A Scary Couple of Days

About 4:30 am Monday morning Kevin was at work (driving the train) when he began having severe chest pains. He called Tony on the radio and told him to come and get him, that he was really in pain. When Tony got there Kevin was sitting on the ground in aweful pain. A couple of other people had heard the call on the radio and come to get him also. He was taken to the office and the amulance was called. He was taken to the Emergency Room at the Mesquite Hospital. We spent about 4 hours in the ER while several proceedures were done. Blood tests, EKG's, and chest X-rays.

During this time one of the nurses came into the room. He pulled a gown from the closet and explained that kevin would be admitted one way or the other, either to the Mesquite hospital or if it was determined that this was indeed heart related he would be transported to St. George. (Mesquite does not have a cardio department and no facilities to treat a patient who is having heart problems.) He was eventually admitted to the Mesquite hospital and several tests were done. Keep in mind that Kevin had been on graveyard shifts and had not slept for several hours. And we all know what kind of sleep habits I have. I had not gone to bed until nearly 4 am myself (I know, I know, shame on me!!!) when I got the phone call at 4:45 am from Kasey (thanks Kasey) telling me what was going on, so I had not had what you would call adequate sleep either. If any of you have ever been in the hospital you know that sleep is definately not something you get ANY of while your there.

About 1 pm another blood test was done to show his blood enzyme levels. If the enzyme levels elevate it is an indicator that the problem is indeed heart related. The 1:00 pm test showed elevated levels. We were not informed of the elevation until around 5 pm at which time the nurse came in to do the usual blood pressure, pulse, temperature check and said "did the Dr. tell you the enzyme levels were elevated?" we told her that the Dr. had not come into the room at all since the initial visit when he was admitted. She explained that another blood test was scheduled at 10:00 pm. It would take approximately 1 hour to process the blood and if the levels were still elevated that Kevin would be transported to St. George (that would be 11:00 pm, driving to St. George following the ambulance that Kevin was in, with nearly no sleep). During this time I had been on the phone with a friend who was getting as frustrated as I was about the prolonging of getting him somewhere that he could be treated. He encouraged me to talk to the Dr. about moving Kevin sooner. I asked the nurse to get the Dr. and told the Dr. that we would like to have Kevin transported right then instead of waiting until the middle of the night again. He agreed to the transfer and the paperwork was started. The ambulance was contacted and around 7:30 pm we were on the road to the St. George hospital.

I was very impressed with the staff at St. George. I could not follow them through the doors of the Emergency Room so I had to walk around to the front of the hospital. I enetered the front doors and proceedeed into the ER where I walked from room to room looking for Kevin. I eventually asked one of the nurses where Kevin was and they explained that he was already in his room. His room had been prepared for him as we were on our way there. The nurse explained that an angiogram had been scheduled for first thing in the morning. Kevin was tucked in nicely and we were able to get a few quality hours of sleep. Early in the morning, Dr. Chander (the cardioligist) came into the room to explain the procedure and minutes later Kevin was on his way to surgery. I am happy to report that whatever this episode was, it was apparantly not a heart attack (WHAT A RELIEF!!!)

He has a follow up visit with our family Dr. on Monday and a follow up with the cardiologist at the end of the month. We will keep you posted on the ulitimate diagnosis.

I am overwhelmed with the response from concerned friend and family members. Thanks especially to Tony and Randy for getting to Kevin FAST! Thanks to Kasey for being presisitant and eventually getting thru to me on the phone, to Audrey and Brittany for driving to my house in the wee hours of the morning to make sure I was awake and able to drive myself to the hospital. Thanks to all of the EMT's and Paramedics who took great care of Kevin, to all of the nurses at Mesquite and St. George, Dr. Chander for having the inspiration to just get in there and find out what was going on inside Kevins heart. Thanks to Todd for the great advice and giving me the courage to get Kevin to St. George where he could be treated correctly.

Thanks for the phone calls, visits, text messages and emails from Jestin & Taryn, Deryck & Brittany, Kasey & Audrey Davis (and for bringing home Kevins truck), Juan Santos, Kristy Qualls, Mom and Dad Waters, Mom and Dad Laycock, Todd Robison, Sheri Fraughton, Tucker Fraughton (for taking time on his way home to visit at the hospital), Donna Serneck, Brenda Ashby, Bishop Terril, Jeff Adams, Danielle Terril, Dave Waters, Jolene Tanner, Ronda Chambers, Danila Macdonald, Kristine Young, Annette Jones, Angie Southwick, Uncle Jack Waters, Vicki Cooper, Esther Lee, Becca Houston, Dave Sharp, Kevin Willard, Gina Marshall, Tony & Sheila King, Randy Postma, Steve Hunt, Kevin Salazar, Kayleen Canfield, Alisha Cooper, Doug Barlow, Dave Cook, Roger Marquez, and Frank Valone, thanks to Chase Fredericks and Peyton Anderson for visiting Kevin at the hospital and for Chase helping Deryck give kevin a blessing (ultimately the real healing step). I know there is the possibility that I have forgotten someone, If so I appoligize from the bottom of my heart and know that you are as much appreciated as the rest.

As you can see we are definately not lacking in love and friendship. I cannot tell you how overwhelmed and humbled I am to have so many friends and family that are concerned about our family and especially for Kevin. We are greatful for you all and want you to know how much we love you.