Okay, boys & girls ... I'm home.

First and foremost I have to thank Charlie. He was at the hospital before Billy's procedure was even finished and stayed by my side all day and drove me home. Quite honestly, I don't know what I would have done if he wasn't there for me.

Second thank you all for you calls and prayers. Knowing that all of our friends were thinking and praying for us means more than you will ever know.

So, this is what happened.

10:15 am - We were working at the art gallery in Red Hook when Billy said he did feel good - he went outside to get air and sat in his car. He was sweating, looked white and said that he had a pain in his chest like someone was sitting on it. For some reason Chrissie's post a few weeks ago about her heart attack popped into my head and I knew that he was having a heart attack. I called 911 and the fire dept was there in less than 3 minutes working on him, closely followed by the EMT'S.

They gave him aspirin, nitroglycerin, hooked him up to an EKG and by 10:30 we were on the way to the hospital which was 4 minutes away.

The cardiac team was waiting for him when he got to the ER - within 20
minutes they knew what was wrong and sent him up to the Cardiac Catherter Unit were they did the procedure. By 12:30 he was in recovery.

It all happened so fast that I'm still in shock and I don't think that I have really grasped what happened.

The FDNY, EMT's & doctors were amazing. The EMT that took him to the hospital came back after his tour was over to see how he was doing.

After everything calmed down, the doctor told me just how lucky we were because besides the artery being blocked, there was a clot in it.
He said that if we had waited another 15 minutes he would have had a stroke and may not have made it.


Thank you again.

 

That is good news

 

That IS good news, and it's especially nice to hear that the EMT came back to check on him. Always nice to something like that, and I'm sure it made you feel a little better.

 

Glad to hear that Billy is going to be OK. Praying for a speedy recovery.

 

Hey maybe Billy and I can get matching nitro neckless? Glad to hear he is doing well. I wish him a speedy recovery.

 

Oops. Sorry. :o

Forgot to post that we are praying for Chrissie too.

 

Holy Crap! C'mon Billy. Get well soon. Linda, Lot's of people have that procedure. Billy will be back in action in no time.

Man, what a crummy week this has been.

 

wow, just got home from work and read this. Billy's a very strong guy, he'll come through. Linda stay strong, our prayers are with you guys.

 

My wife and I are very sorry to hear about the heart problems, but very glad to hear that he's doing ok.
Thank God you were sharp enough to react the way you did.
On the lighter side: I'd like to be the first to officially welcome him to the stent club! He can now be a card carrying member. I joined in January of 2003 at the ripe old age of 48 after they found a 99% blockage in my LAD (AKA the widowmaker). I was fortunate in that they found the problem before I had a heart attack that would have most likely killed me.
The good news is that now he will be followed by a Cardiologist for the rest of his life and if he does what he's supposed to do he will probably never have a heart problem again. It's hard to grasp this now, but he is in a much better position than the rest of the population that is wandering around out there with time bombs in their chests and don't even know it.
I can tell you honestly that other than forcing me in to retirement because of some archaic rules (I unsuccessfully fought it for a while), the stent has had zero impact on my lifestyle. If anything, it has made me try to live a little healthier.
Seriously though: If you need the name of a great Cardiologist for follow up who is affiliated with St. Francis (this Dr. was rated #1 on Long Island), or any other info, please PM me.

 

Get Well soon

Mike O

 

Linda,

Deb and I are so happy to hear that everything worked out for the best. Sounds like your timing was perfect.

Sincerely
Deb and Mark

 

 

Well wishes for a speedy recovery

 

Glad to hear Billy is ok! I wish you guys all the best

 

Great news Linda, glad to hear Billy is on the mend. Tell him we send our prays and support. He scared the s*&t out of us. Sounds like you had fantastic medical support all the way.

I quess this is a signal to all of us that life is too fragile to be taken lightly. I know I have some eating and health issues to take care of

Get well soon and hope to see you guys after his recovery

Ed

 

prayers for a speedy recovery

 

Thanks again everyone ~

This came as such a shock because even though high BP has been an issue for the past few years, the DR's have been looking in all the wrong places for the reason because we do take such good care of our selves.

We never eat junk food - in fact, burger that he had at lunch on Sat was the 1st one he has had in 3 months. Most everything in low fat, low salt, low cholestoral. He had blood work done 2 weeks ago and everything was normal!

He doesn't smoke and drinks very little alcohol & coffee and is very active, so a clogged artery was low on the list of possibilties.

When this happened he was going to kidney specialist since a problem with the kidneys can cause high BP - he is supposed to go for a bunch of tests on Thrusday - guess I can cancel that.

When I spoke to the cardiologist and asked him why this happened he said that family history plays a big part - heart disease runs in both side of his family, so that artery was "misformed" and clogged easier than it should have - all the others are 100% clear.

Take care of yourselves out there -

 

Glad to hear Billy is on the mend

 

 

Glad to hear that Billy is doing better.

We will keep him in our prayers for a speedy recovery