Broken Hearted

Dad had a heart attack on Friday. Yeah, I know what you're thinking.  Really?! Yes. Really.  I got a call from my aunt telling me that he was having chest pains during my team meeting in the afternoon.  I call this man up and he tells me he's fine.  That he was just mowing the lawn and it was hot but he's doing better.  Unbeknownst to any of us, he showers, changes and drives himself to the hospital!  He drove himself to Orlando Regional Medical Center (ORMC) which is not close to the house.  Thankfully he made it there safely.  Why did he do that, you ask? He didn't want my aunt being dramatical.  Nevermind the fact that both my brother and I were minutes away from him.

More importantly, he didn't want to go to Florida Hospital which we didn't have great experiences with when mami was sick.  He also had a bad experience there himself.  I didn't realize how big of an impact those experiences had on him.  I wish I'd known because we would've just driven him wherever he wanted to go. But, being dad, he didn't want to impose on anyone so, he calls us from the ER after he's all settled in.

His arteries were cleared up with an angioplasty on Saturday.  He had a heart attack around this time last year. And I can't help but think that his heart attacks correlate with his broken heart. This time last year, mami was starting her 2nd treatment to fight the bile duct cancer.  This year, she's not here.  One of the nurses commented on where his wife was when he was about to talk about how his heart was a bit weak.  It was his attempt to make a joke but, it failed miserably.

The truth of the matter is, I believe his heart attack was caused by his broken heart.  And honestly, I don't blame it for being weak because I know exactly how it feels.