Frank Ducharme Came in at 1:30, catherer at 2, and 3 stents by 2:30, icu overnite, regular room, discharge tomorrow....

Glad he's ok

found out Thursday that it was benign but they want to keep a close eye on it.

Charlotte, cheers going south across the border and east to Richland!!!

Charlotte Box Lloyd: How much trouble did you give the nurses?


Frank Ducharme: As much as I could....Most were men, and I could not pretend to grope them
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So glad and but then he might still be there if there were female nurses!!

I hope so, too, Mim.

Charlotte, I'm glad to hear your tumor is benign. And Mim, I will be thinking of you, hoping you have good news as well.

Looks like quite a few of us are going through problems with our own health. I don't have worries about cancer, thank God, but my bones and joints are giving me trouble. Just when I can do things without worry for my husband, I can't do the things I want just yet. Perhaps after my knee gets fixed I can be more active. I hope so. I absolutely love walking. There are so many different things I want to do, even if I have to do them alone. I really don't mind being alone! which is a good thing, I think. I will miss him forever and always wish he was with me but I can do things by myself if I have to.

Thank you for all your wishes. I was very blessed to be at the perfect place, at the perfect time, with my perfect spouse. I cannot believe I had a massive heart attack on April 20th, and survived with so little damage. The night before my heart attack, I had an almost empty jar of cheeseballs, and the noticed some marshmallow peeps left over from easter....So, I wolfed them down, and about a minute later, began to feel strange, and had a little pain somewhere between my neck and my belly. I had a little ginger ale and felt slightly better, but I had a strange pain somewhere in my upper chest. I slept off and on all night, and by morning, I felt great. Then about noon Thursday, I got the pain back, and it was very slight but annoying. I reasoned that I should probably go have it checked out, since I feared waiting until evening, then having to spend the entire nite in the ER.
As I checked into the Emergency room, there was not a chair to be found, and about forty people waiting. I wanted to go home and come back later, but my wife asked the nurse if there was a way to get seen sooner. She asked what my symptoms were. I said I think it is chest pains, but not really sure. So she sent me in for an EKG.
As I was being wired, the male nurse ran out of the room, and came back with an army. Two nurses grabbed my arms, and stuffed an IV into them, another threw four aspirins into my mouth, another shouted questions...are you allergic to anything, do I have diabetes, do you have insurance, what is your mother's maiden name, can we have the passwords to your bank accounts?...
Finally, a nurse unlatched my watch, and told me that she was going to give it to my wife, and go sit with her and Pray. Did you say PRAY? What is going on??? I lied about the chest pains..I did not want to have to wait until everyone was seen.....She said "You are having a massive heart attack, and may not make it.
Right...Say that again....WHAT?? Then the surgeon comes in...We cannot airlift you to Winter Haven or Orlando, because you will not make it...I need to do surgery immediately.
Your artery is 100% blocked, the right is 95% blocked, the left is 90%, and the front is 80@. You need four stents but I can only do 3 because of the dye.....
OK>>>> So off I go to the catherization lab, suddenly realizing that I never said goodbye to Itsy, and that I may not see her again. I wanted to tell her that I am feeling fine, and that I think the doctors are wrong, and that the hospital just needs the medicare payments....I was fully concious during the catherization, but confused because all I was hearing was nrs.....3, 9, 5....and other jargon that I wouldnt understand unless I used google translate.
About 45 minutes later, I am in Intensive care, and see my wife, daughter and brother standing there, looking like they were on their way to a funeral. Keep in mind that this is the first time I have ever been admitted into a hospital, and I am baffled why I cannot go home.....Everyone is telling me that I will be ok and that I will survive.... HUH???? I feel great, and ready to go home....This was less invasive than having a tooth pulled or a root canal....
Anyway, I am told that I need to stay overnight, and can go home Saturday. I am then informed that due to the nature of medicare billing, I will only be responsible to two days of hospital care...She says that the first day is free...HUH? OK>>>>Just got the bill for $132,667.81, but that does not include the anesthesiologist, the doctor, the surgeon, the lab work, the ultrasounds, ekg and xrays, the receptionist, cleaning crew, gift shop cashiers, and parking lot volunteers. So, my copay is $790. Sure, I will have another heart attack if this is true.

Phranque, Maybe there is some bad aura around Corvettes. I had a friend who won a 1950s-era Corvette. She was dating a guy and invited him to go to a play. She bought the raffle ticket and generously put his name on it, too. When she won, he became the co-owner. They decided to sell the car but this was in the Fall and we live in a cold climate, so the car had to be garaged and insured. He did not have anyplace to put the car and her garage did not have a door. He objected to chipping in for insurance and garage space (or even for a door for her garage) so she had to pay it all herself. When they sold the car (for $35,000, I think), she deducted the costs from the proceeds and he was furious. Of course, the relationship had died long before that.

Phranque, you are quite an interesting story teller! I'm happy that it has all turned out okay for you...I'm sure your attitude/humor have helped you through. You've been through a LOT!

So happy you are doing well, Phanque. You described the heart attack perfectly. Mine was 5/31/15; but I didn't win the corvette! However my new husband bought me a new Buick Lacrosse - for HIS birthday last week. LOL

Phranque ,do you still have the old cars? I think you said you were having bumpers rechromed the last time I was in Naples,I've sold my 68 Barracuda to a guy in New Zealand,also sold the Mustang convertable,now down to one car 67 Dodge R/T convertable