Being (a) patient

We arrived at the hospital at 6:00 this morning after sleeping quite well. I think the waiting is the hardest part and we did that for an hour before being admitted. Russ was checked into the GYN ward because of a shortage of beds and put in the MALES ONLY room. I think most of these were urology patients, and they just lump everyone, males and females, with issues in THAT area together (the catheter goes in through the femoral artery near the groin). More waiting until 9:00 when they brought him into theatre (what a silly word). Russ was rather calm and had a good presence of mind. I was told it would not take long, so I ran downstairs to get something to eat, came back up, and ten minutes later he was out. The whole process just took thirty minutes, which I think is remarkable. He was then admitted into the Cardiac ICU across the hall.

The technical stuff: He did in fact have a narrowing in the left anterior descending artery which they stented. He also had an unrelated spasm in another artery during the procedure which went away with medication. The doctor did not seem concerned about that. He will stay in ICU tonight and Dr. Bennett expects to discharge him tomorrow morning.

He is groggy and will probably sleep most of today, probably getting better rest than he has for a while. He was only sedated for twenty minutes so coming back to normal is not too bad. Now the deed is done and he can work on building up his strength.

An upside to not having insurance (and we are looking for any upside we can) is that we do not have to wait for any authorization. Russ received the angio-seal which stops the bleeding at the femoral artery almost immediately instead of using manual pressure which can take several hours to stop bleeding. Apparently, insurance companies are hesitant to pay for that. The gold card gives instant authorization (and we are earning lots of frequent flier miles!)

The sisters (nurses) in ICU are helpful and pleasant, but I have to say that my experiences here and in Windhoek (not to mention my own at BMC) show that intensive care units are not conducive to healing. Florescent lights, bells and whistles, constant talking and activity all make it difficult to rest. I will bring him an eye mask and ear plugs to help things along.

It has been a long morning already, but has also gone by quickly. I am so thankful for how smoothly everything went, and for the support from friends and family.