Old News

Bob and the girls have posted already about Fridays "event" We are all so glad the day is over and of the out come.

Simple procedure.... I think back to Sheila and those words came to mind. When Sheila died we could not understand WHY. I have a better understanding now. When those in the medical profession use this term, and it has become "standard terminology", we are programed to accept, give consent and "assume" all will be well. We forget, and so do the medical professionals, that life is very fragile. Each and every "procedure" is unique to that particular patient and I think the terminology " simple procedure" should be banned. The odds of what happened to Bob were less than 1/2 of 1 %. Less than that because he had had this procedure before. But... It happens. And if it happens to you or yours, then it is not so simple. It can be devastating and/or very frightening.

I will attempt to tell you the days events as I lived them.

We arrived early for the heart cath. and everything proceeded as normal. They brought him back to his room and I saw the doctor. There were no blockages and they decided to go ahead and do 2 routine procedures. The first one was a test to check the heart for blood clots. The next was to shock the heart back into it's normal rhythm if there were no clots. I was with him while they hooked him up for the procedures. When they were finished, a nurse walked me a short distance down the hall to a waiting room. Both "procedures" were to take about 10 minutes. Combined time. I saw a computer, and quickly blogged that all was well and we would be going home soon. Two short sentences. I got up, walked to a chair and began to sit down. I hadn't even crossed my legs yet or sat my purse on the floor when I heard the page. ATTENTION ALL PERSONNEL.... CODE BLUE .... ROOM 20 and before they said 8, I was running. How does a person know??? I can't answer that. I knew. I hit the end of the aisle, and was stopped by three people blocking me from his room. I could only stand there hanging onto the wall. The shade to the window in his room was dropped immediately. I watched people running in and out with different supplies. It was a constant effort on their part to block any view I had of what was going on in there. I was offered a chair 3 times, each further away from his doorway. I would not move. When the door would be opened, they would pull the curtain as much as they could so I couldn't see.. Didn't work. The first few minutes I couldn't see Bob but I saw so many people. Silly reaction I can't explain. I counted them. Quit counting at 20. I turned to the nurses station and there were 8 more ready there. Then those three keeping me from him. I turned back to his room and for a brief moment everyone cleared and I saw Bob. Head and arm off one side of the bed, foot off the other side. Doctor calling for more IVs. Scared !!!! I needed to call somebody. I got my cell phone and I couldn't make it work. Mind and fingers just weren't working together. I was shaking so hard. I finally got Denny. Kellie was on her way.

By the time she got there, they had brought him around and I was with him. The room was a disaster !! Paper from IV kits, rubber gloves, syringe caps, you name it and it was thrown on the floor as they had used it. Empty syringes, full syringes and vials of drugs were on the cabinet. Bob's monitor was going off constantly. Either blood pressure or heart rate. Kellie was shocked. She said, "Jezz Dad, you are going off faster than the stock market".....

Another doctor was called and he was scheduled for a pacemaker as soon as a lab opened up. It wasn't long and they took him to surgery. Kellie and I had another hour and a half to kill waiting for a "simple" procedure. He came back. It was over. It was soooooo quiet. His monitor didn't go off. Casey came. Bob began to understand what had happened. The kids left about 9:00.

Bob went to sleep. The nurses made up a "bed" for me. Too uncomfortable. I wandered the parking lot. There is nobody to talk to at 2:00 AM !! I went back inside. He got to take a short walk with a nurse while I followed at 3:00 AM. Then he and I took a long walk at 5:00. We were pretty much awake after that. Colleen got in from Michigan during the night and grabbed a short nap at Kellie's before they all came out.

We got him home about 3:00 Saturday afternoon. Time to check out the old heart and new pacemaker. Husker football. Overtime !!!!! Nebraska football team lost but the pacemaker won. Notta problem.

Colleen left for home Sunday afternoon about 1:00 and we left for Norfolk about 1:30 for Aunt Eva's funeral. Can you believe, after all that happened, the doctors said he could travel????

Bob looks and feels great. He had no pain, no fear or any other of our human emotions. I on the other hand, look like I have aged 5 years.

All of this from a simple procedure............

For those of you who do not read my quotes, I will include this one in my post.

"Prayers go up and blessings come down. Unknown.