I really must apologize for leaving everyone hanging from my
last post. It has been a very busy time
at my house.
Becky and I followed Jason and his wife, Jackie, down to the
hospital in Topeka on May 4. His appointment time was scheduled for 12:30 p.m. but he was to be there by 11:00 a.m. for check-in. However, it was 4:45 p.m. before they finally took him in to surgery. A very long wait without food or drink for
him, was followed by an even longer wait because they wouldn’t let him eat
anything afterward either until they were sure everything was stable.
After the surgery, the doctor called Jackie, Becky and me in
to explain what he had done, and we watched a xray video showing the
procedure. We were able to visualize the
blockage to his descending artery, which was 99%. The healthy arterial flow showed up as at
least pencil diameter, but the blocked area was as thin as a human hair in
diameter.
The doctor said it was very fortunate that he had surgery
when he did, because he was most assured that Jason would have had a massive
heart attack which would have damaged a good portion of his heart if he hadn’t
had surgery. He emphasized that Jason
would need to take medication for the rest of his life, and would definitely
need to change his eating and exercise habits.
He told Jason that he should avoid all pop, because it is “poison”
to the heart. He didn’t really restrict
his sodium intake, which surprised me a little, but he did state, use it
moderately, if at all. Jason will need
to cut back on the huge amount of carbohydrates and fried and processed foods
that he had been eating, and watch portion sizes.
He also stressed the need for more exercise. Jason drives a truck, hauling hazardous
materials, which means many places require the driver stay within 25 feet of
the truck at all times. That makes it
very difficult to get any sustainable exercise, unless they run laps around the
truck.
The stent they put in the heart where the blockage had
occurred seems to have been a success so far.
Jason has much more energy, is not getting short of breath any more, and
is back to his usual workaholic ways. He
was forbidden to drive his truck until May 14, so he is anxiously waiting for
the chance to get back to work then. In
the meantime, he is going nuts not having anything to do.
He had Dennis’ pickup at his house, so he completely
detailed it, repairing a few parts, and replacing some. He cleaned it all out, which was a huge job,
and washed and waxed it. That helped him
use up some of his energy.
I want to thank everyone who kept Jason in their prayers,
his friends for coming to see him or called, and God for keeping him safe and
giving him the chance to live a normal, healthy life. So far, he has lost a few pounds, and is
trying to live a more healthy lifestyle.
I pray that he is able to sustain that effort.
There has been a lot of other things going on at our house,
but I’ll save that for another post. I
want to wish all mothers a very Happy Mother’s Day tomorrow. I will be working tomorrow morning so will be
going to church tonight.
Happy Mother’s Day, and Happy Graduation Day to our seniors.