We got up too darn early this morning. Since I am not a morning person, this is painful for me. However, when I go to sheepdog or cow dog trials, I have no issue getting up in the morning. Go figure!!
We had heavy winds during the night so we woke up a couple of time. The power went our briefly. The winds were 35-55 mph. A lot of branches were down and as well as several trees. The ride to the hospital was dark and windy. I was still really tired.
We checked in and got to our rooms. I had three nurses preparing me. They had very thick African accents and I could not understand one at all. I asked one what my heart rate was and he said it was 108. Normally it is 45-48 so that had me worried and I asked again. He was adamant that is was 108 bpm. I would think if I saw a patient’s heart rate was 108 beats per minute, I would be a bit worried. He was not. He was a new hire at Overlake in Bellevue WA.
The same guy tried to put an IV in my arm. He used Lidocaine to numb the vein and before it had time to work, he jabbed me so I twitched. He didn’t get a vein. So another nurse tried to put an IV in. Same results.
What!! We are not done, she tried a THIRD time and I didn’t jump as she let the Lidocaine work and she didn’t get a vein. My right arm was massacred by this time. They blamed it on ME and not themselves. Funny thing is all the other times I was at Overlake, the other nurses got the IV in on the first try. The third nurse in the room did not try to do an IV. So why is it that I am at fault when the two nurses could not get an IV in?
They called a fourth nurse in. He is apparently very good at putting IVs in and *poof* he got it quickly. That’s good as I was running out of places on my arm. Now my arm is very bruised and one area there is a bruise that is about 4” x 1.5” and hurts. The other bruises are smaller. I was not happy about the four attempts on putting an IV in my arm.
(ADDED on 1/2/09 - the bruising has gone down. I have outlined where the original size of the bruise was at. You can see how huge it is. The others three bruises were half this size.)
That was the night shift and then the day shift nurse, Sharon came in. Sharon has been my nurse before and is very good. She got me set up for the Cardio Version. There was some mussing about as not all the supplies were ready but they got that squared away.
Dr. Condon arrived, dressed nattily as usual and wore his charming smile. I got hooked up to the Cardio Version machine. He is going to do the procedure to reset my heart since it has Atrial Flutter.
He loaded me with the *sleepy time* drug and I was in lala land. ZZZZZ….then I woke up and it was done. The flutter was gone and we hope it stays stable enough and not return. I was pretty groggy.
I am to see Dr. Condon next week for a follow up an EKG and a Protime test. It is set for next Thursday at 9:30 a.m. He left and Sharon was in charge of me. I went back to sleep and finally later at 11:30 a.m. Getty was able to take me home.
I crawled into bed and fell asleep again. My chest was hurting where they put the pads and my arm was killing me. When I would move my arm, it would hurt and since it is my right arm, that limits me. But luckily for me, I use my left hand quite well and just shifting the duties to that arm. I can also write with my left hand.
Getty fed the animals and then went off to work. Tess snuggled next to me and Nan at my side and we all took long naps until Getty came home.
I got up to watch the LSU vs. GA Tech Game. LUS won it hands down 38-3. Getty was very happy and of course, Tess was in his lap.
Right now, I am still on the blood thinner and baby aspirin. I will be until all the heart procedures are done, the heart is stable and the clamshell has held and new tissue growth is going. I will be going back to Dr. Condon for the next few months. I am happy that the hole in the heart is closed and it is healing. The flutter issue (hopefully) will be a thing in the past. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is a wonderful, glowing light!!
It’s a great way to end the of 2008. 2009 is just going to be so much better and I really look forward to it.
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