Former U.S. Sen. Bill Armstrong credits “the grace of God” and the expert driving of his wife, Ellen Armstrong, for saving his life last month.
Armstrong, 69, is recovering at his Cherry Hills Village home after quintuple bypass surgery Dec. 19.
Armstrong said he and his wife were driving to Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church on Dec. 17 for the baptism of his granddaughter, Katherine Armstrong, when he had chest pains. Only two days earlier he’d had a stent put into an artery to keep it clear. “It hadn’t worked,” he said Tuesday.
He told his wife they should go home and get some nitroglycerine, but she overruled that and headed for Swedish Medical Center.
She drove “skillfully” and told him to call the hospital and tell them he was on his way.
“I’m William Armstrong, and I was just in your hospital and I’m coming back because I’m having a heart attack,” he said he told hospital officials.
When they arrived, three people were waiting in the emergency room. They hooked him up “to every pump and monitor known to man” and did an angiogram.
When the doctor said “we have to open you up,” Armstrong said he replied, “Get on with it.”
He’s doing some work at home and napping frequently, due to medication, but he feels good. The drugs and the pain from having his rib cage opened for surgery still bother him.
“I told the doctors they’re not going to get much repeat business if they don’t improve the quality of the experience,” he said, laughing.
Armstrong, who once owned several area radio stations, was named president of Colorado Christian University in Lakewood last year.
A conservative Republican, Armstrong served in the U.S. Senate from 1978 until 1989, when he retired.
Before the Senate, Armstrong was in the U.S. House from 1973 to 1978, and in both houses of the Colorado General Assembly from 1963 to 1973.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
