SERIOUS AS A HEART ATTACK

PART 1
      “SHOULD I STAY OR SHOULD I GO?”

On June 15^th at about 12:15 a.m., I woke up after about an hour’s worth of sleep with a bad case of heartburn. Well, what I believed was a bad case of heartburn. After taking the usual two Tums, I attempted to go back to sleep. A half an hour later the heartburn had increased and as I sat on the edge of my bed my wife, Stacey, was asking if we should go to the emergency room or call 911.

This being one of her favorite suggestions whenever I am not feeling well, of course, fell deaf on my stubborn ears. I waved her off with visions of massive medical bills dancing around my head. I had heard news reports of the skyrocketing cost of a paramedic ride. The ticket for this little ride is now topping $1,000.00 to take. 

With the pressure in my chest increasing by the minute, the suggestion of going to the emergency room started sounding like a pretty good idea. So, as we were making our way to the car and heading for the emergency room it struck us, which emergency room?

In the past, it was always a no brainer. Geographically and traffic wise Arcadia Methodist was always our first choice, but in the last couple of years a couple of things had changed in our local medical landscape to help complicate our decision.

First, was the fact that Arcadia Methodist and Anthem Blue Cross could not play nice with one another anymore and of course Blue Cross is our current medical provider. Second, was the fact that my sister had passed away while in the "care" of Arcadia Methodist. My family and I were of the opinion that she received substandard care while there. So with these things in mind the choice was made and off to San Gabriel Valley Medical Center we went.

As the blood was draining from my face I was glad that the streets were empty as we made good time to SGVMC. Along with my pale complexion my head was getting light and the pain in my chest was increasing. By the time we made it to the doors of the ER it was all I could do to find the nearest chair while my wife made it to the counter to find someone to admit us. 

Unfortunately, early Tuesday mornings were apparently not the best time to come to the ER as there was nobody behind the counter or anywhere in sight. Well let me revise that. There was the security guard on duty who was asking questions like “Should I get a wheelchair?” as I sat there clutching my chest in agony.

As I slipped closer to unconsciousness less and less of what was being said around me was making any sense. All I remember is that someone finally got me in a wheelchair and took me about 15 feet to where there was obviously employees that had some sort of medical knowledge and weren’t part of the security detail.

Eventually I was hooked up to an EKG and asked thousands of questions as the pain continued. Then came the first morphine shot. At that point I began to realize the level of pain I had achieved. The shot did absolutely nothing. The pain continued and after about 45 minutes a doctor finally made his presence known to me.

According to him, after his diagnosis of the EKG, the pain in my chest and numbness in my left arm was not a heart attack. More tests would be needed. I may have pneumonia or some other ailment.

            About this time my son Alex got to the hospital and as you can imagine was completely freaked out.  He was followed in by the doctor checking to see if the pain had subsided, as if it would magically go away. When I told him no he quickly ordered up a second shot of morphine and fled the room I’m guessing to consult his crystal ball.

            The second shot of morphine was hitting the spot and instead of the pain and pressure in my chest a numb feeling began to creep in across my body and a drugged out haze began to take over my brain.

            As testimony to my drugged out state, Stacey and Alex told me that at one point, as my eyes were scanning the ceiling, I spewed forth the following quote: “Boy, there are a lot of purple states. There goes Wyoming!”  My daughter who found this extremely funny felt compelled to post it on Facebook. Thanks Rachel.

            After what seemed like a few minutes, but was actually another hour, the doctor returned with the following news after a second EKG, “Well Mr. Dunn it appears that you are having a heart attack after all. Oh and we can’t give you the proper treatment here, we are going to have to send you over to Arcadia Methodist.”

            When I mentioned the insurance issue he replied, “They are going to have to take you because of the emergency nature of this case.”

            “So how am I going to get there?”

            “Oh we have already called 911. The paramedics are on their way.”

            This of course means we are batting 1000 in the doing what we didn’t want to do department. Not only was I going to be getting the ambulance ride I didn’t want, I was also going to the hospital that I was trying to avoid going to. Oh Lord just take me now.

            Thank God for that second shot of morphine. Whoa, there goes Wyoming again…….