I have got another day of Cardiac care under my belt. As the TFK readers already know, my father aka Little Donnie aka IRON MAN just spent a significant bit of time in the cardiac unit of a local hospital.
Today I spent some more time, but not with IRON MAN. This time we will call today's patient Bubble Boy.
Bubble Boy has been visiting me from out of town for about a week. He came to hang out, experience the Twin Cities and chill with the chilliest chick around (me). This morning, after his shower, he asked me what the day's agenda was.
Bubble Boy: "So what is today's schedule?"
Me: "Well, 8:30 we will leave, drop off stuff at Bud's house, 9:00 we will go to the grocery store, 10:00 we will meet A & B at the yacht club, 2:00 we will come in from the lake, 3:00 we will be back at Bud's for the party, and then at the party till 9:00 PM."
BB: "Which of these things are the least important?"
Me: "Why?"
BB: "Because I'm suffering from chest pains, and should probably go to the hospital"
Me: "LET'S GO!"
Now, the Bubble Boy is healthy overall, however, at age 44, he is in his heart attack years, as I learned on Oprah years ago. I quickly got dressed, gave him some aspirin, jumped in Babs the Wonderbeetle and high-tailed it to the ER of the best cardiac hospital in town. I kept my cool, and so did Bubble Boy (he is quite mellow in his own right) and we were probably the calmest people in the hospital all day.
After a 10 hour stay, with nitro glycerin dosing, morphine injections, EKGs, X rays, blood tests and more, it was determined that he was not dying from a cardiac ailment.
Two of Bubble Boy's reactions to his situation were consistent with reaction other males that are part of my reality.
1) males think that they write the rules - example BB decided that they didn't need the 12 point EKG attachments attached to his chest anymore, and went through the process of pulling the sticky little pads off of his chest hair in anticipation of leaving the hospital. Imagine my amusement when an EKG specialist rolled in an EKG machine about 2 hours later and reapplied new sticky conductors back on to his furry chest.
2) males think that there is no reason for pain relief. Once BB found out he wasn't damaging his heart, he refused any sort of pain relievers to reduce his discomfort for his medical situation. The number of times I have heard "Pain is weakness leaving the body" from males is epic. All I am going to say is sitting in pain when it could easily be relieved doesn't increase your street cred with the ladies in any way.
I'm glad to be home, and glad BB didn't have to stay in the hospital. All in all, it turned out to be a good day.
One more public service announcement:
IF YOU ARE SUFFERING FROM CHEST PAIN - DON'T BE A HERO! GO TO THE DOCTOR ASAP! Better that it ends up being something minor, than being something bad. As the nurse said today, "It's a good thing you came in today, because we can't treat your heart attack at home".
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