I Told You Driving Was Bad For Your Health! *2/2* NEW TRIP REPORT LINK P102

[MEK]

All caught up again! Sorry I missed out on the contest! Sounds like plenty of clues to zero in quickly on the location.

Sorry you missed the contest. It was fun. I'm usually not a contest person, so I enjoyed it!

Some really good pictures around the resort and the HHI area!!

Thanks. It's such a gorgeous area. It's hard for the pictures not to be lovely. I just love the low country!

Vine sounds like a very good dining experience! If you go back sometime, try Hudson's Seafood House on the water.......another great place! !

So funny you would recommend Hudson's. When I was there my neighbor kept posting on FB that we needed to eat there. We actually ate at the restaurant right next to it - which was more of a bar/happy hour scene - Skull creek I think. I really did want to try it but we ended up touring another town that evening. Next time for sure.

Glad the new job is working out for you so far!!!

So far are the magic words. I'm optimistic. Everyone is really nice and I think I will fit in. Hospitals are funny you know - lots of clicks and stuff like that.

I think knowing what's coming as far as the heartburn issue goes makes the buildup worse. But at least it didn't interfere too much with that day's plans. Sounds like it was a wonderful dinner (even if it had to be consumed at 5 o'clock.). I love that photo with the beach chairs.

Glad you love that photo. I do too.

Yeah - if I had known what was about to happen I probably wouldn't have enjoyed that meal quite as much. But it really was a great meal and the 5pm start time became a non-issue simply because the meal was so well paced.

Glad to hear the new job is working out well.
And that AAA job sounds pretty cool. Something I think a lot of DISboarders would enjoy doing to make a few extra bucks.

Thanks. I'm glad the job is working out well, too!

I think AAA has really hit on something with this magic creator program. Very smart thinking on their part and it certainly makes sense to roll it out in the mid-atlantic region since Disney is a top vacation spot for that area.

Great update! Love the tree photos, trees like that fascinate me. Dinner looks scrumptious, I'm putting that on the list. Very cool you went to enjoy Monster's Inc on your own. the timeshare seminar sounds quite odd.

Definitely put Vine on the list, but make your reservation plenty early. It's such a cool place. Really well done.

Monster's Inc was so cute. So glad I went.

The timeshare pitch was totally weird and I instantly regretted that I let the wine mellow me enough to not just say NO!

Glad the job is going well

Thanks - so far, so good!

Just take care of yourself, your family, home, and job, MEK. The DIS will be here when you have the chances to check in. Glad the job is going well.

Thanks MeMom. Wise words. I know everyone goes through phases where they can't DIS a lot, so this is not uncommon. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing soon enough.

Sorry I have had very, very little time to DIS over the past few weeks, so I am way out of the loop on everyone's reports.

Well, then you know exactly how I feel!

Mary Ellen - hope all goes well with interview reschedule! You would be a great Disney TA

Rebecca

Thanks Rebecca! The interview is rescheduled for Wednesday night (I think I said Tuesday earlier - lol). I am really looking forward to it.

A caught up! Your pics make me want to go visit HH. I know from your other report what happens next but pictures with latex gloves in the background are never a good sign! Good luck with your interview, it would be my dream job to help people plan their Disney vacations!

HHI is such a great place. I hope you get a chance to visit someday. It really is special. Love it there!

Yeah - the surgical gloves are definitely a clue to how I spend my second full day in Hilton Head. Sure - I can laugh now!

Thanks for the good luck with the interview. I am really looking forward to it.

Here and subscribed for your fun summer adventures, Mary Ellen! I will be back to catch up.

Jackie! Thanks so much for joining in. There might be a few pictures of places that you are sure to recognize. hint hint!

I adore Longwood. I am lucky that my best friend gets a membership for her Birthday every year so she takes me with her. We both get very depressed in the winter and time in the conservatory is the best medicine ever!

Nakkira! Thanks so much for joining in. Glad to have you here.

Regarding Longwood - I totally agree. The conservatory is beautiful and this year I would love to try to visit earlier in the day when there are less people. I always pick a crowded time to go. It really is the best medicine for the winter blahs. Well, technically WDW is, but its a close second.

I just renewed my membership yesterday. I took my teen-aged daughters on the 4th and then we went back over the weekend just to take some bread to feed the fish. We had a blast feeding the catfish in the pond in front of the Italian Water Gardens. Those guys are crazy! They'll get right up where you can pet them, and they'll spin around almost like they're doing tricks.

Really? OK - I need to go back and give those catfish a better look after I take some bread with me. That's to cool. The place really is gorgeous and has so much to offer.

Hmmmmm - makes me think we should do a Del/PA DISmeet there as our next location!

Thanks Mary Ellen -- I received the prize!

For anyone curious, it was plastic, flat, rectangular -- about 2x3 inches, red, and had a bulls-eye on it.

Glad you got it and I'm sure you will put it to good use!

 

[MEK]

The walk to the beach is gorgeous.

It really is! It's just a beautiful place!

The meals sounded so good.

Vine was delicious. I am glad we all agreed to eat there. Perfect kick off dinner.

All caught up.

I am embarrassed to admit how long it took me to process that one. Really embarrassed. I practically live at that store!

And that, precisely, is why you didn't get it. I only got it because I knew what the prize was.

I know I know ------

Leave it to Glen to come up with that description.

Great update!!!
Loving the beach pictues. We have nothing like that around here either. The lakes in Michigan which are fairly close pretty much have a hole in the ground for a bathroom if you are lucky to have that.

Oh Jen - that visual is hysterical! Believe me, we don't have beach restrooms like that here in Delaware, but we are a step above a hole in the ground.

HHI and the low country are really gorgeous. I definitely recommend a visit if you ever get the chance.

Dinner looks fabulous. I am a bit hungry now and that just made it worse!

Sorry! I hate when that happens.

 

[rentayenta]

I missed that the interview was changed to Tuesday so good luck my friend. I'll be pulling for you.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

Sorry you missed the contest. It was fun. I'm usually not a contest person, so I enjoyed it!

I'm not much of a contest person either............

Thanks. It's such a gorgeous area. It's hard for the pictures not to be lovely. I just love the low country!

So far are the magic words. I'm optimistic. Everyone is really nice and I think I will fit in. Hospitals are funny you know - lots of clicks and stuff like that.

Yeah, pretty much like every job

 

[MEK]

I missed that the interview was changed to Tuesday so good luck my friend. I'll be pulling for you.

Thanks. It's actually Wednesday. I got confused since the first interview was Tuesday!

I'm not much of a contest person either............

Truth be known, me either. But that's because I'm not good at them.

Yeah, pretty much like every job

Yeah - I guess it is!

 

[MEK]

Savannah or the ER?

Most of you know what's going to happen in this update, so here goes.

Tuesday April 8th was supposed to be our Savannah day. Supposed to be&.. Once again I was the first one up, despite my late night date with Monsters Inc crew. I made the coffee and set out for a run. When I got back Denny was finishing his coffee. He said he wanted to take a quick beach bike ride before we left. I was not too pleased because I couldn't believe he was trying to sneak in a bike ride. I wanted to be on the road by 8am.

He left right around the time I finished drying my hair. I was still standing at the sink putting my makeup on when he walked back in. It startled me. I thought maybe he forgot something.

But instead he just stood there rubbing his chest and trying to burp. He said, after only a few minutes into the ride, he started to get chest pain. He described it as a burning pain and the sensation of breathing cold air into the lungs on a freezing cold day.

Great.

I said, "you know you need to go to the hospital, right?" And he agreed.

Problem was what hospital.

I got on the internet and found that we were only three or four miles from Hilton Head Medical Center. I goggled further to see what kind of cardiology services they had and determined that they had the ability to perform cardiac surgery. Good enough. I pulled the address up on my phone and off we went. But first I told C & C that we wouldn't be heading to Savannah, but to the ER.

When we got to the bottom of the villa steps Denny said the pain was back. I suggested that we just call an ambulance and he said No. Once in the car his pain was gone.

The ER was pretty empty and a volunteer signed him in. He was taken back while I did the insurance stuff. When they finally let me back to see him he had already given his history and had his EKG and blood work checked.

Shortly thereafter the ER doc came in to tell me that his EKG and enzymes were negative. She said they were going to draw a second set and implied that he would be sent home if they were still negative.

What she said didn't sink in right away. But after she left the room I realized she was going to discharge him.

Now what? I knew he really shouldn't leave there without a more comprehensive evaluation.

I considered all the options and most of them involved packing up and driving home, right after I called one of my cardiologist friends to see if they would schedule him for a stress test.

Then during one of my imaginary conversations with one of my favorite cardiologists I could hear him say, "bring him home today, I'll cath him tomorrow".

I waited for the ER doc to come back and I chose my worlds carefully. I told her I was very uncomfortable with having him discharged. I reminded her that Denny's father had died of a heart attack at 46. I told her that it was extremely unusual for him to get chest pain with exercise and I kindly reminded her that this was "textbook" angina. I asked for a stress test.

She wasn't particularly thrilled that I put a wrench in her discharge plans and she even got a lot huffy as she said, "I'm not sure if the cardiologist will agree with that". I said, "fine. ask anyway".

And with that she was gone.

I said to Denny "you can't leave here till you have a stress test".

His reply, "I can't walk on a treadmill".

Helloooooooo! All the more reason you need to stay right here.

After about 15 or 20 minutes a nurse returned to say he would be admitted with an echocardiogram today and a stress test tomorrow morning. I never saw the ER doc again.

Phew!

Once the dust had settled and I knew we had a plan I asked Denny if he would mind if I left to go back to the villa for lunch. I told him I would be back that afternoon.

I took two pictures in the hospital:



and



Oh yeah - I look beat. Beat from sitting there stressed all morning.

My patient advocate work done, I left.

I'm not gonna lie. I ate lunch and I went to the pool for maybe 30 minutes. But it was something. Still, I felt guilty about it.



I also canceled Denny and my kayak plans for the next day. No cancellation fee given the circumstances.



I went into the store to see if Dottie was there and she was, but alas, no pictures. She is a CM I met there during my last trip. I told her Ellen (podsnel) said "hi". We talked for a few minutes and I left. I didn't say a word about Denny.



Yup, me and my chubby toes at the pool.



I got C and C up to speed and I went back to the hospital. Denny was in his room and here his is view.



Honestly, if you have to be in the hospital at least its a bonus if you have a great, tropical view.

I met Denny's cardiologist later that afternoon. I'll call her Dr B. Dr B because she has a long, complicated name that I don't feel like looking up. She totally agreed with his admission given his family history and the fact that we were traveling. I liked her immediately.

I spent a few hours with Denny. No more chest pain, but he was started on a few cardiac meds.

I left around 6pm to go back and pick up C & C for dinner. I felt bad because they had no transportation. But they managed to have a wonderful resort day despite the inconvenience.

Picture of a picture in the hospital hallway.



C had already picked our dinner location: The Skull Creek Boathouse http://skullcreekboathouse.com This wasn't on my list of places I had researched, but I honestly did not care where we went.

I didn't even take my camera with me. All the pictures in this update are from my phone.



It was a gorgeous night and there were a ton of people at the outside bar.

















It was hard to stop taking pictures









Eventually we made it inside for dinner. I had already downed a couple beers. The stress of the day had gotten to me. I tried not to think about Denny stuck in the hospital. I convinced myself that there was not anything serious going on. In my hopeful mind I expected him to pass his stress test and be ready for discharge by morning. I really hoped that this was some bad GI anomaly that was mimicking angina. I guess after a couple beers I was really experiencing some wishful thinking.

First course - a very average cheese crab dip.



Amazing hush puppies. So good!



Not really sure why, but I ordered a california roll. It was OK. Similar to the fake sushi they sell in Costco.



Apparently I did not take any pictures of my entree, but I think fish was involved.

The three of us had a nice time at dinner. Yeah - the food was average, but the company was good and C&C were kind enough to treat me to dinner. We called it a night, but not before we stopped in the gift shop. I bought Nick a bottle of skull creek hot sauce.

Continued In the Next Post......

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post

Wednesday morning

Perhaps I am not going to win wife of the year award for this, but I decided to go to the hospital after Denny's stress test, which was scheduled for 8:30 am. I decided to go for my run and take my time getting there. I was hoping that if I arrived by 10 am his stress test would be over.

I ran towards the beach and stopped in the country store on the way to the beach.

Lots of T-shirts for sale



You have to be intrigued by a bottle of wine called "the pessimist"







On the run back











Here's a cool map along the running trail. It gives you a good idea of where the Disney HHI island resort is (along broad creek) and where the ocean is.



The HHI resort is across the street and to the left from the "you are here" marker.

When I got to the hospital I found Denny in his room, lying on his side with his back turned towards the door. I could tell something was up.

He said, without turning to look at me, "I completely failed my stress test".

At first I thought he was kidding, but it soon became apparent he wasn't. He told me that Dr B was going to take him to the cath lab at the end of her office hours.

I had stayed pretty calm up to this point, but the "completely flunked" thing unnerved me. I became fearful that this trip to the cardiac cath lab may end up with open heart surgery. That completely freaked me out considering I work with the best heart surgeon on the planet. The irony was not lost on me.

I could tell I was upsetting Denny, so I got myself under control. I stayed with him for a few hours, but decided I should go back to the villa for lunch and come back to wait for his cath.

I got back right around the time C&C finished the kayak tour. I went down to take pictures.

My walk through the resort











Look - here they come





Hey look - same instructor as last time



That's him in the red vest





There's C&C still out on the water.




Pictures while waiting









Getting closer



Continued in Next Post.......

 

[MEK]

Continued From Previous Post.....

They made it!





Paddles collected



Vests collected



We walked back to the villa together and I broke the news to C&C. I really didn't feel like talking about it so I tried to stay nonchalant





We had lunch and I decided to let C&C take my car and drop me off at the hospital. They were going back to Coligny Plaza to get a refund for the timeshare session we could not attend.

They dropped me off at the hospital and I waited. Fortunately Denny was taken to the cath lab around 4:30 pm. It could have been a lot later.

I was assisted to a waiting room. The nurse said they would call me if they found anything. I knew they were going to find something - it was just a matter of what.

Ugh - I hated being in that waiting room by myself. I tried to work on my computer, but I couldn't concentrate at all. Plus the TV was blasting and I couldn't figure out how to turn it down.

After about 20 minutes the phone rang and they simply said, "we found a blockage and we are going to put a stent in now".

Those were the best words ever because that meant this whole adventure was not going to end in the operating room.

Shortly after Dr B came out to talk to me. She brought me back to the lab so I could see the study. Denny had a proximal LAD lesion (like 99%) blocked with good collaterals from his right coronary artery. She was happy with the result from the stent and didn't find any other major blockages.

I went back to the room when they took Denny back and I called C&C to give them the news. In about an hour they came to pick me up. Denny was doing fine and he was due to be discharged in the morning.

Of course, in the anxiety of all this I left part of my cell phone charger in the waiting room and I was never able to find it. Bummer.

Up Next - Denny comes home and we extend our stay!

 

[dizneeat]

Mary Ellen,
even though I knew about all you just told in your updates it was still shocking to me.
I am so glad you had "your head together" to insist on further examination.

And I take my hat off to you for staying so calm. I am sure some others (including myself) would have panicked.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

Yikers! That was quite a wrench in your plans! Thank goodness for a good outcome and thank goodness you are so knowledgeable about issues in this area and were comfortable standing up for what you thought was right.

Despite the drama, you still managed to deliver some terrific pictures. I am glad you were able to take a little bit of time for yourself in the midst of it all.

 

[jash08]

Even though I knew that was coming, I had this feeling of dread while I was reading it. I am still so thankful it ended up with just a stent! My mom fell a couple of years ago and broke both her legs. She was having low O2 stats prior to surgery. They advised it was a fatty embolus from the femur break. They leave her on the vent after surgery and I go home. I get to the ICU the next morning and she has had a heart attack. Fast forward a week. Since she was in the hospital, they do a heart cath. They went in and the cardiologist was basically saying he thought it was just stress from the embolism. They called out a few minutes later and said, "nope. Have to put 3 stents in." That wait is the worst!

 

[rentayenta]

Holy moly girl, I can't even imagine how scary that must have been let alone the fact that you were away from home. And as far as wife of the year? You're amazing. We all do it in our our way- no judgment. I felt my anxiety raise while I read this so I can only imagine how you were feeling.

This is also another case of always go with your gut instinct. You knew his family history and I'm glad you stuck to your guns and insisted on the stress test.

I want you on my side during a crisis. You sure kept your head on. I'd have been a crumbling idiot.

Dinner looks good but your photos are beautiful!

Bummer about the phone cord. I hate that. The seemingly little things can turn into a headache.

 

[GoofyFan1515]

I had already read most of this story before, but still it is very scary to read it all again, even knowing the outcome! I'm sure even now it has to be unnerving just to tell it all again, but so glad everything ended up working out with the best possible solution! Just glad they were able to do a good job for you locally. I can't imagine the stress you would have been under having to load up and drive back home under those conditions!

 

[TarzansKat]

I was dreading this part of your trip report, since I knew what happened. It's hard to hear it a second time. I'm so, so glad that you had enough knowledge to insist on the medical care that you knew was appropriate to the situation, and glad that the end result wasn't a more invasive surgery.

I'm really hoping this was the lowest point in your trip and it gets better again from here!

 

[jedijill]

Wow, the second time reading about this is worst than the first. I think you were an amazing wife and kept your head and your wits about you. I can't believe you had to go through that alone. So glad it had a happy ending.

Jill in CO

 

[wiigirl]

Great update!

 

[emmysmommy]

Oh Mary Ellen, the stress and anxiety are certainly not something you would never imagined to have followed you to HHI! I'm so very grateful that Denny had a good outcome and that it wasn't worse. Like I've said before, THANK GOD that he had you to advocate for him to have more than just labs and an EKG. Otherwise... who knows. You handled things so well.

 

[teekathepony]

You really handled that all so well, I'm so glad you stuck with your gut and insisted on more tests before he was discharged! It's not the first time I've heard this story but its so nerve wracking still.
So glad it turned out well! Scary scary stuff.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[ProudMommyof2]

WOW! I knew it was coming and it punched me in the gut. I can not imagine how you felt. As a nurse practitioner, I can relate to being in that situation and away from all the people you know and trust-ugh!

So glad it ended with a stent. And hurray for extending the stay! Your pictures are great and making me more excited for our uypcoming trip!

 

[ddstratton]

Joining in! Wow - what an update! How scary. I'm so glad you stood up for DH's health and insisted on the stress test.