Well That Was Close

Nine years and one month ago I was admitted into Eisenhower Medical Center because I just didn't feel right. Ten hours later I was in recovery after getting two stents inserted into my arteries by Dr. Khanna. After the trauma of surgery faded by the next day, I felt like a million bucks and better than I had felt in forty years.

My cardiologist at the time told me that everything I had done the previous night kept me from being dead before I hit the floor. Sometimes it's good to be stupid and lucky. After recovering and making some modest lifestyle changes for about six months I was back to my old ways, although my alcohol intake was greatly reduced. I stopped walking, I went back to eating sugary foods like they were crack cocaine and I was addicted.

Not surprising for the past three or four months I have been feeling out of sorts and short of breath when doing the simplest things like taking out the garbage or lifting the dog so I mentioned it to my cardiologists PA and she immediately scheduled a cat scan where they found some blockage. I was referred back to my old friend Dr. Khanna who said he would go in and take a look to see how bad the blockage really was.

Knowing how easy the procedure was the last time I was unconcerned, even with his cautionary warning that things could go wrong, however unlikely. On Thursday morning at 5 AM I checked into pre op at Eisenhower and at 6:45 I was wheeled into surgery for their first of several they were going to be doing that day. I was scheduled to be returned to the pre op area for recovery where I had left my things.

For this surgery you are not completely knocked out but are given a cocktail that makes you go into a dreamy state where they can still talk to you if needed. Nonetheless I was pretty well under as they started working on me. Suddenly I was awake and there was loud yelling and a rather large human beating on my chest so hard it was lifting me off the table. I passed back out and the next thing I remember was opening my eyes in a room that wasn't the one I started in and Linda was sitting there next to my bed with a very concerned look on her face.

I deduced that something didn't go right and immediately went back to sleep. About three hours later I woke up and Linda and the nurse explained to me that surgery didn't quite go as planned and that I was in the ICU recovering. I mumbled something and went back to sleep for about another hour. This time when I woke up I was in considerable pain. I could not catch my breath. I felt like my ribs were cracked. I had way too many IV's in me for a simple surgery. Dr. Khanna came in the room and explained to me what had happened.

The surgery involves inserting a small wire, about the thickness of hair, into your artery. It has on the tip a micro small round head with diamonds on it that cut through whatever it may encounter on its journey as they spin at about 2500 RPM's.

He said that the first artery he went into had 100% blockage of plaque that was so hard the wire couldn't penetrate. Apparently it got stuck and bent at an angle inside the artery that allowed the blade to sever it which caused it to slash through the wall of the artery which caused massive bleeding and my blood pressure to plummet to extremely dangerous levels.

Had they not been able to get that under control while they worked to stop the bleeding I was about ten seconds from being wheeled down the hall into the primary surgical studio for open heart surgery to fix the problem and bring me back. Fortunately my blood pressure started climbing back and they were able to fix the bleeding and continue to clean out two other arteries. All total they inserted five stents this time, three just to fix the artery that was cut. Unfortunately this issue left me with about a ten inch piece of wire in my artery that he felt I should know about because when anyone takes an xray they are going to freak out when they see it

He said he went back and looked at the records and film from the first surgery nine years ago and the issue then was cholesterol fat that was blocking me including the widow maker that was 98% blocked. This time he said it was plaque build up that was so thick and prevalent that it was concerning for him. He will be recommending treatment to my cardiologist that likely will involve giving myself a shot twice a year to help clear out the plaque.

So, two heart procedures and two near death incidents gives me pause and concern. It may be time for me to start taking better care of myself. I will be meeting with the cardiologist next week to go over his plans and then I think it is time for me to meet with a dietician to work on a diet that does not involve eating boiled chicken and broccoli seven days a week.

I'm still not 100% but I am feeling 200% better that I did Thursday. I am still out of breath picking up the dog so I need to build up my strength and I run out of gas after just a few minutes of doing anything but this was how it was the last time also and within a few days I was fully recovered.

Thursday March 5, 2026 was easily the worst day of my life and it isn't even close.