Knowing that yesterday was going to be a long day, and one, as Bertie Wooster would say, fraught with imponderables, I asked Megan if she would be interested in accompanying me to the hospital – an invitation she eagerly accepted.
We arrived around 7:30 and they had already begun part of the chemical stress test procedure she would be undergoing before the surgery. My personal opinion was that it should have been done the day before, as one stressful procedure in a day would seem more prudent, but what do I know, right? Anyway, off they took her shortly before 9, for what the transport guy said would be a 45 minute deal. By 11 I was beginning to worry that they would not have time to bring her back to the room before she had to go for surgery prep. I was also very curious as to why it would be taking so long, so I googled it, and found the Heartsite.com which told me all I needed to know about cardiac stress tests, including the fact that they can take from 2-4 hours. Good to know!
Not long after that another transport gal popped her head in the door and invited us both to come down to OR with her, as mom was being transferred directly there. We had a short wait in the very busy waiting area outside OR, and then they called us back. Poor mom was understandably in less than perky spirits after having just been put through the ringer. We did have fun chatting with the anesthesiologist, whose accent I couldn’t quite place until he told us he was originally from South Africa. We’ve had more international doctors here than not, including 2 from India, 1 from Africa, and 1 from somewhere in South America, possibly Brazil. Good thing I’ve been here to translate for mom, as the accents are a little tough for her to understand. 🙂
A little before 1pm Dr. Brink, of Vascular Surgery Specialists, came in to answer any last minute questions, mark which leg they were going to operate on (pretty obvious since it was the leg with the wound vac hooked up to the foot) and I found it interesting that he somehow managed to be reassuring even while acknowledging that this surgery was pretty high on the difficulty scale. We gave our hugs and kisses and set off for the cafeteria, where we set up our laptops and stayed for the next five hours. I can’t imagine getting through that afternoon without Megan here, she was more help and support than she knows. I had some good, laughter filled conversations with both Jeff (whose company had the unmitigated gall to have scheduled him to go to a conference in Atlanta this week) and Doug, in Moorhead… Megan says I was “slap-happy” – and surely that must be true, but it was good to just laugh some of the stress of waiting away.
Megan added interest to her time here by taking the stairs whenever she needed to traverse floors – several trips from the 1st to the 5th floor and back, sometimes taking 2 steps at a time, gave her a vigorous workout, and an excuse to eat some pudding from the cafeteria. 😉 (It’s good pudding. My excuse was not nearly so good.) She’s a big inspiration to me, and I’ll be hiring her soon as my personal trainer. She’s also becoming very interested in a career somewhere in the medical profession, which is quite exciting!
Right at 5:30 on the dot, I got a phone call from Dr. Brink informing me of the good news: the surgery was successful, mom had done very well throughout, was looking stable, and we could see her in about an hour and a half. Well, by the time we found ICU, the floor was closing for an hour as they do between 7-8 both morning and night so the nurses can coordinate all their information on their patients. So Megan and I had another hour to kill, and we wandered between floors, taking the stairs some, and ended up relaxing in the lobby for another 30 minutes, where we realized we could have spent a much more comfortable (and quieter) afternoon than we did in the cafeteria… next time, we’ll know…
At last it was 8pm and we were able to come into ICU and see mother. She was groggy, in some pain, and at that point just taking ice chips. By the time left, she was a little more alert, and about to partake of some jello, so things were moving in the right direction.
This morning, to my shock and delight, when I walked into her room, she was just being helped off the bed and into an arm chair, where she then proceeded to sit up and eat her breakfast. She was so perky and energetic I couldn’t believe it – I don’t remember the last time she had that much vim and vigor! What a huge relief after all that she’s been through in the last month, and the last two weeks especially. So, so very thankful for God’s grace and the healing touch of her physicians.
Hopefully we’ll have a better picture of her the ongoing road to recovery by the end of the week, but if today is any indication, things are looking very positive indeed.
