By Michael Durand

My apologies to those who have tried to contact me over the last several weeks. I had a medical emergency that prevented me from carrying out my duties as editor. Luckily, my friend and the previous editor, Paul Kozakiewicz, backed me up and got the November issues out on time. A million thanks, Paul!

Hopefully it will only be a couple more weeks before I’m fully back.

Here is my story:

On Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 18, I took a break from work and walked .5 mile from my office to my home. When I started walking back to the office – uphill – I experienced tightness and pain in my chest, shortness of breath and sweating. “I think I’m having a heart attack,” I thought to myself.

I took it nice and slow and took breaks. I made it back to my desk and started feeling better.

After work, I went to a copy store before I was going to go food shopping. Feeling the symptoms again, I decided to drive myself to the Kaiser Permanente emergency room. Luckily, I was feeling well enough to drive.

Initial tests in the ER showed (erroneously) that my heart was fine. They took some blood tests, and that resulted in me being rushed into a room with about 10 health care professionals hooking me up to tubes and wires and all kinds of gizmos to measure every molecule in my body.

“You’re having a heart attack,” a doctor said to me. It’s a phrase nobody wants to hear.

Soon I was in the “Cath Room” where they threaded a tube into my wrist, through my arm, into my chest and right into the blood vessel that was causing all the problems. It was a key blood vessel that feeds the largest chamber in my heart. It was 100% blocked.

The doctors managed to successfully implant a stent, restoring blood flow to my precious ticker. I was saved.

I was informed that I experienced a “massive heart attack,” and if I hadn’t gone in for help, I wouldn’t have made it to the next morning. Last night was almost my LAST NIGHT!

I’m feeling much better now, after getting probed and prodded and ultrasounded and electrocardiogrammed and echocardiogramed and stuffed with pills that are keeping me alive. The nurses took more blood than I thought I had in my circulatory system.

There was some damage to the heart wall that “may” come back to normal. Fingers crossed. In the meantime, I now have my own cardiologist and am eternally grateful for kind and caring professionals who saved my life.

After a week at home, I experienced complications due to the medications I was prescribed, including some heavy-duty blood thinners. I needed to go back into the hospital for three more nights until the symptoms subsided.

I left the hospital (the second time) on Nov. 2. I feel ok. I’m not in pain and I’m comfortable.

Gratitude

I told every single medical professional who helped me how much I appreciate and respect them and the work they do. I have friends who are/were nurses and I am in awe of them. There is no better job than one where you literally SAVE LIVES. The amount of details they need to know about symptoms, equipment, pharmaceuticals, anatomy and human behavior is staggering and truly impressive.

The years of study and experience doctors put in to be experts in their fields show how dedicated they are to helping humanity. They are performing miracles with science.

The various tech and support staff who help run the complicated health care network round out the symphony of superstars. I am forever grateful for their skill, compassion and kindness. And I told them so.

Thank you to my family, friends and supporters whose lovely messages are helping to heal my achy breaky heart. I am very grateful for your support.

I need to take it easy for a while. I am anxiously looking forward to getting healthy again and continue the work that I love.

I’m not done yet!

Love to all.