Don't wait

By Michael King

My chest hurt. Not horrible, but too much to ignore.

My wife got me through the doors of the Genesis Emergency Department, and I was rushed into a room.

I was just short of 55 years of age.

Would I make it to my birthday?

Nurses, techs and doctors rushed around, hooking me up to equipment. Taking vitals.

My children were grown. Adults by law. But they were still my children, and I was not ready to let them go. They needed me. I needed them.

My dear wife. The years ahead are what we had worked for. When we could slow down and enjoy life. Relish time with grandkids.

The bed I was in was being rushed through the door and down the hall. This was serious.

My memories flooded back from a few months before to when my friend Shon Bender had a heart scare and went to Genesis Hospital for testing.

They found a severe blockage and treated him. He didn’t even spend the night in the hospital, but it was enough to show him what could have been if he had ignored the pain and put off treatment.

Shon had encouraged, even pleaded with all of us who knew him, to get our hearts tested if we had any signs of trouble or concerns. I was still young, relatively. I was in good health, I thought. Yes, my father had a heart attack at 41 and at 55. My grandfather had died of a heart attack in his mid-40s.

That was then. It wasn’t me. Eric King, another of our friends, had listened to Shon and got tested. It led to a triple bypass that saved his life. Why didn’t I listen? Why didn’t I get tested?

I was busy. I had a big project at work that I was excited about completing. It was summer. There was so much going on. I was scheduling the test … for the fall.

Did I wait too long? I thought about my faith. Would God see me through this?

Over the next couple of days, I received six stents from Dr. Olusola Olubowale, an Interventional Cardiologist at Genesis. 

Dr. Abdulhay Albirini, another Interventional Cardiologist at Genesis who is a friend, told me, I was a lucky man.