What a week so far...

Hello Everyone,

So, after my first training ride Monday night, I came home to a phone message from Jerry saying that he was in the hospital. Chest pains, difficulty breathing so his boss took him in.

So I headed off to the hospital in a panic to find out what was going on.

They still had him in emergency when I arrived (but in a bed in a curtained off room) and I stayed with him until around 10:30 pm when they admitted him. Rather scary seeing him all hooked up, stickers everywhere, wires and he had an oxygen tube in his nose. Everything had settled down after they gave him a nitroglycerin patch.

According to him, he started developing chest pains and then breathing problems. Pain between his shoulder blades. Cold extremities (but no tingling) yet he felt hot. They did blood tests but it was not a heart attack.

On Tuesday, he did a stress test and there was an abnormality. He has to go back in a couple weeks for more tests. And by the end (he was so proud that he "finished"), his heart rate had tripled. But for now, the doctors told him to continue his normal activity level and that he could go back to work. And he has to carry nitroglycerin with him (it's now a spray) and take the low dose aspirin. He was released mid morning and decided to walk home.

Luckily I got the message, called him and met him part-way. I didn't care what the docs said - I was keeping an eye on him for the day. They had sent me home from work as I wasn't sure how long the testing would take and what kind of care he needed. And I was exhausted. So a leisurely walk home and I had to keep him from doing all sorts of activities since he "felt fine". Grrrrr.

So, now it's wait and see. His symptoms sound a lot like angina to me. The doctors wonder if maybe he's always had "something" but it didn't show up bad enough until the change in activity type.

I did a bit of studying last night and have my notes with me today. They provide the formulas so I think I'll do ok. I'll let you know how it goes.

Have a good day!