Editorial
10.875"
Steven Boyce
I cheated death, with a little help from our friends...
“You are lucky...” (to be alive), Cardiologist Dr.
Thomas McAvinue tells me... “...we’re going to send
you home”. (Saturday July 15th, 2017, 1PM)
Excerpts from my personal log:
Tuesday July 11th, 5:20AM: Alma, N.B., I am
awoken by excruciating pain... my heart attack
begins... 5:30AM: called 911... 5:55AM:
paramedics arrive, heart attack begins to pass, shot of
nitro (nitroglycerine sprayed under the tongue, allows
expansion of arteries and better blood flow)... 7:15
AM: I arrive at the Moncton Hospital ER, am given
an ECG (electrocardiogram), and a shot of blood
thinner... I am eventually moved to Acute care where
I am given another ECG, blood work... I am taken for
a chest X-ray, a Cat scan and an Echo (ultra sound).
...More blood work, another ECG... six hours of
continuous care, tests and monitoring...
2:45PM: I am admitted to CCU (Cardiac Care Unit)
and placed under the care of Dr. Thomas McAvinue
and his team. I am now on a permanent heart
monitor, receiving on-going blood pressure tests,
blood work and various anti-clotting, blood pressure
and blood thinner medication... 5:30 PM: I have now
been awake for nearly 24 hours and it is exactly 12
hours since my heart attack. I am sitting up in bed,
hooked up to a monitor and having supper.
Wednesday July 12th, 6AM: More tests... more
medication and another ECG... 12PM: Dr. McAvinue
informs me that I am being placed on the waiting
list for testing at the Saint John Heart Center. I am
nervous about this news.
Thursday July 13th, 6AM: All I can do is wait...
Friday July 14th, 6AM, I am transported to the NB
Heart Center in Saint John where I am received by
Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Jaroslav Hubacek and
his team. One hour and fifteen minutes in surgery, I
had one stent placed in one blocked artery. Later
that day, I returned to Moncton Hospital where I
was released twenty four hours later on Saturday
July 15th.
I never imagined any of this could happen to me
and it could have been prevented. If I had gone for
regular medical checkups, if I had checked my blood
pressure more regularly, if I had managed my diet
and alcohol consumption more carefully, if I had paid
attention to the warming signs: the tingling in my
left arm, the occasional chest pains that I blamed on
indigestion or muscle pains...
I am lucky to be alive today as I cheated death with
a little help from our friends... at the Moncton
Hospital and the NB Heart Center. (To the many
family members & friends, dozens of doctors, nurses,
technicians, orderlies and paramedics I encountered
in those five days... Thank you for being there!)
Steven Boyce
[email protected]
Un grand merci aux travailleurs de la santé
« T’es chanceux...(d’être vivant) », m’a dit le
cardiologue Dr Thomas McAvinue, le jour qu’on m’a
annoncé que j’étais prêt à retourner à la maison. (le
samedi 15 juillet 2017, 13h)
Extraits de mon journal personnel:
Mardi 11 juillet, 5h20: Alma, N.-B., je suis réveillé
par une douleur intense à la poitrine... mon attaque
de cœur commence... 5h30: j’appelle le 911... 5h55:
les ambulanciers arrivent, ma crise arrive à sa fin, on
me donne un peu de nitroglycérine afin de soulager
la douleur... 7h15: j’arrive à l’urgence de l’Hôpital
de Moncton, je subis un électrocardiogramme (ECG)
et on me donne des médicaments afin d’amincir le
sang... Éventuellement on me transfère à l’unité des
soins critiques où je passe encore un ECG, d’autres
prises de sang, un Rayon-X de la poitrine, un
scanneur et une échographie. Un total de six heures
de soins et d’examens...
SUITE SUR LA PAGE 4...
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