June 17. Spent most of the day in the hospital. I checked in at 11 a.m. and was taken to pre-op. I had an IV put in my arm and signed the informed consent form for my procedure. At 1 p.m., the cath lab folks came down to get me. A few nervous tears and words to my husband and I was taken into an extremely cold room. Four large computer monitors were on my left. Plastic covered things were hanging over my head. The nurse cleaned off the groin area on both sides. I was still very nervous and had to remember to not think about my kids while laying on that table. It didn't help when the nurse asked how many kids, names, ages. I got a little weepy again. One of the nurses injected something into my IV to help me relax. Another tech was getting me prepped. Heart sensor stickers were placed on my body. He put a sticky, heavy plastic thing across my groin area and had to adjust it once. It was very sticky and it kinda hurt when he had to adjust it. At one point in this, I touched my right leg with my right hand. They reminded me to not touch my leg as they had just cleaned it. They cleaned it again.
The doctor arrived. I hadn't met him prior to this, so he came over and introduced himself. He seemed pretty nice. He was older, so I felt a bit of comfort in that. I figured he had a ton of these procedures under his belt. He explained what they were going to do.
The doctor said he was going to inject a local pain killer to numb my skin before inserting the catheter. They were planning on using my right side. The shot stung for a few seconds. Then as he inserted the catheter, I felt some pressure, but not really pain. It was a weird sensation. I kept my eyes mostly closed. When I did open them, I just noticed the sterile white room and plastic covered things that moved over and around me. Most of the time I opened my eyes, my view was blocked by these plastic covered things.
At times they injected dye into the catheter. As this occured, a hot sensation moved from my chest down to my groin area. It felt like I peed my pants. The doctor would call out numbers. At times he would tap on my leg. The lights would dim and get bright, dim and get bright. The doctor and the tech would whisper things to eachother. At one point I heard the nurse, who was in another room, say, "her pressure is low." Or something like that.
The weirdest sensation occured near the end of the procedure. The doctor said they were in the left ventricle and that I would feel some extra heartbeats. I could feel my heart beating erratically and I really didn't like that feeling. I needed reassurance a few times that it was a normal feeling. I also had a strange sensation in my right foot. It felt like I was stung by a bee on my right heel. It started as a tickle, but then felt like a burning sting. I mentioned it to the doctor and he said something about a nerve that runs along the artery. It when away quickly, but came back one more time.
I was so thrilled when he said that they were finished. The doctor said that I had "beautiful arteries," but told me what I already knew, my aorta was quite enlarged. He said that he imagined the surgery would take place within a week. I still need to speak to the surgeon.
The nurse and the tech started to tell me about what to look for at the puncture site and how to take care of it. They then prepped me to move me to a regular bed so I could be moved to a room to recover for a few hours. One nurse grabbed the blanket under my right side and sort of rolled me into her. The tech slid a big, cold and hard black board under me. Like a big pizza he sorta slid that thing under me as the nurse rolled me onto it. Then he pulled me over to the bed. He pulled me kinda hard and I flew onto the bed. He mentioned that they usually have heavier patients and said, "I wish they were all as light as you!!" I guess I'll take it as a compliment!!
One of the best things ever....heated hospital blankets! After I was on the regular bed, the nurse covered me with very warm, soft blankets. I was almost shivering before, so those blankets were the best feeling. They tucked my hands under the blankets and wheeled me out. I saw my husband outside the door talking to the doctor. My husband works at the health care system, so he has worked with many of the people we came in contact with.
My recovery was fine. I had to keep my right leg absolutely still for about 2 hours. I could bend and move my left leg, but it was hard to keep my right one still. The nurses checked my vitals every 15 minutes for the first hour and then twice in the second hour. I asked if I could have something to drink. I said I was craving a regular Coke. The nurses aide brought me an ice-cold can of Coke with a straw. So good! I was also excited when they gave me a menu and said I could eat. Since I was laying down, I picked something non-messy. Grilled cheese and fries with chocolote pudding for dessert! Nice healthy meal!!!! Hey, I have beautiful arteries, right? Is one greasy meal going to hurt?!? That was the best grilled cheese ever...thick white bread that must have been soaked in butter with thick American cheese and a side of well done fries. Hard to believe they let me eat that in the cardiac dept. My husband ate most of the fries and then discovered that there was chocolate ice cream for patients in the fridge down the hall. We switched out the pudding for ice cream. Marlo fed me ice cream while we watched Ellen.
Finally we were able to leave. I took my at-home directions and was wheeled to the valet. We picked up the kids at their school. This was the first time ever that they were at school for more than three hours. They were there all day and even napped there. The ladies at the school are being so supportive about everything. I can take the kids any day for any length of time. I don't want to do that too often, but it's nice to know that I can.
Before we left the hospital, the surgeons office called to schedule my meeting with Dr. Guber (pronounced Goober). Dr. Guber is Denver's Top Thorasic Surgeon and everyone I mention his name to says that I'm in the best possible hands. I'm hoping they are right! I meet with him on Friday morning. After that meeting, I will know the date of my surgery.
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