How the Peace Corps Saved My Life

The beautiful (and vast) campus of Cleveland Clinic in Weston, FL - where I had heart bypass suregry

One Last "Hearty" Adventure with the Corps

It seems like it was a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away – when really it was just 6 weeks ago in Surco ,Peru – just 3500 miles to the south.  I had just been hiking with my Peruvian pal Dasio at about 11,500 ft above Ayas, Peru – looking for Matt Nahrstadt’s reforestation project – which we never found. It was a long and hard hike, very much like one I’d done 3 years earlier at that very site with my WATSAN 18 training group. But, then we hiked all the way back down to the village, caught a ride in the back of a pickup and dashed to catch the combi bus, down at about 9000 ft.

That was when “it” happened. I felt a sudden tightness across my upper chest and shoulders and got VERY out of breath. “It” lasted only about 30 seconds and may have saved my life. I continued on home to Lima, thinking little of the incident. I simply figured I had hit a wall of exhaustion at altitude and was out of shape from living the easy office life in Lima for a year.

I had felt very good about my health in Lima. I’d been walking home (3km) from the office every day and had stopped my BP meds with just that 50-60 minute walk each day. The walk was never tiring, especially when summer weather arrived and the young ladies graced the streets with their very short , tight shorts and leggings.

Shortly after that, I had my COS chat with our dear PC Medical Officer, Jorge Bazan about my health issues during 3 years of Peace Corps service in Peru. I just happened to mention “it” to him and suggested that maybe my lungs were not functioning as well as they might be and he got me a lung x-ray, which showed nothing abnormal. He still felt that “it” still needed investigation and sent me to a cardiologist, which is when things started to take a southern turn . When the doctor saw the EKG, he asked for it to be redone. He then turned to me and said “You have a very serious problem, my friend.”, which I took for typical Peruvian melodrama at the time, feeling as good as I did.

But, further sonograms, stress tests and dye scans confirmed that I had very little arterial blood flow to my heart. They guessed the blockages were almost complete. That was about a week before I was scheduled to return to the US as an RPCV. I had my flight and was all packed and ready to go.

Cleveland Clinic entrance - Valet parking, no less

Then, the Peace Corps made a very generous decision. Rather than cut me loose to deal with the cardiac issue via their AfterCare insurance plan, they “Medivac”ed me, which meant I was(am) still a PCV, getting the incredible 100% covered care of a PCV. They sent Carmen, another of our Peruvian Med staffers on the plane to the US with me (just to be sure I got there safely). Then they somehow got me a same-day appointment at the prestigious Cleveland Clinic in West Palm Beach, just hours after I landed. That cardiologist took one look at the Peruvian data, which Jorge had translated into English, and scheduled me for a cardiac catheter procedure the next week in Weston, FL, near Ft Lauderdale.  An interesting note is that the Cleveland WPB office is in City Place, an urban redevelopment area of WPB, right where I owned some slum apartments from 1977 to 1987.

Dr. Ed Savage, my surgeon

At this point, the eternal optimist in me still felt that a couple of stents could solve the problem. But, when Dr Bush at the Cleveland hospital in Weston, FL (near FLL) did the dye test, he stopped to allow consideration of the open-heart by-pass alternative. The cardiac cath procedure was absolutely painless and when I awoke, Dr B gave me the news. I had coronary artery blockages of 100%, 95% and 85% - my heart had made some compensations to keep me alive, but was only functioning at about 50% capacity. I was a walking time-bomb – totally asymptomatic. He said he could give me 85-90% as much relief as by-pass with 3-5 stents, but it would be only a temporary fix – for 3, maybe 5 or even 10 years. That was when Dr Savage “the Pro from Dover” stepped in and offered his services and advice. “Just do it. You won’t regret it.” He said.

With the help of trusted friends and advisors and the PC Med Staff in Washington, DC, we reached that very conclusion and surgery was scheduled for Dec 17^th. I can not express enough gratitude to the many who have been by my side throughout this adventure: My dear ladyfriend Robin, who drove me to and from appointments, procedures and tests, my sweet sister Robin, who arranged for me to stay at their cabin on Torry Island and the loan of a van, until I found my own wheels – 2000 Mitsu Diamante - , and to all my friends who CHEERed me through the events. And most especially to the extraordinary folks at the Peace Corps Medical Office in Peru, who caught the problem. And the PCMO staff in DC. They were there for me every step of the way, advising me and clearing all obstacles out of the way, with grace and good cheer. They were able to do what everyone else said could not be done.

Battle Scars - 4 days old

A few days before the Big Event, I spent the whole day at the gorgeous Weston Campus, being inspected, injected, detected and educated, as Arlo would say. They did a brilliant job of preparing me, honestly and candidly, about what was to come. My brother’s old surf buddy, Jim Davidson, also put me in touch with his DOS friend Steve, who had experienced Doc Savage at Weston last year. Between them and online videos, I think I went in well prepared and confident. Though there was that curious dream a few nights before – that I did not survive the operation. Kind of a life in review, “Wonderful Life” thing. I was quite OK with that possibility – it would have been an acceptable outcome, given the richness of this life which I have been given. Jimmy used to say “If the bus hit you today, would you be OK with that??” Yes, dear brother, I would. It’s been a great ride – more than I had any right to expect.

But, as we all know, that’s not how this adventure ends. Robin drove me in for the Big Day. I was Doc Savage’s #2 for the day, so we had time to stop by the Hardrock Casino before. ( I won’t even get into how amazingly boring that was.)  They put me down about 2pm, though surgery didn’t start until 3:30 and lasted to 8:30 that night. When I came to in the SICU, I was still on the ventilator, with a tube down my throat, IV in my neck and arms, tubes and wires out my chest, a catheter out my penis and generally feeling quite a mess. Once they got me stabilized and medicated, I slept for a while and then got up for a rather nice day – all things considered.

Private room - with a view !!

The next 2 days in ICU, I was cared for by the very attentive and knowledgeable Cleveland nurses and aides. They washed me, wiped my butt, got me up for “strolls” around the floor and served up some pretty tasty fare. The only blot was that I developed some painful bowel gas, which took over a day to resolve. I ended up in one of the Clinic’s very elegant private rooms with an outstanding sunset view. I got to watch two favorite movies – Wizard of Oz and It’s a Wonderful Life, before Robin came to take me home at 8pm of my 3^rd day in hospital. I think I may have been discharged early for reasons of “excessive cheerfulness”. In any case, I was very glad to shed the constraints of all those tubes, cuffs and monitors.

Little Cabin on the Big Lake - Okeechobee

I’m now “recovering” at the little cabin on the big Lake Okeechobee. All pain meds are stopped and I feel very little pain – only when I cough or move my leg the wrong way. A warm shower and shave were particularly sweet this morning.  I drove to the Winn-Dixie for some shopping and took a nice walk along the water’s edge. I know I still have some healing to do, but I’m doing great so far.

The comments and support on my Facebook page made me weep with gratitude and joy – for all my wonderful friends and family –I am so deeply moved. Thank you. Thank you ALL of you, for your love and caring and support.  

From the bottom, top and sides of my newly improved heart.