One Day At A Time

Had a bit of a scare last night.

I went to a movie after work with a co-worker.  Saw 'Ray,' which was very good, but very long--two and a half hours.  Got in my car, my cell phone beeped and there were two calls from Sam, recently and very close together.  Odd.  He never calls me unless it's very important.  No message from him tho.  Call the house, no answer.  His last call was ten minutes ago.  I'm starting to get worried.  It's only a five minute drive to home, and his pick-up is at the house.  The dogs are outside, but Sam is no where to be found.  This is strange, believe me.  I check for a note, nada.  Then the phone rings; it's my friend Bona.  Sam is at the hospital, complaining of chest pains.  Her husband Bill just drove him down.  Okay...got to go...bye.  Put all the dogs in the basement; we are dog sitting two for daughter Kari, who is skiing, so we now have four large dogs in the house.  Phone rings again, this time it's Bill.  I'm on my way, Bill.

I hate these kind of drives.

Arrive at the hospital, Sam's in a trauma room.  BP is 168/115 and his heart rate is 90.  He passed the EKG, no prob.  Blood work comes back...no sign of a problem, or any damage.  X-ray's show nothing wrong.  He's still in pain.  They give him a nitroglycerin pill.  No change.  Time for a Mylanta/Lidocain cocktail.  Other than the numbness in his mouth and throat, nothing.  He's still in pain...2 on a scale of 5.  Three hours later, his BP is down to 126/70 and pulse is 69.  Doctor comes in, advises Sam to go home, but stressing that although none of the tests indicate this is a cardiac problem, we should not rule it out.  Nurse gives me the orders for home care, and we leave.  Bill stayed the entire time, BTW.

I have been through this twice before, about eight years ago.  When both Amy and Kari lived at home, and things between the three of us were...shall we say...highly charged.  Twice I took Sam to the hospital when he complained of chest pains, and at that time he stayed overnight for observation.  The first time was a scare...the second time a wake-up call.  At that point I decided to back down...dirty dishes, dirty carpets, dirty clothes be damned.  I wasn't going to lose him because I was tired of cleaning up after two teens.  It all seemed so petty...it just wasn't worth it. 

Sam has high blood pressure, and is on medication.  We just got his cholestrol down to a healthy level.  His mother has a history of heart problems.  Six years ago the doctor finally diagnosed Sam's chest pains as acid reflux.  Last night, they didn't know what it was...but twenty-four hours later, Sam is still in pain.  Only now, he says, it's moved up to the base of his neck.

 

~~Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. -Philippians 4:6 ~~