David Hughes David A Hughes

On Friday December 8th, David came home from the gym  (His daily 5:30 am routine), thinking that he was experiencing chest congestion from a bothersome sinus infection.  He had this sensation of tightness in his chest off and on for several days and attempted to remedy the symptoms with sinus tablets and Tylenol.  Finally, enough was enough, he went to see his primary care physician later that day.   



Doctor was not pleased with what she noticed on his EKG so she sent him to the ER at Cape Coral Hospital.   ER followed cardiac procedures with X-rays and Blood work.  His blood work revealed a slight elevation in his Troponin enzymes (although ER DR initial told us they were highly elevated, WRONG !!!)  David remained in Cape Coral Hospital for observation Saturday and Sunday and the cardiology specialist at Cape Coral Hospital determined with all the stats and the low elevation of this enzyme, that David would be a good candidate for heart catheterization and in worse case scenario (this was his opinion at this point), a stent might need to be implanted into one of the arteries.  For the heart cath,,  he was transported by ambulance to Gulf Coast Medical Center in Ft. Myers (across the river from our city) to be performed by their surgical team Monday morning. 



In good spirits, thinking that this would be of little intrusion, we both felt optimistic that business would be done and that David would be coming home Monday evening.  I made sure that everything was clean and sterile and all things in order as David likes.  



What a shock, Monday, when the cardio surgeon advised us that David had multiple heart blockages and open heart surgery would be necessary.  Our hearts hit the floor (so to speak).  It turns out that David has 5 blockages in his heart.  The Surgical team and the nursing staff were tremendous both before, during and after the heart cath.  Anne, his daytime nurse at Gulf Coast Medical Center, was compassionate and an excellent resource of guiding us through the by-pass process.  She took time to show us a diagram of the heart and pinpoint the location and % of blockages at all the invaded arteries.  Kuddos to Anne!!! She gets a gold star from us.  She made a difficult circumstance less of a worry.  



Around 7:40 PM one of the Cardio surgeons came into after his day's surgeries to review the process with both David and me.  He explained that David would be transported from Gulf Coast Medical Center to their sister surgical center at Healthpark, also in Ft. Myers.  (yes once again on the move).  We both felt great relief when he explained that David is an excellent patient and because of his overall good health , his age, and exercise regime, his risk factor is a mere 1%.  That means that David's odds are 99% in his favor.  Yippy!  Praise the Lord!!!  Hospital stay after surgery is expected to be about 1 week, and a home recovery of 6- 8 weeks.  After recovery, David can resume all normal activity including gym and boating.  More praise Jesus!!!



Tuesday (today) will be his transport day to Healthpark.  The surgical team will meet later to discuss when they can schedule the triple by-pass.  But we are leaning on our faith and our spirits are with God.  We know He never leaves us or forsakes us.  Isaiah 58:8 "Your light shall break forth like the morning, your healing shall spring forth speedily, and your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard."  



Love to all of you and many thanks for all your prayers and encouragement.  More updates to come....