I'll be leaving Samsung Hospital late Monday morning; my brother Sean has arranged an Uber minivan to pick me up and take me down the street to my apartment building. The crew taking me out of the hospital will most likely be Sean, his hubby Jeff, and my brother David. My boss, like me, isn't much of a morning person, so he won't be there when I officially depart Samsung.
Today, I had no visitors during the daytime, but David came by, then my buddy Charles. Sean and Jeff said through text that they'd swing by tomorrow morning. David showed off some pics and videos of his new home in New Mexico, he's living in a high-altitude, i.e. greener, part of the state. The whole thing looks peaceful and dreamlike. I can't believe his dog Penny is over twelve. And his part of NM is overridden with Korean-style ggachi (magpies).
As I've thought things over, I've realized I have a few mysteries to solve:
● Where's my US driver's license?
● Where's my F4-visa card?
● Where's my black shirt (torn off my body as I was being saved, I imagine)?
There's also the larger question of whether I'll be in shape to do the hike this fall. I of course want to pick up as if nothing has happened, but the fact is that I almost died of a heart attack.
Which brings up another frustrating mystery: why didn't anyone warn me of impending doom back in April and July, when all those scans and ultrasounds were being performed? I have a stent in my chest, now, to combat the severe blockage that led to my heart attack. I had just begun my own rehab program working around my angina, and while parts of my program had made me hesitant (especially staircase work), I was overall optimistic that things were going to improve. Then this shit happened. With no warning from anyone.
So I have a lot of questions, some of which I hope to have answered within the next 48 hours. Others will require more pondering before I make a commitment.
Meanwhile, David was nice enough to bring my glasses and case from my apartment, along with my portable WiFi hotspot, so I can finally watch some YouTube videos. (My piled-up queue will take a few days to chop down to a reasonable size.) So for the next 34-ish hours, I'll be a slightly happier camper. I'm going to text my boss to see what he knows about my shirt and ID cards, and we'll move forward from there. Meanwhile, once I'm home, I'll arrange to go on short but increasingly longer walks with David, who brought tons of remote-work equipment with him and will also be working from his Airbnb. Plenty to occupy me as I convalesce.
UPDATE: my boss has my IDs. He thinks my shirt was probably destroyed during my rescue, which I'm pretty sure is what happened.
Honestly, I was also surprised. You seemed to be progressing each day and working within the limits of your angina. And then, boom, your heart attacks you. It's very concerning that the level of blockage that led to your current situation was not previously discovered/disclosed. Years ago, when an ultrasound revealed a 20% blockage in an artery, I was warned and told what I needed to do to keep it from getting worse. Your cardiologist has some 'splaining to do.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I've spent some time in New Mexico and really enjoyed it. I used to go skiing in Taos and thought Santa Fe was a fun city, too. You'll need to pay David a visit next time you are back in the USA.
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