The author,just before surgery.It certainly was a learning experience but let me begin at the beginning.
Our local medical dispensary insists that we take a blood test every year. A week later I had an appointment with Dr Halid (his first name – we go by first names in our neighborhood) to discuss the results. After reviewing them and finding nothing of particular significance, I mentioned to Dr. Halid that I had pulled a muscle in my back, and though it didn’t hurt very much could he prescribe a muscle relaxant which, with rest, was the usual treatment. He agreed but first wanted to check everything in the vicinity of the pain so out came the stethoscope and my life took a very unexpected turn.
After listening very intently Dr. Halid ordered up an urgent electrocardiograph stress test: you are wired up to sensing devices and then run for a few minutes on a treadmill. Results in hand I was sent off to consult a cardiologist in Ashkelon. Five minutes into the consultation I was scheduled for a cardiac catheterization at Ashkelon’s Barzilai hospital. In this procedure they shove a pipe up your vein from the wrist to your heart. A device is inserted in order to have a look around and if necessary perform a ballooning process which clears blocked blood vessels or install a stent, a locally invented device to keep the blood vessels open. After it was over, I was wheeled into a recovery room and there met by the specialist who had performed the procedure. With an appreciable sense of humor he asked me if I wanted the good news or bad news first. The good news was that they didn’t install any stents. The bad news was that I needed by-pass surgery.
