Spent last week in Montauk with my wife and daughter we got to walk around, hang on the beach, put my nuts in the ice bath that is the Atlantic Ocean, and just enjoyed a week with my family.
Then came Friday….
Friday morning we went to get breakfast, and at the end of the meal I felt something in my solar plexus. I thought it was gas, so I went to the pharmacy and got some stuff to try to clear it up. A couple of hours later it’s getting worse so I walked to what I thought was an urgent care facility. It wasn’t but when I pointed near my chest they quickly triaged the matter. Eventually, they said it’s probably best you go to the hospital. The catch is the hospital is an hour away, our check-out is at 11 the next day, and my wife doesn’t drive. When my wife showed up I decided to go to the hospital.
At this point, my anxiety is through the roof. The awesome EMT treated this as a real heart issue. He gave me an aspirin and nitroglycerin. Nitro opened everything up and helped with the pressure a little, but also dropped my heart rate to 50. I sure was calm, but still thinking of my family. It’s a tough thing to watch as you are driven off and your wife and daughter aren’t with you.
At the hospital, the ER staff took some EKG and blood. They also gave me anti-nausea meds since I threw up in the room at one point. The EKG and monitors got me annoyed because everyone had to have their sticker on me. I got a free wax job, but it hurt like hell.
The doctor came in and said, “your heart is fine so far, we have to check blood and EKGs a couple more times to be sure, but did you know you are diabetic?” I was thinking I was for a bit and planned on getting physical in the next couple of weeks. So she also said that it may be a GI problem, which was later proven to be gallstones, but not bad to do surgery.
The diabetes diagnosis didn’t bother me, I know a lot about it from my mom having it (granted some of the info is a bit dodgy, but research has helped with the debunking). I just need to dissolute myself to check and take what I need to for it to work.
Eventually, I’m put in a room for the night. Hospitals hate patients sleeping between the periodical vitals checks and their knack of knowing you find a way to sleep, they come in and out the IV or a monitor on you so you can’t sleep. At one point I got taken to get an ultrasound, where I did fall asleep for a moment. The tech laughed which woke me up.
The whole time I was worried about what was going to happen with my wife and daughter. Yes, you shouldn’t worry about things you can’t control, but it’s still my wife and kid. Are they going to be thrown to the street and the car towed? Are they going to be able to find a place on a Saturday if I need to be in longer? Well, the reality is they had a grand time, got the car packed and we made plans for people to come to pick them up to go home and leave the car at the hospital.
The next morning I was told the results of the ultrasound, and then told I’m getting out after the nutritional and diabetic people talk to me. Both were there fairly quick and said I can go home with a prescription to handle my blood sugar, but get to a doctor soon to help keep this going.
So, looking like a lunatic who got out of an asylum and probably not smelling great, I got to Montauk and we drove home. The hotel was cool to let the car stay and held my keys for my cousins to drive the car, but that wasn’t needed. Just the people in the hospital, the doctor's office, and everyone involved was amazingly helpful. I feel I was very lucky.
So now, once I get over the fear of anything I eat will be a problem, I will be excited to tackle this like my sleep apnea. I love technology and data, I already have a glucose meter I can use with my phone, and I want to learn as much as I can. My wife is also looking forward to the overall benefits for everyone in the house. My daughter…well she will have to adapt to different max and cheese now! I also am wondering what weight loss I’ll get out of this, which is one thing I wanted to do more.
The lesson is: get check out before it’s too late. I am haunted by the memory of finding my dad with chest pains and he didn’t want me to call 911 since he had his nitro. He didn’t want to miss work the next day due to the bus company he worked for was becoming MTA. I am haunted by finding my mom in a mess due to her blood sugar being out of whack. I am haunted by the intervention my sister and I had with her to get her shit together and see a doctor. Don’t have things like that in your mind and don’t do that to your loved ones.
Thanks for reading.