Support Recovery After Heart Attack in San Diego

Aloha friends and family. I've been laying low the past couple of years due to various health issues as well as the upheaval that occurred during and after the pandemic, including the loss of my dream job. As most of you know I'm a pretty private person when it comes to this kind of stuff. Truth be told it's been pretty rough but I've been making due and things have been looking up this past year with a new job etc. It's been a long and stressful road to recovery to say the least but things were starting to look good again.

All of that progress came to a sudden, jarring, frightening and nearly deadly stop the afternoon of Tuesday October 8.

I had a heart attack while at work...while driving.

The good news is that I was on a residential street in Downtown San Diego and going very, very slow when I passed out and rolled into a parked car. The even better news was that there were passerby's that witnessed everything and they immediately called 911. They comforted me after I came to and was in a tremendous amount of pain and distress - true Good Samaritans. They were great and I am so lucky that they were there and that help was pretty nearby!

Not only was I in an incredible amount of pain and freaked out in not knowing what was happening but I was so so so weak, so weak that I couldn't even get my wallet out of my back pocket for the police and I could barely speak as I sat there in shock, sweating profusely and just feeling awful.

Shortly thereafter, but what seemed like an eternity, a SDPD motorcycle officer rolled up with even more officers right behind him. All of the first responders were simply amazing and made me so proud to be a resident of this city!

In order of appearance, the women and men of the SDPD, followed up by the women and men of the paramedic squad and from SDFD were beyond professional, kind, caring and compassionate as they rushed me with lights and sirens blaring up to Scripps Mercy in nearby Hillcrest - one of the most highly regarded hospitals in the nation for critical cardiac care.

Even though it was just a short distance away, time felt like it was standing still, I was locked into a nightmare of pain and fear and it felt like it was taking forever. Soon though I was in the emergency room at Scripps Mercy which of course was a flurry of activity with a sizable team of nurses, Dr.'s and specialists working on me. I cannot emphasize enough how good they were and yes, they saved my life! Despite all that was going on you that know me know that of course I managed to crack a few jokes though, lol!

Next thing I knew I was whisked up to the cardiology center where they expertly and perfectly inserted a catheter through an artery in my thigh and ultimately, installed a shunt inside of my heart (angioplasty) to allow the blood to flow again through my 100 percent blocked artery.

Even though I still felt awful, relief came relatively soon and just got better by the minute. Soon I was resting (kinda) comfortably in my hospital room in the SDU (step down unit) which is one level of care below ICU where I stayed the next few days until I was discharged.

Needless to say, this whole event was a nightmare - incredibly frightening, traumatizing, painful and definitely life changing. Luckily I have insurance but due to the level of emergency care I received in addition to not being able to work for a yet to be determined amount of time, there is going to be a huge shortfall in funds to cover this as well as basic living expenses. Way, way beyond my means unfortunately.

That being said, I am reluctantly reaching out to you, my friends and family, for any help you may be able to provide in any amount you can to help me make it through this. I feel like I have a new lease on life, I just need to get through the forthcoming cardiac rehabilitation and the looming financial storm.

Thank you so much to everyone that can contribute and/or reached out with caring and supportive words. It means the world me and you are all so greatly appreciated!

With gratitude and love,

Ron