When I left the hospital after a ten-day stay, the doctor told me my heart was 100 % healed.
Reflections ~
One Scary August
When I left the hospital after a ten-day stay, the doctor told me my heart was 100 % healed.
by Dolores Halbin, RN, BSN, contributing writer
For the first time since I began writing for THE EVOLUTION Magazine in November 2019, I missed a month: September. September is my birthday month, and as August would have it, I very nearly didn’ t make it to celebrate turning 71.
October is supposed to be our scary month, not August. August is for fun, for swimming and camping. I spent part of August in the Cardiovascular ICU and Telemetry Unit of KU Medical Center, not fun. That’ s when my dear friend and editor Victoria Cromwell called to tell me that Bill, our fearless leader, said to take the month off and get well.
No Lunch for Me
My dog Butch had been gone a month when I finally went in for a colonoscopy I had put off for a year. I didn’ t feel like going or, for that matter, getting out of bed at all. As it turned out, that colonoscopy saved my life, not because I had anything wrong with my colon, but because I was in heart failure and didn’ t know it. The extreme fatigue and reluctance to get out of bed were symptoms of grief, and it never occurred to me that I felt this way for any other reason. I have thought so much about Waxy Brown, aka Daniel Jones, whom we lost last summer to a heart attack. He had a hernia and, like grief, that other diagnosis caused his heart problem to be missed, which resulted in us losing a shining young star in our cannabis community.
I landed in the ER at KU Medical Center with intractable nausea, puking up my kneecaps. I went from vital signs to the Cath Lab in less than ten minutes. The doctor said,“ We think you are having a heart attack.”
When I woke up, the doctor explained that I was in heart failure from Takotsubo Syndrome, also known as Broken Heart Syndrome. Sort of good news, bad news. No heart attack, but my heart was functioning at only 30 %. I heard them say,“ Admit to ICU, critical condition.”
I was planning to have lunch after my colonoscopy. I’ ve given rides to three people for this test over the past few months. We went to lunch after each one. How in the world did I end up in critical condition?
Is This Goodbye to Cannabis?
It’ s sad when we lose our old smoking buddies. Even sadder when we must join them. I have two old friends from the 70s with heart conditions who can no longer use cannabis. One of them has atrial fibrillation and can feel her heart go out of rhythm when she smokes. The other had a heart attack and had stents placed, and cannabis is suspected of interfering with the blood thinners for the stents.
Digging deeper into Takotsubo, the research available leans toward abstaining from cannabis use. The heart is a complicated electrical pump, and the older we get, the more sensitive many of us are to most substances, even coffee, and especially to Sativa. It gives me heart palpitations. Many of my senior friends complain about the same.
Since this type of heart failure is triggered by grief and stress, and we know cannabis helps treat both, I would like to see a lot more research. My concern is this question: which will cause me more stress? Using cannabis or giving it up. We’ ve only been able to legally study the plant for a few months. Most of the studies I found started with terms like“ illicit drug” and“ drug addiction,” rather than“ medicinal plant.” For now, I have chosen moderation.
Not For Eating!
Takotsubo is a Japanese octopus trap. It’ s a jar dropped into the water. The octopus gets tucked in but can’ t get out. For the record, octopus is on the list with bats and pangolins in the things not for eating category. Broken Heart Syndrome was discovered by a group of Japanese doctors in 1990. It turns out the heart really can break from grief. It is not a metaphor. I was diagnosed with Takotsubo in 2022 when I had my first fake heart attack. My heart was doing okay. Normal left ventricular pressure is 65 %. Mine was 50 % six months after my first attack. I put it on the list of things I wouldn’ t worry about at 70. According to research, there is no cure, and it won’ t kill you. Yet there I was in critical condition with Takotsubo.
32 October 2026