The worst part is over! I hope!!

It all started the first day of General Conference. I had just finished watching the first session on Saturday and was thinking about the priesthood meeting Saturday night. I went to our guest room and put clean sheets on the bed. They had just been washed the day before. Chris was in our bedroom taking a nap.

After making the bed, I went into the kitchen for something which I now don't now remember and that's when I felt the tightness and slight pain in my chest. I thought, well, I've had this before and it usually only lasts a few minutes and is gone. This time, however, the tightness grew stronger and the pain increased. Pretty soon I was gritting my teeth and pacing up and down the hallway. About this time, Chris came out of the bedroom and asked me what was wrong. I told her about the pain and she said I should call 911. I told her no, I'll be OK. I was wrong, it got worse and was getting to the point were I was breaking down fast. I had just seen my cardo doctor the day before and he took an EKG and it was OK. But, he told me that if I had the chest pains come back, I should call 911. I finally gave in and called them. They arrived about 10 minutes later. A firetruck and ambulance with about 6 firemen and paramedics. The hooked me up to some kind of machine and gave me nitro. As I began to feel better, they started an IV and put me on a gurney and took me to the hospital emergency.

Our hospital emergency room, hospital and special heart hospital is only about 5 minutes away and we were there in no time. I collected $200, passed go and was in a small room in minutes after arriving. I was hooked up to more IV drips, heart monitor and who knows what else. This all transpired before 2:30 p.m. They kept monitoring me and finally the emergency room doctor showed up and said that they had called my cardo doctor and would be seen shortly. This was later in the afternoon and about midnight, a doctor I didn't recognize came in and told me that he was having me transferred to the heart hospital next door and that they would do an angioplasty in the a.m. and determine if I had had a heart attack and if they could correct the problem with possibly another stint. I already had one stint which was put in when we live in St. George about 6 years ago.

Sunday morning they did the procedure and determined that I needed more than a stint as I had at least three major blockages. I would need to have by pass surgery, but before it could be done, I needed to have a drug, Plavix, purged from my system. I had been given Plavix in the emergency room and the by-pass could not be performed until my body was cleared of it. This process took about 4 days and in the meantime I was hooked up to 4 different IV drips. The surgery was scheduled for Thursday at 7:30 a.m. Thursday 7:30 a.m. came and went and about 12:30 p.m., I was notified that the surgery was postponed for at least another day. The reason was that my kidneys were not functioning good enough for the surgeon to do the by-pass. Sure enough, Friday came and I was wheeled into the operating room at about 7:00 a.m. The doctor had told Chris that it was about a 4-5 hour procedure. It was only 3 hours and I was taken to ICU where I spent two days before being transferred to the telemetry ward. I spent more days recovering from the surgery. I was finally allowed to go home on the 15th of October. It seemed as if I had been gone forever from home and although I wasn't feeling all that good, it was just good to be home.

I have made steady improvement since being home, gaining strength, walking more every day, trying to adjust to a low fat, low cholesterol, low salt diet. Food is just now beginning to taste a bit better. I still don't eat much, not like before, but I have lost only about 5 pounds.

Today, I went to the cardo doctor and he said I was doing fine and I had already seen the surgeon on Monday and he said that I didn't need to come back to him. He also said that I could start driving again in about 1 week. I do have a renal doctor to look after my kidneys and he has given me some medicine and wants to see me in about a month. My cardo doctor wants to see me in a month and a half. While all this is going past, I will be trying to get my strength back by doing more walking, etc.

What have I learned from this experience? Mostly that my belief that life is very precious and also precipitous. Will this experience make me a better person? I hope so.

I thank all those who have helped Chris and I through this difficult time to this point and those who will continue to lend us their support. I was very appreciative of Jan and Heather who visited with us for about 2 days and for Allison and my brother Bill and his wife Carolyn. They helped us very much after I was discharged from the hospital and I know they went to great expense and effort to be here. Thank you all so much.

I have received many emails from friends and I must now put myself to the task of replying to them and thanking them for all their prayers in my behalf. Oh, I also thank Richard Hanks and his wife Dorthy for being so kind. Richard is my home teacher and came to see me several times at the hospital and at home. He also gave me two blessings which I appreciate very much.

The high priest group leader and his counselors have also been to see me about 3 times and are available if I or Chris need further help.

Chris' son Bart and his wife Debbie have been great. Especially Debbie who had helped Chris do some needed grocery shopping, etc.

I feel truly blessed and continue to seek your prayers in the days to come.

I thank my Heavenly Father for His love and care. I appreciate even more the atonement of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice on my behalf and of all God's children.

I love my family.

Dad