Now, the rest of the story...

In my last post, I wrote about our wonderful vacation in Alaska. Well, it was wonderful, with the exception of about 10 hours, which were shere HELL. Sometime around 2:00 a.m. during our 2nd night of our cruise, my husband began experiencing chest pains strong enough that he decided to go down to the ships medical center. After about an hour there, he called my cabin and told me what was going on, but not to worry. Yea right! I woke Karissa up and had her go over to the boys cabin and sleep there with Eric until I figured out what was going on. I went to the medical center where I found him in a significant amount of pain. The doctor had started an EKG to monitor his heart. His blood pressure was holding steady unless he was in a sharp pain, think of labor pains. After a few hours and several trips from our cabin to the center and back, the doctor decided to disembark him and therefore all of us. I had less than an hour to get the kids up, pack up our cabins, clear out our ship board account, cancel our shore excursions, etc. They took him to the hospital in Ketchikan to be looked at there. By then, he'd had some pain medication and the pain was in check. The kids and I left the ship around 8:00 a.m. and were taken to a motel a couple of blocks from the hospital. I turned the kids over to the motel staff explaining our situation who then fed them breakfast and then the kids waited in the motel room for us. These folks were wonderful to us. I made my way to the hospital where Steve was sitting up feeling pretty good, and the doctor explained that he was experiencing esophagus spasms due to most likely the change in diet, time change, and every thing else. He has a history of GERD, so this made since. His esophagus was experiencing spasms, which closely mimic a cardiac event. The doctor said the ship had called to check on us and would allow us back on if he cleared him. The hospital doctor recommended doubling up on his GERD medicine and supplement with Maalox before each meal. We were back on the ship around noon, unpacked and went in to town. The vacation was salvaged, and thanks to travel insurance, we should get everything back that we were charged for this event. Some thanks go out to my mother-in-law and father-in-law who were instrumental in helping me keep my head during all this. They are world travelers and have had many things happen. I called them seeking advice, and they were there to offer anything I need including flying out to help or money I might need in the event he needed surgery or something. (you have to pay up front and then get reimbursed from the insurance). Bev, I'm sorry I worried you but I needed someone to talk to and seek advice, and I immediately thought of you and Dick. Thank you so much for calming me down and getting me to focus on the events and not panic. My folks also helped calm the kids down on Karissa's cell phone. I neglected to mention this in this original post because I wasn't actually witness to these exchange, so thanks to them and my sister and church for their prayers and support. I can never thank everyone enough! Steve actually lost 6 lbs on the trip and never had any more problems after he started to take his medication properly and supplement with the Maalox. This was a wake up call of sorts too. I am fixing him a healthy lunch everyday now and he is really watching what he eats and is starting to lose weight again. I can't imagine my life without Steve and I know the kids were scared to death for their Dad. It all turned out fine this time. Hopefully, there won't be a next time! So, that's the rest of the story.