December 9 – “On enzymes and elevations”

I received some more medical education on Saturday evening.  I got one of those phone calls that every pastor knows is coming eventually.  One of our Seasiders was at the hospital.  He had apparently had a heart attack.  Now I know that happens every day to someone, but this guy in particular was a real surprise.  He is just in his thirties, I think, and he owns and operates a lawn service, so he is quite active.  I headed out to UTMB to check it out and pray with him. 

My medical education came after I arrived.  The RN friend who called me had said things like “enzymes” and “elevated” and other nursing words that are relatively meaningless to me outside of Gatorade and transportation to upper floors.  I did understand “heart attack,” though.  It was the incredibly young-looking Doogie Howser-ish resident who did the explaining that helped me understand.  There are two different types of heart attack.  Not that I would interested in choosing one over the other.  One is the “emergency” kind.  OK, I thought, how could any heart attack be anything but an emergency?  But I held my tongue and listened.  The emergency kind does immediate damage that shows up right away on an EKG as abnormal.  Those indications point to an immediate trip to the heart cath lab or even emergency surgery.  That’s not what Jamie was experiencing.  And that was good … I guess. 

His problem instead only shows up in the blood test they always take that reveal “elevated enzyme levels.”  Ah.  That I had heard before.  Teri’s nursing words.  He continued.  When the heart has an “event” it releases some of its enzymes into the bloodstream.  It takes a while for the enzymes to be distributed through the body to an extent that begins to show up in the blood tests.  Then it takes some more time for the levels to return to normal.  Then only much later the EKG will begin to show the disrupted patterns that indicate something has happened.  So the blood testing gives an earlier look so treatment can begin sooner.  Ah, the miracles of modern medicine. 

Jamie seems to be doing better.  He messaged me Sunday morning at 5:30 to say thanks for the hospital visit, and again later in the afternoon to say his levels were going down.  He faces the usual demands involved in carrying out some major lifestyle changes.  But better to make LIFEstyle changes than to experience the alternative. 

Psalms 51:10 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Father, walk with Jamie through his next phase of life.  Draw his heart, and mine, closer and closer to you.  Amen.