It was a Friday night, my husband (Derek) went out for a late night trip to Del taco after the kids went to bed. The both of us were looking forward to “a date night” watching a movie and eating our taco’s all alone, while all the children were fast asleep. This was big excitement in the Jeffries home. Shortly after eating his tacos Derek complained of chest pain and a queasy feeling. I told him to take some baking soda and water. Derek’s mother had often told me "drink some baking soda! you’ll fart, burp or throw up but something will happen.”
Nothing happened.
Derek moved on to the Alka-Seltzer, still no relief. After that, we cut the movie short and Derek went to bed. We both assumed he was coming down with something or the tacos had made him sick.The next morning Derek headed out to Twenty-Nine Palms to walk a job and give an electrical bid. At the job he started to feel ill again, on the way home to Yucca he called me, “babe, I have a crushing pain in my chest and my arm hurts”“Which arm?” I said, feeling concern creeping up on me.“Umm, my left” Derek replied.“Where are you at?” I said, maintaining a calm voice.“Almost Joshua Tree” he replied. I could hear his voice straining; it sounded like he was getting worse.I instructed him, “Derek, pull into the hospital. Go to the ER and make sure you’re alright. It’s probably nothing but just to make sure, Ok?”
Derek agreed and set to work convincing myself he had a bad case of heartburn or maybe his first panic attack. For goodness sakes, he was only 30 years old, healthy, with good cholesterol, plus, he jogged regularly.At the hospital they took Derek’s blood to test for markers of a heart attack. I stayed at home with our five kids waiting for the results.
I had no babysitter because recently we left a cultic church that practiced shunning of ex-members. We lost ten years of friends, we had believed were our family . We lost our support system, it felt like the rug had suddenly been pulled out from under our feet. The only friend I had left had plans for the day.
The call finally came, Derek’s voice was quivering, “They say... I had a heart attack”The unthinkable had happened.
They were transferring him to the Palm Springs hospital by ambulance immediately.
I started shaking. Then I scrambled to find a sitter for my kids, my remaining friend cancelled her plans to watch my kids.
Derek ended up staying at Desert Hospital for five days, undergoing a battery of tests to determine the cause of the heart attack. They ended up sending him home on heavy duty blood thinners, nitro, beta-blockers, a referral to see a cardiologist at UCLA and no real answers.
The cardiologist at UCLA ultimately gave Derek a “diagnosis of exclusion” meaning every other possibility had been ruled out but one. A small hole was found in Dereks heart, it had gone undetected in regular doctor checkups. The doctor believed that a clot had traveled through the hole and into one of his arteries, temporarily stopping the blood flow to his heart. We waited another 1 and ½ months for the procedure to close the hole in his heart. While waiting for the surgery, Derek was hospitalized for another three days diue to heart problems.
Derek had the procedure about three months ago, he is recovering, but more slowly than we hoped.There are certain things that you assume only happen to other people, I am continually disabused of that illusion and my expectations of this life.Supertramp - The Logical SongP.S. “disabused” is a word I have learned to appreciate thanks to Ms. Cheraz.
Nothing happened.
Derek moved on to the Alka-Seltzer, still no relief. After that, we cut the movie short and Derek went to bed. We both assumed he was coming down with something or the tacos had made him sick.The next morning Derek headed out to Twenty-Nine Palms to walk a job and give an electrical bid. At the job he started to feel ill again, on the way home to Yucca he called me, “babe, I have a crushing pain in my chest and my arm hurts”“Which arm?” I said, feeling concern creeping up on me.“Umm, my left” Derek replied.“Where are you at?” I said, maintaining a calm voice.“Almost Joshua Tree” he replied. I could hear his voice straining; it sounded like he was getting worse.I instructed him, “Derek, pull into the hospital. Go to the ER and make sure you’re alright. It’s probably nothing but just to make sure, Ok?”
Derek agreed and set to work convincing myself he had a bad case of heartburn or maybe his first panic attack. For goodness sakes, he was only 30 years old, healthy, with good cholesterol, plus, he jogged regularly.At the hospital they took Derek’s blood to test for markers of a heart attack. I stayed at home with our five kids waiting for the results.
I had no babysitter because recently we left a cultic church that practiced shunning of ex-members. We lost ten years of friends, we had believed were our family . We lost our support system, it felt like the rug had suddenly been pulled out from under our feet. The only friend I had left had plans for the day.
The call finally came, Derek’s voice was quivering, “They say... I had a heart attack”The unthinkable had happened.
They were transferring him to the Palm Springs hospital by ambulance immediately.
I started shaking. Then I scrambled to find a sitter for my kids, my remaining friend cancelled her plans to watch my kids.
Derek ended up staying at Desert Hospital for five days, undergoing a battery of tests to determine the cause of the heart attack. They ended up sending him home on heavy duty blood thinners, nitro, beta-blockers, a referral to see a cardiologist at UCLA and no real answers.
The cardiologist at UCLA ultimately gave Derek a “diagnosis of exclusion” meaning every other possibility had been ruled out but one. A small hole was found in Dereks heart, it had gone undetected in regular doctor checkups. The doctor believed that a clot had traveled through the hole and into one of his arteries, temporarily stopping the blood flow to his heart. We waited another 1 and ½ months for the procedure to close the hole in his heart. While waiting for the surgery, Derek was hospitalized for another three days diue to heart problems.
Derek had the procedure about three months ago, he is recovering, but more slowly than we hoped.There are certain things that you assume only happen to other people, I am continually disabused of that illusion and my expectations of this life.Supertramp - The Logical SongP.S. “disabused” is a word I have learned to appreciate thanks to Ms. Cheraz.
My baby brother had a heart attack at age 40, the result of many factors in his life that begin and end with stress. He suffered for a week with intense pain, numerous trips to the ER, and no help. Finally, at the end of the week, his doctor had to apologize when he told my brother he had been enduring several heart attacks while in the ER and under a doctor's care, which they failed to diagnose.
ReplyDeleteTen years later, he's healthy. He knows that his heart is damaged from both his past and his heart attacks, and he does his best to eat well, exercise, and reduce stress in his life, but his life is what it is, so he also is very aware that the next heart attack may be his last.
Just as the skin cancer we develop today was sewn in the seeds of our youth, so, sometimes, is our medical health today a result of our past. I hope and pray that your husband heals and remains healthy, and that your family will be the strength he needs to do so.