Uninvited visitor

Finally, much needed four day break arrived to recall all the people I need to thank in my life. Thursday, morning, I woke up with a head ache, chest and shoulder pain with my blood pressure very high. I knew it makes no sense to even attempt to contact a physician during this long weekend and I pretty much decided to rest at home. As the days progressed, I became worse and finally Monday evening I reached a stage when I felt too tired even to converse with my wife who is back in India. I called up to fix an appointment with my family physician on Tuesday morning. As soon as I described the symptoms to her, she right away asked me to go to a hospital and get admitted and promised me that she would make all arrangements and call me back. I drove back home and decided to take it easy. My son left for the University early morning to attend classes and hence there was no one to take me to the hospital. I neither like emergency departments in the hospital nor 911 operators. Hence I decided to call a friend to take me to the hospital. I also called the babysitter to take care of my puppy Orion.

Much in confirmation of my expectations, the emergency department took 3 hours to get me admitted and I was sitting outside in the lobby during that time. However, they were checking my vitals regularly to make sure nothing alarming is taking place. Finally, I was admitted into the emergency department and kept me in a heart monitoring system. 2 hours later, thanks to wonderful coordination by my family physician, they admitted me into the hospital for overnight stay. Cardiologist she organized for me visited eventually in the evening to let me know that he was going to do catheterization next day. The emergency department told me not to eat anything until the Cardiologist agreed to it. Luckily, the very same friend who admitted me into the hospital, brought some home-made food later that night. My son rushed from the University as soon as he heard my voice mail and stayed with me throughout my stay in the hospital. My wife panicked and not only called me number of times but also was getting ready to leave for the US. I told her to take it easy until the report comes after catheterization. The hospital staff gave me a DVD player and asked me to review information about the procedure. After I finished reviewing, they told me to execute a consent form giving them permission to perform the procedure.

The next day at 7:15 a.m. the hospital staff wheeled me into a gigantic room. They gave me a shot to make sure I didn’t feel the pain during the procedure. There was a huge TV panel for me to watch the procedure. I could see the hole being made into my thigh and the thin tube being inserted into my arteries and heart. Then they injected a dye into the tube to watch whether there was a block. They could not find anything and therefore, finished the procedure in 50 minutes including preparatory time. At the end, the cardiologist told me that you have a heart and arteries that look like freshly made for a baby. I smiled ear to ear after hearing that. The asked me to be in bed without moving my leg for 4 hours. That was really painful but somehow I managed it. Later they discharged me in the evening and I came back home.

I know God of death decided to knock at my door. Even though I did not have a heart to welcome and make him seated in my drawing room like Cheeniya Sir did, at least I had a strong heart to withstand all his gimmicks and watch everything with no fear whatsoever. My son told his mom that he could not comprehend how I handled the whole situation so calmly and had the strength to snap out of my bad health. But reality struck after I returned home that I could go in a heartbeat and therefore, I should stay connected with all my friends and enjoy life when I can. One of the IL members who matters the most to many IL members and myself sent a wonderful message to let me know how much she enjoys reading my posts making me feel worthy leading a longer life. I still don’t know what caused my health issues for 4-5 days but I don’t have any issues now. The doctors only investigated me for a heart-attack and they were happy when my heart and arteries were healthy, but the visitor knew why he came and left abruptly. May be he is afraid of fearless people and decided to postpone his decision to take me on a buffalo ride with a noose around my neck.