posted by Patti

Tuesday, February 21, not quite 1:30 in the afternoon, I’m sitting at my desk in my cubicle in front of the computer screen, as usual. My cell phone rings. It’s John.

Me: Hello

JP: Now, don’t freak out …

Me: (!!!!!)

JP: … but I’m at the OHF [occupational health facility] and they want to take me to the hospital.

Me: What?!?!?!?!?

JP: I’m sure it’s heartburn but they want me to get it checked out.

There’s more to that conversation but that’s mostly what I remember. John told me not to come home right away, and against all my instincts I did not. I told him to call me when he got to the ER. Then I tried to work while convincing myself it was heartburn.

About an hour later, he called from the ER. He told me that they gave him nitro and the chest pain went away. Uh-huh. Not heartburn, then, eh? They planned to keep him overnight to run the blood tests to confirm a heart attack. After sending an email to John’s buddy at his job to let him know what was going on, I finally left work. My commute is about 75 minutes. That was the longest drive ever.

After stopping at home to grab a couple of things John requested, I found him in the ER still insisting it was heartburn but we both knew better. We figured he might have to stay on Wednesday to get a catheterization and a stent. Home by Thursday or Friday. Yeah. Right.