Sugar, a gift to my mother when she had bypass surgery 15 years ago, and my heart pillow provided to all SAMC heart surgery patients by a volunteer seamstress.
It all started in early August when a couple of my salivary glands began to ache. I thought, oh great, I’m coming down with something. But my throat never got sore, nor did I develop fever or any other symptoms. More glands, on the other hand, began to ache until the entire area under my jaw was seriously painful.
I have Rheumatoid Arthritis and recalled that my Rheumatologist always asked if I had any pain in my glands. So I did some research and found that it was a possible symptom of RA. On top of that my left shoulder and hand began to ache like in an RA flare. I had a scrip for prednisone for just such an occasion so I began taking a 5 day med pack. At the end of this time my shoulder and hand felt better but my jaw continued to ache.
The pain was not steady but would come and go. This is not typical of RA but I had not yet realized I was dealing with something else. RA often affected my clavicle joints so when I got pain across my upper chest is was not immediately evident to me that this was something different. But the pain extended straight across from armpit to armpit, less pinpointed than normal for an RA flare.
My jaw itself also began to ache. I’ve also had RA flare in my jaw but it is a very specific pain. When it is an RA flare stretching the jaw is painful, as well as chewing. In this case stretching neither helped nor hurt and chewing was not affected. The pain in my salivary glands was getting so bad it had me in tears at one point.
Then I saw a segment on one of the late night shows, I think it was Trevor Noah but now I can’t find it. The subject was the way women’s health concerns were often downplayed by doctors and it ended with a list of possible symptoms of heart failure in women. There it was, pain in the throat and jaw. Uh oh. I should have been more open to this possibility all along. My mother had bypass surgery, and all of her 7 siblings had either bypass surgery or stents placed. My father died of heart failure although this was more attributed to his very heavy smoking habit.
The next time my throat pain reached that tearful level I told Mr. LT I think you had better take me to get this checked. He and my daughter, DanitheET, took me to a physicians emergency center that was closer than any hospital. (We live in the country near a small town.) They checked me out thoroughly. My EKG looked normal, but my blood enzyme test was slightly elevated. Normal on this test was 0.05 or below, evidence of heart attack was 0.5 or above. My result was 0.1, so was inconclusive but concerning enough that they strongly recommended transferring me to South Austin Medical Center for further evaluation.
All this time I felt like a poser, like in the end they were going to say it was all really just RA and I was OK. Still I did not argue. They confirmed that SAMC accepted my insurance and arranged a room for me and an ambulance to take me there. No, I should not just let my husband take me in case things got worse. My insurance was purchased on the ACA exchange since I was no longer working but not old enough for Medicare. I had quit due to the RA but did not think I would be able to get disability. I undoubtedly could have worked some kind of job but could not handle the stress of the tech support job I had been working plus driving an hour each way to Austin. After all I sew for my Etsy shop and have a small garden. Finding that job, or any job at 62 was another matter altogether. The insurance is actually quite good, IF the provider is in network. If they are not in network, however, they cover zero cost.
I tried to find out if my doctors and anesthesiologist accepted the insurance but to no avail. I’ve since found that at least the Cardiologist does, I still don’t know about the surgeon or anesthesiologist. This is one of the big reasons we need single payer healthcare!
The enzyme test result did continue to rise, peaking at 0.7 that afternoon. I was scheduled for a heart catheterization for the following day. Most likely they would either use a balloon to expand coronary artery blockage or insert a stent or two. But the procedure ended more quickly than I expected and the doctor said “you get to have a bypass”. Oh joy! As the surgeon explained to me when he came to discuss the procedure, you have so much blockage they would have had to place about 8 stents to fix all of it. He discussed the procedure in detail and answered all my questions. I was assured by all that he was the best surgeon and I was lucky he was the one doing the procedure. No, I could not go home before the surgery if it couldn’t be scheduled before Monday, (this was a Thursday), it was “much too dangerous.”
Fortunately they were able to schedule the surgery for Friday. It was quite successful and I woke up with my pretty purple pillow, provided by a volunteer seamstress who has provided thousands with the pillows which patients use to clutch to their incision when coughing or moving, etc. to prevent opening the wound. I was hooked up with tubes and wire coming out of my chest. The tubes drained fluid and the wires were there in case my heart needed pacing. It was a huge milestone when the last of these were removed.
The wound vac pump. It had completed it’s 7 day mission and so no lights are on at this point.
I was also set up with a ‘wound vac’. A vacuum pump that suctioned the incision closed as it began to heal. This was an amazing device. Apparently pretty new as many of the nurses had not seen one so small, it was about 4 x 4 x 8 and I got to carry it around with me when going to the bathroom or walking. When it came off after a week the wound was closed and I was simply instructed to keep it clean and dry. This was a big contrast to my mother’s bypass when she had to clean and dress the wound daily after she was home from the hospital. Another contrast was that they used techniques to remove the veins from my leg that left only tiny holes in my upper thigh and lower leg, with about a 2 inch wound at the knee. Mom had much bigger cuts to remove the veins. They use the veins to create the bypasses.
During my stay I was often reminded of serendeputy’s diary An Asian, An Arab, And A Jew Walked Into An Operating Room. My cardiologist is Vietnamese and my surgeon was as white as they come. My nurses were a diverse group of all skin colors and origins ranging from Peru to South Korea and many points in between. Every one was wonderful, caring and kind.
The wound vac suction connection. The tape looks puffy because the vac is no longer functioning at this point, it is ready to be removed. The tape was very flat when the suction was engaged.
I was released after 8 days and have continued to improve at home. This has already been somewhat costly because there were some major home repairs that needed doing that we had been putting off. I could not come home to a mobile home with holes in the floor and plumbing issues. Fortunately, family and friends pitched in to repair the floor, although it is still bare plywood at least it is solid. They also decluttered the living room. The plumbing fix was expensive and we have now maxed out our credit cards. Still, it means our master toilet and walk in shower is now working so I don’t have to step into the bathtub.
I suspect I am going to get some hefty bills and will have to set up a GoFundMe to try and pay them. My SS income is pretty small and Mr. LT just applied for his (even smaller) so he won’t get that for a couple of months. At this point I just don’t know what to ask for as I haven’t yet received any of the bills. That being said I do have an Etsy shop and any purchases would be helpful and appreciated. www.etsy.com/…
