Mercy

Friday, 11/5, I met Steve and the hospital at 8:00 in the morning.

We checked her in and sat in the waiting room for the nurse to come and get her. I can't say that she was nervous. She was tired, relieved, anxious,  and weepy. A distant stare seemed a little ominous.

The nurse came and took her away to start the preparation for what would be a very traumatic and long surgery. We would see her again before they put her to sleep, but right now, there were plenty of things that were going on that didn't require a cheering section.

Some of the Sisters of Mercy stopped by to pray. Loving arms and thoughts were closing in around Mom.

It was starting to get serious.

I think that one of my automatic functions when stressed is levity. A little humor helps me avert overbearing thoughts and I always assumed that it does the same for others. It doesn't. One of the nurses made it clear to me that it was time to talk in a quiet voice and to not say anything other than sweet, peaceful comments and plenty of affection toward my Mom. Reality was getting un-funny.

Holding Room

Sitting there and watching my Mom pant was torture. Her skin color was pale and she was fighting to keep her oxygen up and her blood pressure and heart rate down. Terror was starting to show on her face. All of the medicines that they were giving her were not getting the desired result. The anesthesiologist was watching her close. They would add a little something to her medicines then stare intently at the monitors. Something else was added and they watched some more.

As we feared, another heart case came in from the ER and the cardiac surgeon that was going to work on Mom was obliged to work on another case. Now I know why they call that area of the hospital the "holding" area.

At @ 1:15 they took her back. She was gasping for breath and the attending nurses wheeled her away.

We had a phone with us that was used by the "circulating" nurse. Her job is to be the messenger. We were to get updates about progress and milestones.

In a nutshell, Moms surgery will go like this (I'm not a doctor, so do not try this at home):

The Cardiac Surgeon will start opening the chest while another will remove a vein from her left leg for the bypasses. The surgeon will also get another vein from the chest wall. When the veins are ready, they will put her on a heart bypass machine (circulates the blood in lieu of the heart), stop her heart and start the  5 bypasses (think of that as a detour around a bad place in the road). After the bypasses, they will remove the offending aortic valve and replace it with a valve made from the pericardium of a cow. They attach some temporary pacemaker wires in case they need to restart her heart later. After everything is complete, they restart her heart (high tech jumper cables), watch, take her of the bypass and sew her up. She will have chest drain tubes, a plethora of wires attached everywhere and she will be on a ventilator.

From surgery, she goes to the Intensive Care Unit. She is closely monitored. About 6+ hour later, the try to get her off the ventilator. Within a day, they have her sitting up and starting a clear diet. Next, she goes to the Coronary Observation Unit and then home in a few days after that. They don't waste time.

1:45- The nurse called and said that they had started and that they would call when she was on the bypass machine.
2:45- on heart bypass machine
3:45- Dr. finishing 5th bypass
4:41- New valve in place
6:00- Mom removed from bypass machine
7:00- Mom moved to ICU

We were invited to the nurses lounge to wait for the Surgeon. He will tell us the story.

About 7:30, the cardiac surgeon came by. A day of surgery for him was evident by the impressions left on his face from all of the masks and lights. He had to be exhausted.

He said she did great. Her heart is fixed. She is very stable but he won't celebrate until she goes home.

He did offer a caveat. She nearly died before they even started the procedure. Not even 5 minutes after we left her and they wheeled her away, she "crashed." They had to do an emergency intubation and bring her back, get her stable, and start the procedure.

Good call by the cardiologist to do the procedure and not wait until next week. She probably would have died before she got to the table.

We went to see her at 10:00pm. She was heavily sedated. The nurses and doctors said she was doing great. Steve, Pam, Marty and I kissed he goodnight, told her that we loved her and left her to get some much needed rest.

Even with the tubes, buzzers, beepers and wires, she looked good.