The End of a Long Dayby Jim
1 May 2009
12:05 am1
I am happy to say I have the pleasure of writing the post from the comfort of my own home. I was quite surprised this afternoon when the volunteer told me it was okay if I brought the car around. I had to ask him to repeat himself because I was sure he had gotten something wrong. I was expecting to be told that I could go and see Angie; the doctor had even said he thought she’d be spending the night. Turns out, the nurses just asked Angie what she wanted to do and Angie said she wanted to go home, so we did.
Angie looked quite pale when she came out to the car, but once we got home and she could sit comfortably, things were better. I’m sorry I didn’t post earlier, but I was busy taking care of my sweet wife.
I nearly had a fiasco at the pharmacy with her pain meds. I went to Rite-Aid at 8:30, just 30 minutes before they close. The pharmacist told me that they were out of Percoset and that I would have to hurry to the other Rite-Aid in town to get there on time. He was very apologetic and wanted to make sure I made it before they closed, so he called ahead to give them the heads-up. He gave me the phone number and sent me on my way. Angie was due for her next dose and I didn’t want to risk having to go all night without any. I briskly walked to my car and was pulling out of the parking lot with my cell phone to my ear when I saw a man in a white coat running towards the car. It was the pharmacist chasing me down to tell me that they had a generic brand he had forgotten to check for. We went back in and he filled the prescription while I waited. I was very grateful; I wasn’t sure where the other Rite-Aid was and I would have felt terrible if I had gotten lost trying to find it and had to go home without any meds for Angie. I realized that the pharmacist could have easily let it slide and let me drive away. There would have been no way for me to find out that he had something he could have given me. It is behavior like that that makes me want to frequent a store. Perhaps we should switch back from our mail-order prescriptions and get them at Rite-Aid. They certainly deserve it.
In Recoveryby Jim
30 Apr 2009
2:04 pm1
Dr. Spain just came out to chat with me. He said the procedure went along just fine. Angie is currently in the recovery room and I haven’t seen her yet. The doctor also said that Angie was talking all during the surgery (“yapping away,” as he put it). This surprised me because I though they were going to sedate her. He explained that although they sedated her, she still was awake and talking — though she won’t remember any of it after she comes to. I’m really curious now what she was talking about…
Under the Knifeby Jim
30 Apr 2009
1:04 pm0
Angie and I drove out to Stanford this morning and arrived at about 9:20. She is currently in the operating room and should be finished in about 30 minutes. So far everything has been going well. She was in good spirits going in. The nurse that took Angie back got a good laugh when, after asking her to, Angie literally “jumped” on the scale to weigh her. She said she’s been doing this for years and no one had ever done that before.
I’ll keep posting as the news comes.
For those of you not aware of today’s surgery, it isn’t a serious one and was fully anticipated, so no worries are warranted.
Angie is homeby Jim
24 May 2008
10:05 am0
Angie came home late last night and is doing just fine. I’ve come in to work today so I can make up some of the hours I spent at the hospital this week. Jon is with her now to take care of her. Thank you all for your support and prayers.
(This will be the last of the “Hospital Updates” posts for this event, so anyone subscribed to this category won’t get anything more until the next time we visit a hospital.)
An answer to prayersby Jim
23 May 2008
6:05 pm1
Angie is coming home! Mom just called me and said that the catheter is out and the discharge paperwork has been started. Thank you for all of your prayers! I’ll continue to update everyone on Angie’s recovery here on our blog, but now that she will be leaving the hospital, those updates will be less often. Thanks again for your support!
The roller coaster ride continuesby Jim
23 May 2008
2:05 pm0
I just got another call from my mom. They went ahead and put the Vitamin K (Potassium) in her IV, but it started burning and was very uncomfortable. Finally, when the doctor came in, she turned off the IV and had Angie take a potassium pill. The doctor arranged for them to have her blood drawn again and tested at 6 so as to let the potassium have as much affect as possible while still allowing enough time to be discharged tonight.
Angie is in good spirits and lots of her strength is back. She’s already been on a couple of walks and is improving rapidly. I know that she would improve fastest at home, so please, everyone pray that her blood test at 6 will come back positive so she can come home tonight.
Frustrationsby Jim
23 May 2008
12:05 pm0
Well, I have some bad news. I just got off the phone with my mom who had the latest update. The doctors told Angie that they can’t take the catheter out of her back yet because her blood is too thin. The frustrating part is that they’ve been giving her Heparin twice daily to thin her blood. To add to the frustration, this isn’t the first time her blood viscosity has been an issue; they delayed her surgery on Wednesday because her blood was too thin. They gave her some potassium to help thicken her blood so they could start the surgery, which is what they plan to do again so they can remove the catheter. They’ll do another blood test this afternoon to see if her blood is thick enough, but if the results don’t show what they are looking for, she’ll have to stay another night in the hospital. Please pray for Angie to have thick blood this afternoon.