“Within five minutes of the helicopter landing on the roof of Johns Hopkins I was in the operating room being prepped for Angioplasty. With local anesthetic to my leg where the catheter was inserted and a mild sedative to help me relax I was awake throughout the hour and a half operation. They found one total blockage of the Left Anterior Descending (LAD) artery and one partial blockage of another artery of the heart. They opened both with a balloon and put a stent in the LAD. I was then taken to the Hopkins Cardiac Care Unit for a four day stay. I have never seen such a well run place in a hospital. The nurses, doctors, and interns were not only very helpful and knowledgeable, they were nice people showing real concern for me. I felt like I was the only patient there.”
Ann had called me later that fateful Sunday and told me what had happened to Wayne. On Tuesday I went down to visit him with another cycling buddy, Julius Hader. Wayne was in great spirits and regaled us with the story of his helicopter ride. He looked a lot better than the last time I saw him. He felt he was on the road to recovery but was he?
“On Thursday the 26th I was able to go home about 4:00pm. At 2:00am I awoke with pain in my chest. It was a totally different pain than the heart attack, more like tight muscles than an elephant standing on my chest. Off we went to the ER. I was admitted but not quite as quickly as the first time but still a good response. After multiple ECG’s and various medicines and drugs they decided something had probably happened with my heart but not strong enough to show up in the ECG’s. I think it was a reaction to the medicines I was on and the stress of the situation. They kept me in the hospital for the day and released me about 7:00pm. Everything has been constant improvement since. It looks like I will come out healthier than before the attack. By getting the Tpa so quickly it looks like I will have almost no damage to my heart Added to that is the fact that two arteries are now wide open instead of being partially blocked, it all adds up to me coming out of this in great shape.”
Wayne is doing great. I met up with him this past Friday for coffee. Interestingly, he still drinks regular (not decaf) coffee. “Ann has given up on that issue,” he told me. I think it is because he told her that he wasn’t about to change that habit. Other than that he looks great. He is in fighting trim and though he hasn’t been on his road bike for some time he still exercises regularly. We plan to meet up for a walk sometime.
Wayne claims that I may have saved his life. I always blanch when he says this. The point he wants to make though is that as a buddy I did the right thing. I ruled out any further biking that morning and stayed with him rather than leaving to go get my car. He had a cell phone after all and calling Ann was the only wise course. I don’t consider that to be anything but using common sense. If he thinks it saved his life so be it.
Wayne is still enjoying his retirement. He is an adjunct professor of computer science at Howard Community College and he has a new hobby of making ballpoint pens. He is showing off some of his work in the picture I took of him Friday morning.
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