Gary gets 2 stents, can come home day after tomorrow

His blood pressure was still 180/95 and they were trying to get it down, but he is being told that smoking is the worst, chewing tobacco would be easier on the heart. But he appears strong. He was animated, so I don't think too much had happened before he got to the hospital. Thanks for all the comments. I really appreciate them and family for their phone calls and concern. I took the bus and walked about 3 blocks to the hospital, and Dawn, his ex wife was there, and she gave me a ride home.

Gary will be having catheter procedure at 10 am

My daughter Ronda drove 40 miles down and back from her home north of Phoenix to talk to Gary about the procedure last night. She had to ask permission to see him so late, but I was grateful she came down as he had asked for her when he first called saying he needed to talk to her. He hated to tell me he was having trouble with his heart. She will be working today and tomorrow a 12 hour shift at Doctors Hospital not far from there, and the same docter who will be doing the 'cath' does them at her hospital, too. She said she might have been taking care of him today had he come to Doctors instead of St Lukes. He of course did not know where she worked. He just went where the firemen would take him. He vetoed the County Hospital.
Raymond called me late afternoon yesterday and said he had also talked to Gary and asked him if he wanted him to come to Phoenix, and he said no. Raymond said he and Dan would be working on the space at Hills and Hollows this week where the second show will take place. He said he was getting more people in his acting class, so it was going well. I said after they saw the show they probably realized you were a professional. He said his youngest brother Dan (Ronda and Dan are the children of another father) has been a big help to him.
I talked to Dan yesterday and said I might try to go get some things he needed to my sister Linda's, but later in the day I talked to Dante's mother who had retrieved Dan's house key he forgot to leave for her, and so she agreed to go get the stuff. She is moving Dan's car to her apartment also. Dan needed a number off from his insurance card. All this moving around causes vital statistics to be forgotten and so on.
I had a long talk with Angelina about Dante, hers and Dan's son. She told me about disagreements she had with Dan about how to talk to Dante. She did not approve of Dante's video "Picking up Women" and said he got those ideas from Dan. She also said that Dan being the skeptic he is discouraged Dante from wanting to learn more about church thinking, but she told him that as long as Dante lived with her he would be going to church until he was 18.
She talked about her several year stint as a bartender when she became an alcoholic and said that Dan's behavior caused her to give up on marriage with him. I just listened to her, and if I disagreed did not say anything, as her feelings were running passionate and strong. I also told her that I did not strongly disagree with Dan either when his feelings were too strong. I just listened to him, too. I have often thought that Dan says stuff to Dante he might say to friends, but Dante is too young and impressionable and may not know how to handle what he says about women, etc. This is what Angelina was saying, that Dan's kind of kidding advice to Dante was 'inappropriate.' I thought she had a point, but I did not think that Dan was the most to blame for her working in a bar and becoming an alcoholic. She was fascinated with tending bar for some time I thouught, as she is a beautiful little thing and liked the attention. I told her a long time ago that she needed to get a day job which she has now, because if Dan had been like most guys, she would probably have been beat up by now, but he does not believe in beating women up for their choices, but he acted broken hearted when she became pregnant as a result of her extra curricular partying. I would rather see her by far work as a maid than work in a bar. She has two more children now besides Dante. I feared she would drive drunk and be killed!
Dante lives with her and sees Dan on weekends. So her feelings about how he influences Dante are important. I told her that I had talked to Dante about my years of abortion protesting, that I was able to talk about such issues around him, because he had been coming to visit me so many years, starting when he was not yet 2 years old. I would keep him a day and ask his mother to pick him up, sometimes all night, but he was such a wild little thing, I could not handle him longer than that. He was a handful! He would run away from me. I remember one time he climbed on the parapet up to the park and wouldn't come down, just kept jumping from one level to another and I could not leap like a mountain goat and catch him. I finally threatened to call his dad and never take him again.
I told his mother he needed Dan's strength to help control him, as he is athletic and hyper active like Dan was. Dan never stopped moving in the womb or when he got out. That's why he was such a good basketball player. I told his mother I told Dante to think about what to say in his videos, to think about what his issues could be. The dog bite one is an example of a very good one I thought that is now available on free kid videos on youtube. Angelina also said Dante was writing a book! (Just like his dad is) I will have to ask him about that today as he is here now visiting. We didn't get to the movies the other day, and planned to go today. I don't know if we will still go with Gary having trouble, but maybe!
Doc just called me to come down where he had a birthday card painted for Dante, and he wrote him a check for $28, double 14. I will post a photo of his card.

Son Gary in hospital with heart attack

Last night Gary had heart pain, and this morning more, so he went to the fire station to have his blood pressure checked which was 240 something over 140 something, and with the pain they took him right in to St. Lukes. He called saying they wanted to put a catheter up and access the damage and probably put a stent in but he did not want that done, so he called me to see if he could get ahold of Ronda, my nurse daughter, to see if that was necessary. He just wanted to go home and start taking his blood pressure pills which he stopped taking 3 years ago. I would ask him now and then if he was still not taking them and said his blood pressure was high and he needed to stay on them or he was risking heart attack or stroke. Just lately he had been working more than usual scouting jobs around the state, trying to keep the company in work. When he works in the office bidding, he does not get the exercise he does when he is out in the field supervising and walking around all day, so he has probably been doing too much sitting. He has been back in the office bidding about 5 months.
I didn't know if I could get ahold of my daughter Ronda who might be to work, so I called my sister Margie, a nurse, who had a heart attack and the catheter work and a stent put in. It was also discovered that she had a hole in her heart probably been there from birth and blood clots could go through and cause strokes. She had one pretty bad stroke some years ago, and it was not known then why, because she has never had high blood pressure and is thin. Anyway she called and talked to him, and he said oky, you don't have to say more, I will tell them I am ready to have it done!
I will let you know more when I hear more. I got a hold of my daughter Ronda who said she would also call Gary as she thought he needed the procedure done which is done on all patients who show signs of a heart attack damage. Gary said they said his did. As I have said in my blog before, Gary has a drinking problem, which can also elevate the blood pressure after enough years. Gary's been devoted to work, never misses a day, for anything, but has still abused his health. I have not yet talked to is brother Raymond, but did talk to my son Dan who will let him know. I talked to Gary the day of the play and he sounded in good spirits because his house had sold. He did not get symptoms until last night. He said he drank a beer and the problem eased up! But this morning it came back.