So I wouldn't say this makes up for our canceled New Years Beach trip, but mom and I have had a little three night "get away." It has been at our local hospital, Georgia Heart Institute. We have bonded over food (or the lack of it) , the doctor parade and middle of the night nurse checks. But Lord willing this trip will be limited to three nights and we will be headed home today (Saturday.)
I will try to make this succinct while answering questions for those of you who have received bits and pieces during our stay. The summary is that mom has known heart failure. After dealing with Afib issues, a micro lead pacemaker was put in 2 years ago. Recent doctor visits have revealed that her heart functioning was decreasing and that it may be attributed to the pacemaker. So over the next 6 weeks, mom had several doctor appointments scheduled to address the issue with the possibility of a new pace maker. For the past week mom had not been feeling her best with symptoms including nausea and shortness of breath. It had highs and lows and was being addressed with doctors. However this past Tuesday night, mom hit the point of saying it was time to go to the emergency room. Once she was able to get me to realize that the noise on my phone was her calling and not my alarm that could be ignored, we made an early morning run to the hospital Wednesday. Within 6 hours she had been seen in the ER by the beginning of what would be a parade of doctors, given a diuretic to remove the fluid from her lungs, and told she would need to stay overnight.
With the removal of the fluid, she was able to breath better and the nausea began to fade. On Thursday we experienced the full employment of the doctor parade. This hospital (1/2 a mile from my house) is a teaching hospital as well as a leading heart hospital. If you are going to experience heart failure, this is the town to live in. Therefore mom did not just have a doctor or two attending to her but multiple teams of doctors, residence and students. Thursday morning within an hour no less that 25 people came through mom's room where she graciously held court. After conferring with the various teams, the decision was made for mom to have a different style of pacemaker implanted that very day as well as a heart Cath performed Friday to determine if there were blockages contributing to her decreased heart function. So Thursday afternoon she had a pace maker put in and spent the rest of the evening into the next morning on bedrest. Friday, in anticipation of the heart cath, she was unable to eat. That along with the discomfort of Thursday's surgery and some other aches made for a very long day.. As it turns out she was finally in the que for her heart cath when the surgeon came to talk with her. A lady had come in with a heart attack and she was going to need to go first and he wasn't sure when he would be able to get to mom. By then it was after 4 pm. So after some discussion it was concluded that mom would forgo the procedure then, hopefully go home the next day (Saturday) and return as an outpatient next week for the hart cath. Mom was such a trooper. In spite of being hungry and having waited all day for a canceled procedure, her greater concern was for the woman who had the heart attack and required the doctors attention. Over the next several hours, she was able to eat some food as well as get some pain relief and she perked back up. By Saturday morning the uncomfortable pressure bandage was gone, her belly was being kept full and she had an iron infusion so she was feeling much like herself.
So now we sit and wait hoping the parade of doctors will start soon and with it declare it is the finale and we can go home.
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