The Tender Heart of KCRW

It is with an immeasurable amount of sympathy that I forward this note along to you from Kajon. She will be away from Shortcuts for just a short period of time, but I wanted to let you know why. Not only because Kajon’s words are so touching and perhaps your condolences and comments will be therapeutic in this time, but also because its nice to recognize that at the heart of every piece of content we create for KCRW, there is a community of hearts here that are so gratefully and tenderly attached. At the end of every day, it’s people like Kajon that make up the beating heart of our radio station, and for right now she needs to take a moment to tend to the heart of her loved one instead of the community heart that is KCRW.

Thank you for all that you do Kajon! My best thoughts and love to you and Bob in his recovery.
-Betsy

While I sat in CCU I started to write this note – this way I could tell friends and family what happened to Bob. Though in hindsight, I think I did it more for myself. It ‘s been so surreal. I needed to write it down so that I could believe it was really happening. Writing it down might make it more real.

“A “big heart attack” is what the doctor said. There was a large blood clot in his left ventricle. That caused a blockage… no blood/oxygen could get through to his heart.

You may already know this…
A heart attack (myocardial infarction) can occur if the artery suddenly becomes completely blocked, usually by a blood clot that forms over ruptured plaque. Heart attacks cause irreversible damage to the heart muscle. Even scarier, the first symptom of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) can also be sudden death.

Thankfully, Bob is very aware of his body, and he immediately acted on his concerns. His symptoms -a terrible backache and he just felt “funny”. It wasn’t until he was In the car that he started to have chest pain. And thanks to our daughter Sebrin, driving through red lights with her flashers on, blasting the horn, they got to the ER in time.

They extracted the clot, then they put in a stent. The doctor said we were very VERY lucky. Lucky too, that Sebrin was home and got him to the hospital so fast. He said she got him to the hospital at the best time possible. She was supposed to be in class, but was home with a bad cold. I never thought I’d be thankful that my child was home sick.
And lucky again, the hospital isn’t far and it has a coronary care unit. CCU

Because he was treated quickly and responded so well to that treatment, his cardiologist said there was NO DAMAGE to his heart. It’s unbelievable. While the cardiologist was conducting the angioplasty, he checked everything in his heart. “Beautiful a perfect heart!” he said. all channels are clean, no plaque everything is wide open!

Also very scary, he does not fit any profile for CAD. Over 90% of heart attacks fit a profile…

Family history, diabetes, high blood cholesterol levels, smoking, high blood pressure, being overweight, high fat diet, lack of exercise, stress, over the age of 65.

Bob is incredibly fit. He sees his doctor regularly and tends to go the extra mile when taking care of his health. He has done stress tests, and EKGs every year. All perfect. It is a surprise not only to us that this happened to him, but to the doctors as well.
It should also be noted, that because Bob is so fit and has been exercising regularly for the last 10 years – it is likely that that may have been one of the main reasons he not only survived this catastrophic event, but also suffered no permanent damage. Other than a multitude of daily medication and a cardiologist in our lives on a regular basis, there will be little change in his life. He will even be able to run, though I may brain him if he even thinks about doing more than a 10k

Also noteworthy medical advances in technology and medication. Had this happened just 10 years ago I would be writing a different email.

So amazing, Bob is home. He can’t drive for a week or so and is on bed rest. I’m taking this week off from work. I want to be with him during this time. I will be driving him to the doctor for follow ups, but mostly I want to be by his side for whatever he needs.

If you have any questions, or want to pass a message on to Bob feel free to call me or email. For the time being I’m putting my foot down and restricting his computer time

Gratefully,
Kajon