Dennis' first ambulance ride, and what I learned from his nurse



About 7:15 Tuesday morning I woke up to find Dennis not in bed. I figured he must have just gotten
up earlier but I didn't hear him. I assumed he was already working in his office down the hall.

So I got dressed and ready for the day, and as I was walking towards the kitchen, I heard his foot
steps behind me. "I have a problem," I heard him say. I thought perhaps he was going to say there
were ants in his office (we have been fighting them lately) but his voice tone didn't sound like an ant
problem.

He explained that heaviness and tightness in his chest woke him up at 1am and he was waiting for
morning since he didn't want to wake me up! I told him I was going to call an ambulance and he
said he didn't want to make a scene in the neighborhood....but he didn't say he didn't need one, so I
went ahead and called 911.

Sure enough we could soon hear sirens in the distance, and then a fire truck and ambulance coming
down our cul-de-sac. Next time I'm going to request they not turn on the siren.

Five strong capable looking men suddenly were in our family room hooking Dennis up to a monitor.
We were told a few minutes later that Den was not having a heart attack. I hadn't realized they could
make a diagnosis so quickly. But we were also told this does not mean he wasn't having a cardiac
event. So they gave him 2 baby aspirins and 3 nitroglycerin pills, and loaded him up in the ambulance
and took off.

Both Den's father and brother died from heart attacks at younger ages than Dennis is now. But all the
numerous tests they gave Den at the hospital yesterday turned out negative. Even the heart
inflammation test (he had three!) read out as 0.0.


I wish I could count all the nurses and doctors who complimented us on coming in. We were
told that many people (especially men) wait too long and it's always good to check things out.

But what I thought was most interesting was his nurse. Somewhere in the conversation she
mentioned she was 62. She and looked very healthy and in really good shape. Anyway, she told us
that she has learned much by working years in the ER.

Some of her advice to us:

1. She said she "has seen and knows too much," and that "our culture is so unhealthy."

2. We get together often and what do we do she said? We eat foods high in fat and sugar which cause
heart disease and cancer.

3. She said she eats a huge salad of greens everyday, and takes turmeric with black pepper. She buys
hers at Costco and while it's a little more expensive than some elsewhere it works better since it has
the black pepper in it. When I asked her about turmeric she said, "google it." And again she 
said, "google it!"

4. Sugar lowers our immune system and makes us prone to every virus that comes along. Our 
immune system stays low for 6  hours after consuming sugar. (This may help explain the rise in
colds and flu just after Halloween and Christmas.)

5. A man came in recently who just got health insurance the day before. He was having a full blown
heart attack and he was only 50. She said when she went over his diet with him she could tell why.

Dennis is fine, and it turned out to be a good day. He has been doing ambulance billing since he
retired from cop work,  so he said it was great to get an eye's view of what goes on in the process. He
said once he was settled in he decided to enjoy it. We both learned some tips about health.

And another thing we learned....actually we were reminded of it....on any given day there is LOTS of
suffering going on in hospitals. I sat there by Dennis for hours listening to doctors talk to other
patients. Some were too ill to speak, others had sad stories of horrible suffering. We saw some on
gurneys in the hallways, looking sickly and alone. Those of us who have good health, need to be SO
THANKFUL for it.

Being able to walk out those hospital doors, and take Dennis with me, was such sweet relief.


7 comments:

Heidi G. Ballas said...

YAY! I am happy to hear all is well, in the end.

Anonymous said...

All's well that ends well.... so glad he is fine! Please tell him that.
darlene

Grandma Honey said...

Thank you Heidi....and as always, your Mom came to check on us. That is why we can't move from here!

Darlene...Definitely I will tell him. :)

Susan Anderson said...

So grateful to hear that all is well with your hubby. And it sounds like you guys got some good motivation to eat more healthily. I thank you, because I think it has rubbed off on me a bit today.

=)

Peggy said...

Wow, and here you were worried about me, I had no idea you had this terrible scare with Dennis. I am so grateful he is ok, we all love that man!
I agreed that sugar must lower your immune system. When My children were small I never let them eat candy of any kind except on Halloween, and sure enough we would usually end up at the doctor's office within a few days. I remember Dr. Weinberg telling me that the week after Halloween was his busiest time every year.

Scrapally said...

I can't believe he didn't wake you! So glad everything turned out okay! You both eat pretty healthy and we could all learn from you! I'm sure it was pretty scary going through that.

Karen Mortensen said...

Wow. I am so glad that he is okay and that things went well for you.

Look what happened last night

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