Family vacation, a near heart attack, an ambulance ride, three days in the ICU, then riding mountain bikes in the San Juan Mountains (see Telluride post). Sounds so dramatic, but it all happened.
September 21, 2019, riding the Durango to Silverton on the coal-fired steam engine with the whole family, and I have to say, I love my grandkids more than my real kids. No offense kids, but the Grands are PERFECT!
So a great time riding the train to Silverton with my Grandbabies . . . . .and then the wheels fell off.
On the train ride from Durango to Silverton Kara got terrible motion sickness from the combination of the coal smoke and cinders and the pronounced rocking due to the narrow-gauge of the train. The rocking was greater perhaps because our car was second in line on the train. It all lead to Kara getting severe nausea and vomiting to the point she was so dehydrated she couldn't stand once we arrived in Silverton. She was dry-heaving nothing but blood, which we learned later (from an endoscopy down her throat) was due to a tear in her Esophagus, so the EMT's in Silverton 'ambulanced' her to Mercy Faith Hospital in Durango. She got the slow ride up and the quick ride back. While in the ambulance she continued to throw up blood and she then started having severe pain in her chest. At the hospital she was given Nitro Glycerin which immediately stopped the pain. Within seconds of taking th eNitro the pain simply vanished. Hmmmmm, good for the pain but not a good sign for the heart. Over the next three days (in the ICU) she was tested repeatedly for a heart attack and everything came back positive: elevated Troponin (enzyme in blood stream indicating stress on the heart), irregular EKG, low blood pressure (80/50), irregular nuclear stress test and low O2 levels. So, on Monday they did the last possible treatment which was a heart catheter through her wrist to find the presumed blockage and place a stent or multiple stents to open those presumed blockages. Once in her heart the Cardiologist found no blockages. In fact, he said her heart was wide and clear and no stents were necessary. He was puzzled why the previous five tests all indicated a heart attack when everything was clear, but speculated that the severe vomiting, dehydration and the high altitude all combined to stress her heart which mimicked a heart attack.
Instead of photos of Kara in the hospital (and risking my life by posting hospital photos), here are some views of Mercy Faith Hospital in Durango:
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| OK, one photo of K . . . |
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| Kara had SEVEN sticks. Most were unsuccessful attempts at placing IVs, which were very difficult to due to her sever dehydration. |
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| I'm a dead man for posting this . . . |
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| No blockages so she was free to go (after three days) and she didn't even need a wheel chair. |
. . . . then on to Telluride to recuperate (Kara) and ride mountain bikes (me):
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