7/21/09: Grandma rides snow machines!!

Here is a short list of the cast of characters I saw today:


1) 99 year old woman presents with an episode of palpitations and chest pain in the middle of the night. “I woke up from a scary dream and had these chest pains.” She recounts the dream: “I heard they were digging up the graves on Fox Island across Resolution Bay, and I have family over there. So I was going across Resolution Bay on my snow-machine and, (in a very quiet voice) I don’t usually use this word, but I “goosed” the gas to get up and over this high point. And then I woke up with chest pain.” This 99 year old woman who had full mental capacities and only used a cane to get around the house was escorted by 70-something year old daughter who was just as alive and vibrant. It is amazingly refreshing and inspiring to see people who have aged gracefully. My hat is off to these two wonderful women who I had a chance to meet.


2) These two gentlemen come in together, and they gave the movie “Grumpy Old Men” a run for its money!! If you combined the procedures done on both of the men, it would probably cover nearly all of the procedures that could possibly be performed on the heart; but they were still alive and kicking. They were also slinging the mud back and forth so fast to looked like monster truck pull:

“6 cigars a day!?! You bought a case of 100 cigars at the beginning of the month and they are all gone now!”

“Sugar, don’t talk to me about sugar. I bought a dozen donuts and only got one because he ate the whole box by himself!”

And on, and on, and on the bantering went. If we raised any lifestyle changes, the focus was always pushed to how the other guy was worse off about that specific vice. The bantering could only come from two people who knew each other for years and who actually care deeply for each other.

The full story is very touching: “George” is 65 years old and is about 10 years older than “Bob.” George is an ex-cop who worked in New York City, lives with and cares for his wife with multiple sclerosis, and lives in the same apartment building as Bob. Bob has no family, is in very poor health, has a difficult time with many of the activities of daily living, and has a history of severe depression. George brought Bob under his wing about 8 years ago. He takes him to doctor appointments, fills his pill box, makes sure he has a freezer full of packaged dinners, gives him companionship, and genuinely cares for Bob as if he were a brother. George brought Bob to my preceptor specifically because he felt she was the best cardiologist in Anchorage and has set up his wife and now Bob with only the best providers in the city “in case anything should happen to him.” Though George’s heart is very sick, it is also very large and he cares deeply for those around him.

3) The 67 year old engineer who was trying to engineer his health. He presented us with a perfect spreadsheet with documentation of every single medication he was on, what dosage, what time taken or if he missed the medication. He also informed us that he had taken the liberty to tinker his Coumadin dosages just like a carburetor of an engine. Unfortunately if you tinker with you Coumadin levels too much you either turn your blood into water or you can start throwing clots. He received stern orders not to mess with his Coumadin dosages, but once an engineer, always an engineer.