MWNews 29

I remembered what Maeghan was doing the other day that was so funny. It turns out, it wasn't that funny. We were in the hospital, visiting Juanita, and Maeghan was sitting in the other chair beside me. She told us she was going to take a nap, and then she started making snoring sounds. Juanita asked her what she was doing and she said she was being Daddy. Like I said, it wasn't that funny. She must think Daddy snores and we all know it is Mommy that snores.

Juanita is out of the hospital for a few days. She has to go back Thursday. She had to drive me home after my angiogram, although, they told her she was not going to be able to do it. She has been having trouble keeping her food down. It might be the medicine they give her or it might be something else, but if she cannot keep it down, then her blood sugar goes really low and she has a hypo. Which is short for 'we don't know what it is but hypo sounded good'. Its a medical term in places where they don't really have doctors who know what they are doing.

Anyway, she had to drive me home because they said I couldn't drive. I told them I can drive, I just can't serve, but apparently they had never seen that movie, so they didn't laugh, as I know you are doing right now. Actually, they said it was because of the chance I might open the gaping hole they apparently put in you to so you don't think about the fact that they are sticking wires in your heart. They tell you they are going in through the artery or something in the leg, I say leg because there are kids up late at night who might read this and I don't want them tramatized by using foul language. As you all know, they are suppossedly putting this tube in you and running wires and stuff up to your heart so they can inject things that should not be there straight into your heart. I keep saying heart because I want to emphasize that they are putting things in your HEART! Not that it is necessarily a bad thing, but it does seem a bit like running water through the engine in your car just to see if anything leaks. Little thought is given to the fact that the water might be causing a problem all by itself, the same as this dye might be causing a problem all by itself. I did find it heartening that they asked, just before I went in, if I had ever had any reaction to the dye. It was good of them to get that little detail out of the way just before they filled my HEART! with it.

I have had three of these before, so I knew what to expect. It wasn't really worrisome until they walked me, yes I said walked me as I had to walk down several hallways and through several doors before we got to the operating room. I am not sure what was wrong with the bed I had been in which had wheels on it but I did manage to keep the blanket that was on the bed. I guess they felt I had gotten attached to it while I had been lying there waiting for them to put things in my HEART!

I was saying it wasn't worrisome until, when we got to the operating room, they told us to go back because they were rebooting the machine. I am no computer expert, oh wait, I am a computer expert so I guess them telling me we were using some type of equipement that needed to be rebooted before it would work wasn't something I should worry about because generally, you reboot computers because they are having a problem and I am sure they would not be using a machine that was having problems when they were putting things in my HEART!

About 15 minutes later, they called us in again. When we got there, I was allowed to actually lay on the operating table. I am not sure why, but the table was very skinny at the head of it so my arms had nothing to rest on. I didn't think this was so wrong as most of the times before, they had me hold something about my head to keep my arms out of the way. I am guessing that is what they did it for, as I never really asked. But, I noticed on this bed, there wasn't anything above my head to hold onto. They then asked if I wanted the armrests attached to the bed. I said yes and they did it but it seems to me if you are going to design a bed that is skinny at the top so your arms are not allowed to rest on it and then you are going to attach armrests to it to allow your arms to rest, then why not just make the bed big enough in the first place. It would seem like that would save a little time and be more productive. Maybe the bed is actually used for something else and they just borrowed it to do my operation. While I appreciate whomever they got the bed from, I don't think it was a surprise I was there so why didn't they have the regular bed there in the first place. I should have had a clue when they told me to be there by 07:30 but not before 07:30 and when I got there at 07:29, all the doors were closed and locked and all the lights were off. People who are that precise are probably not worried about things like using the right operating table. They have a schedule to keep.

While I was lying there, one of the nurses told me it takes longer to prep me than it takes to do the actual procedure. I said, yes, someone had told me the exact same thing everytime I had had this procedure. They also told me they were going to give me a mild seditive. They had always asked me before if I wanted a seditive and I had always declined, but these people did not give me a choice. When they injected whatever it was, I immediately started seeing the room spinning. It didn't last long but I mentioned it to them and they said that was normal. So as I am lying there, with the room spinning, they move the monitors over so I can see them. They have always done that and I have watched the procedure each time, except the first when I was wearing my glasses and they made me take them off. Each time after that, I have remembered to wear my contacts so I could see what is going on. As I am watching the monitors, I see that they all suddenly go blank. The doctor is standing over me, he has already given me a local anethesia in my thigh (wink wink) and all of the sudden, they all look up at the window and shake their heads. I am hoping it is not because they can no longer get a reading on me and that is the reason the monitors are not picking up anything but the longer this goes on, the more suspicious I get. Finally, I hear the doctor say to whomever is on the other side of the window that if they do not get the computers back up this time, they will have to cancel the operation. I am just relieved that it is a computer problem and not a lack of readings problem.

At this point, I have no idea what went on. On each of the previous occasions, I have been able to watch and remember everything that happened. This time, I cannot remember a thing. I remember telling a nurse that whatever the doctor was doing, it was hurting and I remember the nurse asking if I was feeling nauseous or something and then I remember them telling me not to move and being lifted and put onto a regular bed, but as far as the operation and the normal things I have felt and seen in the past, I don't remember any of it. Afterwards, when I realized I could not remember anything, I asked the nurse if I had fallen asleep. She checked my chart and said no, but I had had a high dose of this seditive and everything would probably be a little hazy to me. I still cannot remember any of it nor how long it took or if the computers ever got back online or anything. I am sure they did the procedure, although the hole they put in my thigh seems to be in a slightly different place than it has been in the past but I am sure that is because I have gotten older and things have moved around. The doctor had asked me beforehand, when he gives you the 'there is some risk involved' speech, like I hadn't realized that when they told me they were going to put things in my HEART! Anyway, the doctor asked me if I was sure I had had this procedure before as he could find no scar tissue. I told him yes, but at that point, he did not have my records yet and they were going to wait so they could be sure. I find it a little strange they had not reviewed my records before they decided to do the procedure but I am sure he just didn't want to be confused by the past and would do his own discovery, on my HEART!

At some point, the doctor came in and told me what they had found. There were a lot of things I just assumed he knew I already knew and there was nothing really new to report. He told me I would have to discuss it with my own doctor and they were faxing the reports over to him that day. I told him that I had an appointment in three weeks to see my doctor and he said I might want to move that up if I could. I didn't want to sound like I had not been understanding him before so I said yes I would but I am beginning to worry that he had told me something important and I should have asked more questions. Anyway, he seemed happy, so he left and I didn't see him again.

The rest is pretty normal. Except, as you know or have probably experienced, when they finish this procedure, they usually have some big strong nurse dig their fingers into your leg in an attempt to stop the blood from flowing. They have always done that to me in the past but this time, they strapped a machine to me and dialed up the pressure on my leg. I had to stay that way for over an hour but it seemed to do the job and I have had no problems. I did hear them talking about some old guy next to me, by the way, it always seems there are old guys next to me whenever I have one of these procedures. Now I am not one to jump to conclusions but either I am one of these old guys, or there is something that goes on when they do this procedure that makes you appear to be an old guy. I don't know which it is but I have never felt 39 was all that old, so it must have something to do with the procedure. Anyway, I heard them talking about this guy and how he had developed a hematoma. They said they would have to have someone apply pressure to his leg (wink wink) instead of using the machine to do it. They said it was faster that way and it would shorten the time he had to stay in bed. I had not been given that option, but I was not unhappy with using the machine. They eventually dialed the pressure down to zero, and then took it off. But, they had me press on the wound for an hour or so after that to make sure if it started bleeding, I would feel the blood oozing out. I was not allowed to lift my head, so I couldn't actually see if blood was oozing but they were sure I would feel it if it did. It didn't and I was allowed to go home four or five hours later.

That is where I started this and that is why Juanita is home for a few days. I guess I don't have a lot more to say. Maeghan kept everyone entertained while I was waiting. She sang songs and danced for everyone. Juanita was able to drive but if I had it to do again, she would not have. Her legs blew up to huge proportions that night and I was tempted to drive her back to the hospital. I had to decide if it was better to risk opening my leg wound or getting her back to the doctors. I decided they would probably not do anything for her except tell her to go lie down and she could do that at home, so we just went to bed. Nothing happened, but from now on, she will be staying in the hospital. Maybe taking day trips on the weekends but going back each night just to make sure.

They are telling us the baby is only three weeks away as they are going to do the ceserian at 37 weeks. They have not given us an exact date, but they should soon.

For those who are wondering, it turns out that Joanne is Juanita's cousin, so we can stop trying to figure that one out. We do have other news on Juanita's mother but I will save that for next time. She might have broken her foot but she has not been to the doctor yet, so we will wait until she does before discussing it.

Maeghan is definitely in a size 2 now. We went to the shops today and while we were there, we saw some tshirts on sale for Maeghan. They did not have a lot of size one's left, so we got her a size one and a size two. The size one is too short for her, it shows her belly and the size two fits just perfect. So, from now on, we will be buying her size two, which I think means we have clothes for her for Christmas that she may not fit into, but then again, I am not sure we bought her any clothes for Christmas.

I will be siging off now. It is about 10:30 at night and I am well past my bedtime. I had started this earlier but Maeghan wanted to go to bed and I had been making popcorn and a big glass of water to eat while I typed and when she noticed, she had to help me eat the popcorn and drink half my water. So, by the time I got back to this, it was after 9:30. Maeghan is now asleep and Juanita is sitting here next to me playing games but if I go to bed, she will too. We have to get up early tomorrow as we found out, while we were at the shops, that there is this jeweler that is having their once a year madness sale tomorrow morning. You have to get there by 08:00 and get a ticket to get in so you can have an opportunity to buy their out of date stock. It is really a great sale and we have always wanted to go to it, but we never seem to find out about it until it is too late. Now we know when and where it is, so we will try to make it on time or earlier. They have things like bracelets for $1 and rings to $5 and all sorts of other things but most of them are one of a kind and if you are not there as one of the first people, then they all get bought in the first five minutes. I think they run it like a lottery. You get there at 08:00 and get your ticket. The store does not open until 09:30 and then they draw numbers to see who gets to go in and shop. They only give out a limited number of numbers, so if you are not there right when they start giving them out, you will probably miss out. So, we are going to try to get there in the morning.

So I am going to bed. Talk to everyone again real soon. I will let you know what the doctor says as soon as I get to talk to him. By the way, this is a picture of Anna, Maeghan and Shayla. I'll let you figure out who is who.

Ok, the spell checker is not working again, so I will send this as is. Maybe, someday, they will get a decent one for this but until then, I just refuse to use it.