He was doing physically fine, and told me about some of the more scary (and sometimes funny) things that happened to him while he was in the hospital.
He did have an ultrasound (his description of that test was hilarious!!), and there was some information that got mixed up in second-hand and third-hand information...which I would like to correct now.
First, he apparently does not have an arterial blockage per se. Rather, he has a "fluttery" valve on the left side of his heart which is not getting the electrical impulse strongly enough from the brain and which responds more to his adrenalin levels than to his autonomic nervous system. This means that when he becomes upset or stressed - well, his heart goes crazy. And that is what happened this past Monday night.
So it still means he's a ticking time bomb. But they gave him medications to take, of which nitro is one, in case he has another episode. He did have one last night after he got to Mom's - it subsided somewhat when he took the tablet.
I spoke to Mom when I first called and I asked how he was - but she informed me in a whisper that he didn't like people talking about him. Ha - I must have shocked her when I said, "Then don't!" Then I explained. "What say when we're done talking you pass the phone to him and I'll ask him how he is myself - that way you won't be talking about him and he won't be getting upset." She agreed, and we had a great conversation - and then she passed the phone to him. He and I must have talked for a good 20 minutes.
He's making some positive changes in his life. He has decided that he will not let people talk down to him and if they persist, he will stop them and tell them to leave if they refuse to stop. This is a big step for him; before, he would take it and get livid inside at them, and they would never know that they had crossed a line.
We talked about him not being able to wait until he was able to go back to his apartment in the city... and how the only way he could do that was to follow the doctor's directions, even if it meant that for his first walk, he walked the length of the driveway and back to the house.
Mom has started him eating more healthily, lower salt, lower fat, no sugar. He sees the wisdom in this of course, but she does have a way of getting on his last nerve. (grin) Let's just say he is highly motivated to be able to live on his own again - which is a good thing in his case (long story). Suffice to say that whenever I hear the song, "Bird with Broken Wing" by Don Francisco, ("Soaring far above the clouds on wings spread strong and wide is the vision that you've buried in despair / You dash yourself against the stones and flutter terrified, when My love would heal your wounds and lift you there....") I think of him.
It did my own heart good to hear him talking about his plans to get out and be more active, to start looking after himself and taking charge of his life, to getting back to having friends visit and jam with him on the guitar - the things he loves to do with the people who care about him and take the trouble to show it.
I'm looking forward to the next time we get a chance to visit.
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