Today David went to McLaren Hospital in Bay City for a cardiac cath. He's had a lot of these - probably close to a dozen over the last 15 years or so and he's had a lot of stents put in his arteries. Bad genetics. Not much can be done about that. But last week he went into atrial fibrillation again and his cardiologist decided that it was time to do another cath to check things out.
Got to the hospital in plenty of time and was thankful for Daylight Savings Time so I really got up at 6:00 am, rather than 5:00 am so we could be in Bay City by 7:00. Hospital personnel were friendly and ready. While David was prepped I visited with some neighbors from the WB were up there for some tests. Had a good conversation about Jonathan Kozol. Not someone I'm familiar with, but sounds like an interesting educator advocate I will look up.
Anyway, got to back and see David in his cute little hospital gown with his feet h
anging over the edge of the bed and his oxygen, IV, EKG wires running. I said, "Looking good, big guy," and he smiled at me. Then we sat there for about an hour until Gabe showed up and made some conversation. About 9:30 they took him back and I went out to find coffee. McDonald's was able to make my special blend and I was thankful for that.
David came out of the cath lab with pressure bandages on both wrists because one of his arteries spasmed so they had to use the other one. Lucky boy! Doc came in and said things looked good, showed us pictures, and said no stents necessary! I said hooray and David said bummer - he was hoping that he'd get another stent and feel 18 again. Not going to happen. Interestingly his blood pressure was elevated.
Paula, my mom and sisters came to offer moral support and we all visited and made David crazy. He ate a turkey sandwich (just like every time), drank some milk and then his pulse, which is usually 50 or just under, dropped to 30 and he started throwing up. He went chalk white. They did another BP and that was even more elevated. So, we weren't going home right away. And it was scary. The same old same old wasn't quite the same.
After the 3rd time vomiting the doctor came in and knows how to treat David - casually, as though nothing is going on. He said, "Well, keep track of your BP a couple times a day and if you pass out, take your pulse when you wake up. Then maybe we'll see about a pacemaker" and he left! I took the girls out to lunch so he could get some sleep, and when we got back he was ready to go. I knew he felt pretty crappy when they let him put him in a wheelchair and let me drive home.
He puked pretty regularly all the way home, but we made it home. He had a nap and some soup and he's better! Well, I'm not sure how better he is, but he hasn't thrown the soup up yet and we're watching Dexter before I go out to feed the horses. All in all a lot to be thankful for - good hospital staff, good doc, great family and more time with my old man.
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