Chapter 1

Tom Woods was of the opinion that he was not a person to worry about his health but he knew that his friends thought differently. For the last twenty four hours Tom hadn't been feeling that well and now he was feeling a small pain or irritation in the middle of his chest. Was it something or was it nothing were the thoughts that kept running through his mind. He had to agree with one of his friends who constantly said that "Getting old was a bitch." Tom was having more aches and pains the older he became and he knew he just had to live with it.

Visits to his doctor were happening more often than had been done in the past but he just assumed that was to be expected the older one became. He was fifty six years old and in pretty decent shape although it wouldn't hurt for him to lose a few pounds. He had tried a variety of diets but the best he could do was to get down to his present weight of two hundred and twenty pounds. He carried that weight on his six foot two inch frame. Trying to lose more weight was like hitting a brick wall in that it made him feel tired and weak.

This pain or irritation he was now feeling in his chest wasn't getting any better and he was starting to worry more and more about it. Tom had been single all of his life and now with his parents deceased and with no siblings to talk to, his health care was solely in his hands. Should he or should he not call his Doctor was the constant question now running through his mind. He knew if he did call and give the reason for wanting an appointment to see the doctor was 'Chest pains, ' he never would get past the nurse and would be told to go to the emergency room at the hospital.

After thinking about his situation he thought that it was better to play it safe and not be sorry. He finally accepted the fact that he needed to go to the hospital. Before he left to go there he found his folder that contained his medical records. In this folder were copies of his medical tests that were done on him for the past ten years. He wanted the physician review these test in order to have some history and background to help the physician make a sound diagnosis of Tom's condition. He drove himself to the hospital instead of calling for an ambulance.

At the hospital after parking his car, he entered via the emergency room entrance and walked up to the receptionist at the front desk. When she asked him what he wanted or what was wrong and he said the magic words of, "Chest pains." Immediately a nurse was summoned and he was seated in a wheelchair and wheeled into a cubical in the emergency ward. He was asked to take off his shirt and to recline on to the bed that was there.

It must be standard practice when those magic words were said because either a nurse or technician came immediately into the cubicle and applied the leads to do an EKG test.

After about ten minutes, a nice looking female doctor entered and introduced herself as Marcia Simmons. She asked him what were his symptoms which he recited to her and gave her his medical records for her to review. She told him they would draw some blood for tests, take a chest x-ray and review and compare the EKG to prior EKG's. She would review those tests results to see what they showed and discuss the findings with him.

As soon as she left a technician came in wheeling a portable x-ray machine and did a chest x-ray. About ten minutes later a lab tech came in and drew three vials of blood.

Tom must have waited for about thirty minutes before he saw anyone again. He spent most of the time watching the monitor that was showing his heart beat and blood pressure which was elevated. The Doctor came back into the room and said the EKG didn't show any changes when compared to the EKG that Tom had brought in with him which was about one year old.

"I think your problems maybe gastric and I am tempted to send you home with a prescription for Nexium but I won't make that decision until I see what the blood tests results are."

It was about another thirty minutes before the Doctor came back into the cubical.

"The blood tests show that your troponin level is at 4.5. Anything more than .04 needs to be investigated. A rise in your troponin level could indicate that you are having a heart attack. We are going to admit you and monitor you."

Needless to say that was not good news. Tom immediately thought about his mortality and hoped he had some more time to spend on this earth rather than buried in it. There were things he wanted to do and he thought that he was still a young man.

Tom was lying on a cart as he was pushed up to the third floor which he later learned was the cardiac floor. He was put in a room in which there was only one bed. Leads were placed on him that had him hooked up for a continuous EKG that was wirelessly sent to and monitored at the nurse's station. An IV was started on him and a small tube was wrapped around his ears and placed under his nose which provided oxygen. All of these items and events gave rise to his further thoughts about his mortality.

In looking at the far wall in his room Tom saw a blackboard and on it was written the name of his nurse which was Mary. She came into his room and introduced herself to Tom. She seemed to be a nice lady who was just a little younger than him. She told him that since he didn't have a cardiologist a Doctor Paul Everett had been assigned and would be seeing him.

Tom used the hand control that was within his reach and turned on the television to try and get his mind off of his medical problems.

While he was watching the television into his room another nurse entered and said, "My name is Amy, I will be your nurse for the next twelve hours. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Now this was what all nurses should look like. She was about five foot five or six inches tall with auburn hair which she was wearing in a pony style. He guessed her age to be in the mid-twenties. Because of the loose dark blue scrubs she was wearing he couldn't give an opinion on her figure or weight but he could tell that they seemed to be in proportion to her height. Her face was her best feature. She certainly was an attractive lady and maybe with some makeup he would classify her as beautiful.

He was momentarily stunned by her appearance but he responded, "If I was twenty five years younger there are a lot of things you could do for me. But as things are now, I can only fanaticize about them."

She laughed at his remark and said. "Oh I don't know about that. Just how old do you think I am?"

"That's a no-win question for me. Whatever I say is going to get me into trouble."

"No I won't do anything, tell me what you think."

After a short pause he said, "I would say middle twenties."

"Well thanks for the compliment; I am thirty one years old."

"Well you don't look it."

"Thanks again for that. In looking at your chart I know your age and I don't think you are too old for me."

Her comment had Tom respond, "Well let me thank you for that but if you keep that up, you for sure are going to give me a heart attack although the tests show that I maybe having one now."

"Tell me what's been happening and let me take your blood pressure."

Tom relayed to what his symptoms were and what he was told in the emergency room. She was taking his blood pressure and since she was now closer to him he could see that she probably was older than what he thought initially but she was out and out very attractive. He caught the scent of the perfume and this only enhanced her attractiveness.

Amy asked Tom what he did.

"Oh I retired last year. I was the regional head of the HRS Department for a large insurance company. They wanted to do some downsizing and were offering a very attractive early retirement buyout package. With the incentives that were being offered, my 401K plan, the beefed up pension and retiree healthcare, I took the package. A prime factor in my decision was that some of the things that were happening at work just didn't make the job as much fun as it once was. It was time for me to leave and enjoy myself. Life is too short so you better enjoy yourself while you can. With me being here maybe I should have left work a few years sooner."

"Don't get yourself worked up with worry. I see where Doctor Everett has been assigned as your cardiologist and he is one of the best. He is on the floor and should be in soon to see you. You need to have a positive attitude."

"I usually do, in fact one of the things that I enjoyed doing when I was working was talking to the employees who had personnel problems. I think I was able to help them solve their problems which were in the area of employee supervision. It was nice to see those employees resolve the issues that were bothering them and move on. A large number of them where there at my retirement party."