GARAPAN Saipan — Businessman David M. Sablan one of the pioneers of the CNMI’s hospitality industry is recovering from a heart attack he suffered April 16.

He is now awaiting an appointment with a Honolulu hospital for further treatment.

Sablan told the Journal he did not realize it was a heart attack until after doctors at the Commonwealth Center told him so. He was rushed there from his Papago residence which is some 20 minutes away by car for worsening chest pains.

“I was driving home for lunch when I felt a muscle spasm on my left side of my chest. Then I felt pain on the bottom left side of my chin as if I had a toothache. As I was near the Century Hotel in Garapan I thought about checking in for a brief rest but instead I decided to continue to drive to my home in Papago.

“When I reached home I began feeling chilly and was experiencing a cold sweat. I drank cold water followed by hot water to test if I really did have a toothache but nothing happened. By then my wife Rita came home and so I asked her to prepare some soup for my lunch. I had thought that I might have been hungry. The pain in my chest had gotten worse and that was the time that I asked Rita to drive me to the hospital ” Sablan said.

Sablan said an attending staff member at CHC “immediately swung into action” after Sablan told him about his chest pain and that he was feeling “very cold and was sweating.”

“Soon after that I was taken to the intensive care ward where I was given a series of medicines through both of my hands. I was informed by the doctor that I had a heart attack and I needed to take medication to thin my blood. Apparently the bottom right side of my heart had a clog that needed to be opened up ” he said.

Sablan was transferred to another ward where he was placed under observation for a day. He was allowed to go home at noon on April 19.

“I am presently waiting for my appointment with a hospital in Honolulu. I have to travel to Honolulu for further observation or some kind of procedure. I am in the hands of the doctors and God. I hope everything is OK and hope to return home so I can resume working again. I am bored staying home but I guess I have to take it easy ” he said. MBJ