With full hospitals, this cardiac patient had to wait
Iwoke up at midnight with chest pain in early December. My husband drove me to the emergency room at Holy Cross Hospital in Taos, a 45-minute drive from our ranch.
The emergency room was full to capacity with both everyday and COVID-19 emergencies. Fortunately,
I got one of two private ER rooms with doors. I was directed to lie on the gurney/ER bed, and medical workers proceeded to the EKG machine. They confirmed I was having a cardiac event of some sort. They proceeded to follow protocol and got an IV going. They gave me nitroglycerin. The doctor advised me that he was putting out a call to all major hospitals in New Mexico to see who had a bed and could accept me. He indicated all hospitals were full to capacity because of the surge of COVID-19 cases. He was hoping to get a call within hours.
Meanwhile, I was not allowed to go home because they couldn’t diagnose exactly what was going on. They didn’t know exactly how to treat me, and I was at too high a risk for a major heart attack. So I sat and waited, monitored up just in case, in a windowless room with no bathroom and emergency COVID-19 patients arriving regularly.
Wednesday night came and my chest pain continued, with my blood pressure spiking to dangerous levels. Thursday morning, the doctor said he was continuing to contact hospitals and had even contacted ones in Colorado, Arizona and Texas, but no luck. Finally on Thursday evening, Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe called. They could accept me.
After spending 40 hours lying on a gurney, I was helicoptered to Santa Fe, where they ran a series of tests and scheduled me for a cardiac catheter to place a stent. The artery that was 90 percent compromised was the left-anterior descending, or the LAD, also known as the widow maker because of its low survival rate should it cause a heart attack. I do not have high cholesterol or high blood pressure or any other risk factors, so this likely was hereditary.
The reason I am sharing this personal event is because I am angry — not at the hospitals but at the folks who qualify for the COVID-19 vaccine and have refused to take it.
Whether the reason is political or religious, you are endangering yourself. But that is not my concern. What I do care about is you endangering folks who are getting vaccinated to protect themselves and you. I feel unvaccinated folks have two options: Don’t get vaccinated. Fine. But if you do get COVID-19, stay at home and don’t go to the hospital and take up the beds that vaccinated folks need during emergencies or other medical needs. Or, get vaccinated and stop listening to misinformation.
My life was endangered because of an unavoidable health crisis and further endangered because of the unvaccinated hospitalized patients. What should have been a relatively quick solution to my cardiac event turned into a nightmare that could have ended my life.
I am now at home resting due to amazing science and technology and, most importantly, the skilled nurses and doctors. Christus St. Vincent truly has an amazing cardiac unit and level of care — everyone from the friendly housekeeping staff, food service, nurses and doctors. No one should have to suffer for over 40 hours to get care that could be resolved in a much shorter time. I urge all who have not been vaccinated to please get vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19. Do not risk your life and the life of others.