Oregon Living 2024 – Blog #361/2 –  The Rest of the Story...

                       I didn’t want to wait a whole week so I have decided to split it up……

Sunday, September 8^th., 2024……  Here is the rest of the story from the ER….

I was up early this morning, expecting a call from Cat saying they were transporting her. I got Rylee walked and fed before she called. I had time because they would need to get her situated in a room there before I could go in, so I made coffee and ate a couple of breakfast croissants before heading over. They had her in her room and I got in with no problems. The doctor (cardiac Fellow) was there saying that she didn’t know if the team was in today but if they are, they might want to do the procedure today. But it possibly might be tomorrow. It will be a line/catheter run into an artery (either through the wrist or the groin) and they would use a contrast to check for blockage. Once in, they said it would be one of three levels: 1) no blockage, 2) one or two blockages, in which case they would put stents in for those, and 3) more than a few blocked arteries, in which case they would have to do open heart surgery for.  One of the surgeons came and said, “Let’s do it today!”. About 40 minutes later, they wheeled her out. They estimated 2 hours total for option 2, so I went down and had a sandwich in the cafeteria and then went back to the waiting room on her floor for her to return. I think it was a little over an hour when I went back to the room to get a phone charger, when I saw her bed was back!  She was still out of it, but muttered that they didn’t find any blockages and didn’t put any stents in.  It took 30-40 minutes for her to come out of it. The nurses came in and confirmed that there were no blockages. After a bit, we discussed things. We are happy, sad, and confused!  Happy her heart is healthy, but sad because we are back to square one because she will still have the same condition as when she went in. The hospitalist came in and said they were giving her some meds to help with issues. They think it may be chest/esophageal spasms, caused by her blood pressure meds. They want her to do a follow-up with her own doctor in a week. They also said she could go home later today. They went in through her wrist so she will have to wear a brace for 12 hours and not lift anything for a week and try not to bend the wrist to make it bleed. I think it was a little after 4:00pm before she got released. We stopped on the way home and got Jama from Misty and Lona and went home to relax from the day. Neither of us was hungry so Cathye snacked and I made a couple of cheese quesadillas. We watched our own programs for a few hours, then I came in so we could finish the Barbie movie before bed.

Monday, September 9^th., 2024…… No gym for her this morning. I was planning on going and she said she would do walking stuff, but we got a call from my sister about her plans today. Her friends, Bill and Debbie from SoCal, are passing through and stayed with her last night. They were going to Kevin’s for breakfast -  so we decided to forego the gym and go eat with them. After the meal, Cat headed off to Walmart and I rode back to our house so Bill and Debbie could see the deck and things done since they were last up here. Cathye got a text that her new prescription was ready but when she got there, they said it would be another 15 minutes, so we will need to go back later. After everyone left, I settled in to get the blog done and posted and then it was about time for me to head over to Corvallis – yes, back to the same hospital we left yesterday – for my CT scan. I left Cat home to rest. I checked in at the main desk and went to the Imaging room and waited a few minutes before they called me in. The whole process took only about 15 minutes!  They injected me with a dye for contrast and did a test run with the table sliding under the halo cylinder around me. Then they released the dye. They said it would be warm from my neck to my bladder. Warm is not the word! It felt like I was sunburned and was under a heat lamp! But that only lasted about 15 seconds and then was completely gone. Weird!  I was out of there and got back home in just over an hour and a half. We spent time watching tv and for a bit then went out to the front garden area and did some weeding. We had started this last week and spent another hour or so working there today. 

No hurry. Cathye did well because she can sit out there and work.

Tuesday, September 10^th., 2024……  More work today on the garden this morning. I think we only need about 30 minutes more and we will be done. Maybe tomorrow...  After cleaning up and changing clothes, we headed off to Costco for a few things (yes, still over $200.00!). I went to class later while Cat took it easy. She has been making calls yesterday and today to her primary as well as the original cardiologist, describing her symptoms as of late, and asking for next steps. The cardiology team got back to her and asked some more questions. They asked for a running record of bp and pulse ox which she has been keeping. They added an appointment for her for cardiology and she has one got her gp. Later, we had dinner and made plans for tomorrow. I have the morning open so I made an appointment to get the motorhome in for front tires. After that, I will take it to the front end shop for work there. We had Costco chicken and mashed potatoes and green beans and fresh peach slices for dinner. Tv and bed. Oh yeah, Cat watched the debate front start to finish. I could only watch about 10 minutes before I quit! Why don’t they call it what it is – sniping at its finest!  I didn’t see either of them addressing too much of the issues (which would have at least made it watchable). They just backstabbed and backstabbed. Kind of a joke! Regular tv and spa and then bedtime.