeks when i was born, so i get this feeling that i'm living on borrowed time, already. once i was told just what the doctors though my chances were, i never really felt all that paniced when in tight situations. course, it doesn't help my depression when i think that maybe i AM living on borrowed time, and i'm fucking things up just by living. but usually i can shrug the thought off. usually.

anyway, sorry if i stole any of your thunder.

 

[Orlanth]

I understand totally, Schoolteacher. I got have also experienced a near-death moment myself. As well as I live everyday knowing a can have a heart attack or another stroke. I wont go into detail, because I don’t want to steal your thread. Although, if you want to know, I can post it, with no worries at all.

Glad to know you’re getting better.

 

[sch00lteacher]

Please! Share! I don't have any thunder to steal here it isn't the reason I post. This isn't MY thread. I just want people to read my post, people that are interested. Then I like to read what they post. If it is there experience a long the same line, then all the better for all of us.

Lets consider this the heart attack thread. Maybe we can save someone's life by sharing what we went through. I never knew what a heart attack was, not really, until I had one.

SO POST!

 

[Orlanth]

Ok. Mine wasn't a heart attack, not yet at any rate.

This happened a couple years ago. I went into hospital to have some surgery done, Spinal Fusion (where metal rods are placed along the spine to force it to stay straight).

I suffer from a disease known us Fredrichs Ataxia. It does more then I know, because I refuse to know what it does (simply, just to upsetting to know), so I can’t give you a full list of what it does.
What I will tell you though, is the part, which comes into this story. The disease bends my backbone uncontrollably. So if given enough time, the backbone is bent so far it crushes organs. To stop this is by Spinal Fusion.

I went into the hospital, a couple days later I had the operation. The operation worked, did what it was meant to… But, there was a serious problem, which wasn’t identified until two weeks after the operation.

I woke up 2 days after the operation in pain, which I cannot describe. Just after waking up, there were signs of a big problem, which only my mother picked up on. The doctors said I would be ok. Little did they know how wrong they were.

A couple days latter I was taken out of the ICU ward, and taken to the normal ward. Slowly, I became worse then better. I had lost all movement of my legs, I could feel them, but movement was not there. My feelings were so screwed up, I could only feel parts of things, such as intense.

Next were my arms, I lost all movement of my left arm, and most of my right arm. Next I lost my speech, then my eyesight. This happened over a few days.

The doctors said it was just an illogic reaction to the pain-killing drugs, and I was taken of all pain-kills only 5 days after a major operation. To the doctors surprise, I didn’t get better, just worse, and no break from intense pain.

Very unhappy, and pissed off that no doctor would listen to her, mother went the doctor I had been going to about my disease since I was 5. Admiralty after seeing me he said there was a serious problem abused the surgeons for not listening to my mother. He then organised tests to find what was wrong.

They did everything they could, but the metal in my bake acted as a shield to bloke out any type of x-ray….
One week later, almost 2 weeks after the operation, they found the problem…. There was a blood clot in my spinal cord, in other words, a type of stroke.

I had a stroke during the operation, and because it was not known of straight away, the stroke had cursed a lot of damage.

After the blood was removed, my eyesight, speech, movement of my arms, my right leg, and part of my left came back. To this day, I still cannot move my left leg from the knee down. My entire nerve system is damaged, so bad I cannot describe. My left side of my body is very weak and I often lose feelings in my left arm.

In those 4 weeks I was in hospital, I did not eat anything. The doctors were right about one thing; I am illogic to pain-killing drugs.

My disease does a lot, and I cannot be frightened, stressed out, or have any operation.

If I am frightened (like someone sneaks up and yells boo in my ear) I can have a heart attack very easy, I have a bad heart. My stress level is extremely high, and at the moment I m near having another stroke. I cannot survive an operation; my body can’t deal with it.


Looking back now, I can tell I was very lucky to survive. Also I was so close to death, but I wasn’t afraid,

(((I would like to apologise for my spelling. It is 2am and I am so tired.)))

 

[EvilBrat74]

*Yawn*

Hey teach!

If an aspirin a day reduces the chances of a heartattack by %50
and eating fish once a week reduces a heartattack by %50.

Is it possible to still have a heartattack?

 

[sch00lteacher]

Thanks for sharing Orlanth.

I hope no one sneaks up behind you...

Doctors love to pretend they are perfect, never miss anything, never make mistakes. Of course we know better than that. Still, even knowing that, we let them mess around with our bodies with out asking very many questions. We have faith in them. Foolish people that we are.

 

[Orlanth]

Maybe we have faith in them, and go to them time, and time again because they save lives and so on.

One thing, which I am sick of, is the "God Complex". Not all, but a large percentage of doctors have it.

 

[sch00lteacher]

Orlanth - One thing, which I am sick of, is the "God Complex". Not all, but a large percentage of doctors have it.

I think it depends upon their specialty I think. Proctologist and urologist certainly don't run around acting like god. But Cardiologist? Their shit don't stink. Thank God for them, or I wouldn't be here, but still...

I really think my orthopedist screwed something up in my right hip. But he ain't talking. I know if I went to another one they would just cover up for the first one.

Oh well.