Samuel A. Kojoglanian, MD, FACC, FSCAI
It was found on the counter. Consider it carefree or careless, arrogant or apathetic, a cry for help or a distain for life; whatever the intention, the syringe with blood stained needle was now empty.
Joe’s wife then called me with his recent blood pressures. They were in the neighborhood of 190/90’s, which is elevated and surprising. Over the years we’ve worked on stopping smoking and he’s given it up; we’ve pulled him out of the obesity puddle, and he’s down to norm; we’ve laughed about the doughnut chomping banquets and he’s snacking on vegetables instead.
Joe got on the phone and asked me if he should increase his blood pressure medication which was down to the lowest dose. Given his recent achievements, we were planning on tapering him off the medication.
“Hi Joe! Talk to me!” I said. “Oh, yeah, Dr. Sam, well my blood pressure is up.” His weight hadn’t changed, he wasn’t smoking, and he had forgotten the doughnut aisle number.
“What’s bugging your heart, bud?” After we spoke about the economy and the threat of higher taxes, I asked him to come in for a check-up. That’s when he told me, “It’s my son; he’s a good kid, but I guess he got into marijuana, and I guess now he’s doing heroin, and it’s killing me; it’s killing our family. “
Joe had found the syringe and was devastated, and his son had sworn the needle was not his. The son also stole thousands from his parent’s retirement fund to feed his fix. I placed Joe on my treadmill, and he failed the test that he had passed with ease one year ago. Can one year make that much difference? Can one son break a father’s heart that much? We scheduled an angiogram, Joe explained the measures he was taking regarding his son, and we prayed for God’s healing intervention. We increased the dose of my patient’s medication to protect him, and when I took him to my cardiac catheterization laboratory, I was stunned. He had five 99% blockages, and I opened each with stents by God’s grace. Joe went home the next day, and we celebrated his life together, knowing he was 5 seconds away from sudden cardiac death.
We have all entered an era where we’re trying to change societies, and forgetting to touch the heart of one soul, like Joe’s son. We’ve come to a place where we’re seeking to find the god within us but realizing we are just frail creatures with depraved hearts. We’ve tried entertainment, drugs, sports, cars, houses, intoxicating ourselves with glittering material, botoxed faces, rounded butts, and steroid laden muscles, and still feel empty. The answer comes not in monetizing our debt, seeking gold, or injecting ourselves with drug trenched promises, but investing in eternal hope, love and forgiveness found in the Savior named Christ, who heals not only the heart, but transforms the soul. Merry Christmas to us all!