This week my husband and I traveled to Ohio to see his brother who was in the hospital recovering from a triple bypass - a subject my husband is familiar with since he had his bypass almost two years ago. The day his brother went home from the hospital we went back to our nice NON SMOKING hotel room and within an hour or so my hubby started getting nauseated and dizzy.
We were only 5 minutes from the hospital so I suggested that we go to the ER to have this checked out but he refused and put his feet up to watch some TV. An hour later he was still dizzy and nauseated and I said, that's it... we're going to the hospital. He rolled over to sit up and began vomiting blood the consistence and color of warm black cherry jello... all over the bed and floor. I've never seen anything like this... short of a horror movie.
I tried to hold him on the bed and get to the phone... finally reaching the hotel clerk who said she'd call an ambulance. I realized that we had already double latched the door and that the EMTs wouldn't be able to get in... but he was hanging off the bed and I didn't want him to fall. I was able to reach my toes under the rollers of the desk chair and drag it to the side of the bed to prop it against him... and then I made a dash to door. EMTs were there in just minutes... along with the Police and hotel staff. They were horrified when they came into the room.
They got a line into my hubby and quickly transported him to the same hospital his brother had just checked out of. He continued to vomit and lose blood over the next hour. They gave him 5 units of blood and 2 or 3 liters of saline wide open - as fast as they could. His blood pressure dropped to 70/20. For the next 8 hours they worked on him until they were able to get his stomach to stop bleeding and go in to see what was happening to him.
The following day we learned that four vessels in his stomach had ulcers and burst at the same time... as a result of taking Plavix and a full dose aspirin. He's a very lucky man that we were where we were... since we live in a rural area with only volunteer paramedics and the hospital is a half hour away... had we been at home my husband would be dead.
Now, that he was stable and going to be ok... I contacted the hotel and apologized for the damage and thanked them for all their help. They had reserved the room right next door so I could move our things there since our room needed HazMat to get cleaned.
That night I returned to the hotel very late and I was dog tired as we had been up a full 24+ hours. I unlocked the new room and walked in to discover that it was a smoking room!
Yep, the STANK was overwhelming... and just what I needed. I have to admit that my addict mind had a fleeting thought about dragging on a cigarette after the trauma of the day had settled down... and the Universe decided to play a nice trick on me by putting me in a smoking room. The smell though... just gagged me. No butts for me! I had enough of the ugly reminder of smoking to know that I'm so glad I didn't smoke.
So, here we are... in one of the best heart hospitals and he's recovering very nicely... and my QUIT is doing fine! Every doctor and every nurse and every EMT has asked the same questions and one of them always is... DO YOU SMOKE. My husband proudly says NO, I quit in 1984. I'm so happy he's alive and just know that we have angels all around us... he's a lucky, lucky man.
