Heart cath day. Head out by 8:50 a.m. to make it to UVRMC by 9:30 a.m. I tell Dale of my prayer and request and this now feels like just another step in the process that won't delay the transplant.
Need to draw a CBC and access my port to do it. I don't understand why only certain, more highly trained personnel can access a port. It's actually easier than starting an IV because the port already has the vein encapsulated. No digging or guessing required.
Someone from the 7th floor--cancer ward--is nice to come down and we have access.
Lots of hurry up and wait when you're at a hospital and today is no different. I learn that I'm actually scheduled in the cath lab from 12-2. Wow! So I'm supposed to here 2.5 hours earlier so I can just hang out. And, to make everyone else feel more comfortable even though I won't need any sedation, I get to be fasting the entire time too. Okie dokie.
We get to start a little early--at 11:30. No, I don't want sedation. Dr. Carter agrees and tells me he'd never ask for sedation for this procedure either. But I'm already rethinking that decision. I can feel way more than I ever have before. It's definitely ouchy and my blood pressure clearly shows my stress. Darn!
Plus, my lungs seems to start reacting to the contrast liquid. Suddenly, I'm wheezing and my O2 level drops. IV medications and I'm awarded my very own nasal cannula for oxygen. Things look better until it's time to pull everything out and close.
It seems there's a nerve that runs along the artery we accessed, and the tech admits they must have nicked it because there are tears spontaneously running out of my eyes. This hurts! But there's no offer of sedation now. We're too close to the end, so grimace and bear it, Trish. This is a rare occurrence that just had to happen today. And my lungs aren't fully cooperating either. It's getting harder to breathe and the table starts violently spinning even though I'm laying perfectly flat. I don't like this. We're finally done after 15 minutes of strong, direct pressure right where it hurts and the pressure is causing even more pain.
The good news though. My aortic valve looks great--just slightly under normal. No heart valve transplant necessary. Dale looks at me and says "Your prayers were answered." I'm in pain and struggling to breathe, but he's absolutely right. I immediately burst into tears at the knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father answering my timid request.
Time to lay still in my room for three more hours while the site has a chance to form a strong clot that won't hemorrhage later. Yay! I can finally get up and move around.
The plan is to discharge me between 5 and 6 p.m. and the papers are already drawn up when my lungs decide they won't cooperate. Crud! The doctor wants me to stay the night? Really? When we didn't do any kind of heart interventions but take some measurements? I talk him into letting me go home and start getting dressed. Just putting on two articles of clothing, with Dale doing most of the work, drops my O2 level and makes me feel extremely dizzy. What's the right decision to make?
Time to involve Heavenly Father again. See, I can be taught :-) What's the right decision to make? I want to go home. We have a visitors coming over at 7:00 that we've never had before, and I want to participate in that visit. I reveal all of my reasons for wanting to go home and then realize, abruptly, that my reasons aren't good enough. There's more of risk than it's worth if I go home early.
What's even more miraculous is that I'm okay with staying. I can easily trade no valve transplant for one night in the hospital. Maybe this is a trial run for the four weeks of hospitalization that are coming.
I don't even need Dale to stay. I'm perfectly okay and want him to leave so he can meet our visitors. He gets to go home, and I get to catch up with these entries. It's all okay and someone much wiser than me is fully in charge. Thank you!
And, hopefully, we'll still get to proceed with the bone marrow transplant sometime next week. That's what I'm praying for now.
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