I just happened to have a brief moment of wake up at 4:00 am this morning and was so very thankful that it had been twenty four hours since I had to be awake at 4:00 am, with the alarm going off every few minutes because I didn't know how to turn the thing off. As you can see, I rarely have to use an alarm. It wasn't going to take that much time to get ready because, no breakfast, no Diet Coke, very little make up and wearing clothes that are easy to get out of and into. Being fashionably attractive wasn't even an option. At 5:00 am Roy and I headed toward the Texas Medical Center. In the darkness of the morning a little baby bunny ran across the street and so did a big skunk as we traveled down the road to our next stop, the Shell station. There is hardly a line at all at 6:00 am for valet parking at St. Luke's. We didn't have to do the usual check in but went straight to the 6th floor of the Texas Heart Institute. I was kind of surprised by this because in my mind the way the it was explained to me by the nurse made me believe the procedure would be done where I have gone for cardioversions and not the 6th floor where I had the ablation. So it was the go back to a room with the nurse where you put on the lovely hospital gown and beautiful tan footies. Next comes the vitals nurse who asks a million questions about your health, the spelling of your name (asks this multiple times) and your birthdate, again multiple times. Then to end your time together, she takes blood. Next comes the questions from the anesthesiologist nurse, who freaked me out when he told me that I was having general anesthesia, you know where the machine breathes for you. I questioned him about this since I was told it would be like twilight sleep, you're out but not with a breathing tube. So he had me sign both sets of papers authorizing them to use one of those methods. By this time they have let Roy come back to the room and he has info that I won't be moved into surgery until after the staff has their Friday morning meeting, which means being there another 45 minutes. Almost as soon as he said this, here comes a transportation nurse to wheel me down to the second floor operating rooms. Her name was Brenda and she was so kind and very funny. The three of us had a good time getting to the second floor. Once her responsibility was over, before she left, she came over to me and hugged me and prayed for me. Wow! God's presence to comfort and calm in the midst of nervousness and what's coming next. The anesthesiologist doctors were so nice as they discussed the procedure with me and Roy and then it was time for the operating room nurse to come get me for the main event. The next thing I know I am waking up in recovery and handed a cup of ice chips. Through the haze of awakening I could see others recovering after surgery and procedures. One older gentleman was having a difficult time and his bed was surrounded by nurses, attendants and doctors. I prayed for him and who knows what was prayed in a drug addled condition but God knew. I was the first in my group of four to leave recovery and to be taken to a room. There they had me order breakfast, checked my vitals, asked me my date of birth another hundred times and finally after walking the I'm good to go home cat walk to the bathroom, they let me get dressed. Jeff, the head surgical nurse came in to see me and so did the representative from the company that makes the device that was placed into my chest. Soon the wheelchair attendant was there to take me downstairs where Mattress Mac was being released at the same time. There was a reporter and cameraman waiting for him and I tried to get the wheelchair attendant to push me over behind Mattress Mac and photo bomb his interview.
Even though I felt good I slept most of the afternoon and even went to bed early. I am sore this morning all around my incision. After I get cleaned up I will sit down and read the instructions to use this device that now is implanted in my chest. Hopefully, I can use it to change TV channels if I don't want to watch the same program as Roy. Or maybe I can use it as an emergency weather channel. Nah, it's only for detecting erroneous heartbeats and the like to keep the threat of having a stroke minimalized and to rectify the beat and get me back in sync.
Thank you dear friends and loved ones who prayed for this procedure. Thank you for praying for me these last five years. Thank you for the texts and phone calls. Thank you for your patience when I didn't do things as quickly or needed extra help to maneuver. Thankful for those who have come along beside us. It dawned on me this morning that this is really the year of Proceed. Health wise, everything I have had done this year, ablation, injections and internal loop recorder are merely just that...medical procedures. This truly is the year of Proceed.
No comments:
Post a Comment