Aneurysm Adventure – Part 5

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Today was truly a roller coaster of emotions for me. I got up early and showered first thing. They called for the Doctors Report right at 7:00 am. I went up to the unit and I could see Dr. Murray going into your room. When he came out for the report-I was the only family member there of the three that were called. He said that they would remove the catheter and you would be sitting up today. He said that you were doing as well as could be expected. That statement made me nervous-I am accustomed to hearing that in a negative connotation-but I sincerely don’t think that is what he meant. He also said that you were having spasms and that they were giving you medicine to control them. I headed back down to Makayla. We went and got a Starbucks Coffee (and for the record, every time that I had a Starbucks, I felt a little guilty that I was having one and you weren’t). Anyway-then I wanted to write in my journal, but got involved in a conversation with a woman from Section, AL-where my dream house is. Her husband had been in a car wreck more than a year ago and was brought in because he was having trouble breathing. It is hard for me to concentrate on what others are saying. Then visiting hour at 10:30 came-the moment that I look forward to when I can spend time with you. As soon as I walked in, I could tell that you were in a lot of pain. I stood and held your hand and rubbed your forearms, you drifted in and out of sleep. Precious moments-yet difficult for me to watch you in so much pain. The nurse talked to me about the spasms and also said that a cardiologist would be coming by today to check and see why your heart rate continues to be so low. She said one possibility would be a pacemaker. OK, we just got through the surgery, then they spring something new on me. After I left, I went out the front door to get some fresh air and called the children’s minister to pray with me. After I told him what the nurse had said, I had to repeat myself because I had been crying-imagine that! He prayed with me and I fetl better. Then I called Ginger and she is coming tomorrow to bring me lunch. By then your mom had texted me to see how you were doing. I forgot to call her right away. I was very sleepy and my plan had been to come back and sleep in between visits, but I was upset so that didn’t happen. Michelle got here about 1:00. I also talked to Michelle from Evansville. Her and her husband are driving down Saturday morning. She offered to do laudry. What a relief. At the 1;30 visit, you were still looking mighty uncomfortable and you couldn’t stay awake for long. Brother Guy came to this visit also and you fell asleep during his prayer. Michelle came to this visit also, it was the first time that she had come to see you even though she had already spent many hours in the hospital. Michelle and I went to the “Food Court” for lunch. While we were eating, your mom called again. Darn, I had forgotten to call her again. Mental Note to Self-call her right after visits. We talked about the visit.

At the 4:30 visit-you were in a lot of pain and extremely uncomfortable. Jaimie had sat you up in bed and she had sat you up too far. You asked us to put the bed down. I was afraid to move you. Michelle tried to get Jaimie to ask, but she was busy, so you finally yelled that if we didn’t put the bed down, you were going to vomit. The control was on Michelle’s side and she put the bed down some. You were complaining a lot about how your head felt like someone had stuck a knife in the back of it. We asked the nurse if she could help you adjust your position. She said that she would get pillows. We waited until she came back with them and they propped you up-which we hoped would help. They were also going to call the doctor to see if they could take the skull cap off. Michelle left to go get her kids for church. I relaxed. Celine and Sophie came over and brought me supper-a baked potato. Food hasn’t been going well unfortunately. They didn’t get here until 6:40 and Sophie was very active tonight. My fourth visit with you at 8:30 tonight was my favorite. You had the skull cap off which had given you relief and you seemed in better spirits. Ashley and Gabe came up for a visit. You seemed excited to see them. They stayed a little longer than 10 minutes, then left. Whey they left, you put your head down on your pillow and closed your eyes. I could see how much effort it had been for you to stay alert that long. After the visit, I hurried home and grabbed clothes for 3 more days. I was back by 10:40. Michelle stayed all night with me.