This is another 'you might want to grab a coffee before you sit down' post. It's pretty lengthy. On our way to the hospital very early Tuesday morning, Tim turned to us and with a smile said that he felt like was going on a trip. I think if he knew then, what he knows now, this is one trip he would have passed on.
The whole pre-surgery stuff went well. We met with a nurse who went over a lot of questions that he had all ready answered in the pre-surgery consultation a couple of weeks ago, checked his vitals, prepped him and he was good to go at about 7:30 (surgery was at 8:00). We just had to wait for the anesthetist to come speak with him and then he would be taken to the operating room. While waiting Tim was getting a little antsy. He said that physically he felt great, that he really wanted to do something, perhaps some yoga but what he really wanted to do was run. The anesthetist showed up at about 7:50 and he was great. He explained everything that he was going to do and exactly how he was going to do it. His OR nurse introduced herself, checked the information on his bracelets to make sure they matched what she had, told Tim to give me his glasses, grabbed his arm and down the hall they walked.
Lisa and I went for a walk and grabbed some breakfast. I had asked the surgeon to come speak with me when the operation was finished so we made sure we were back at the hospital well before the 2 hours were up. His surgery was expected to be 2 hours but I was told if it took longer than that not to be concerned. It was about 10:40 when the surgeon showed up and he said the operation went really well and that Tim would be in Recovery for a while and moved to the Surgical Coronary Care Unit (SCCU) later in the afternoon.
Rather than sit around the hospital and wait, Lisa and I went to the mall for a while. She needed some maternity clothes and there was a store at Orchard Park that had some good deals. We spent some of Tim's money, grabbed some lunch and went back to the hospital. We went up to SCCU and there was an elderly volunteer manning the door. I gave her Tim's name and she checked the list and his name wasn't there. She called inside to see if he was expected and he wasn't on the list to come later in the day either. I was getting a little worked up because this volunteer, even though she was probably trying very hard to be helpful, wasn't really being helpful at all. She told us to go see someone in Recovery and kind of pointed down a hallway and said to go that way. We eventually returned to where we were in the morning but there wasn't anyone around and I wasn't going to go through the door that said "No Unauthorized Personnel Beyond This Point" Fortunately there was someone with a hospital badge folding some sheets down the hall a bit and I asked her if she could help me. Within a couple of minutes she had a nurse from Recovery come out and speak with us and both Lisa and I were allowed to go in for a little while to visit with him.
Tim didn't look too bad. His colour was good, he was alert, coherent and talkative. We could also tell he was on some heavy duty pain medication and this was evident in his voice and words. The best was when he asked us what we did during the day. When we told him about our shopping expedition, he asked Lisa if she bought any dresses. Lisa is not a dress person, I can't remember the last time I saw her in a dress. Tim got this dreamy look in his eyes (or perhaps it was his drug induced glassy eyed look) and said in this dreamy-like voice, "Dresses are just so cool. You know, if I was a girl, I would wear a dress all the time." I wonder if he remembers this conversation.
His Recovery nurse was wonderful. She said that Tim being able to see us was extremely important for his recovery and when we left she gave us the hospital phone number and told me I could call later to see how he was doing and then again in the morning to find out what was going on with regards to where Tim might be for the day. When I phoned the hospital at night, the person I spoke with said that they don't take phone calls in Recovery and when I explained the situation, she was extremely compassionate and said she would call up and see if anyone was able to speak with me. Within seconds I was speaking with Tim's nurse and she let me know that he was doing good and asked if I wanted to speak with him. I never anticipated being able to speak with him and I cannot tell you how grateful I was to be able to hear his voice. The phone call in the morning didn't go so well. I got transferred all over the hospital, eventually ended up being transferred to the emergency fire line and let me tell you, the woman on the other end was extremely unpleasant and very rude. I didn't get to say anything, she just ranted at me for a minute and then hung up and I had to start all over again. Finally someone transferred me to Recovery and by this time I was getting pretty close to meltdown mode but as soon as I gave them my name, they knew exactly who I was and again, within seconds I was speaking with Tim's nurse who told me everything I needed to know. She even took my number and said she would try to find time to get the phone to Tim so he could call me. Not more than 2 minutes later my phone was ringing. They were waiting for the surgeon to come in and hopefully downgrade his condition so he could be moved to a regular room. If he wasn't stable enough to be transferred he would have to stay there and that would mean absolutely no visitors because they were anticipating a very busy day. I was getting quite worked up about maybe not being able to see him but she called back a couple of hours later to let me know that he was being moved, when he was being moved and where I would be able to find him.
Lisa and I got up to the hospital a little after lunch to find Tim not doing so good. He seemed to be in quite a bit of discomfort and was having difficulty getting comfortable. When we came back he seemed to be feeling a bit better. He thought he even felt well enough to watch the hockey game tonight so Lisa went down to the nurses' station to see what she could do to make that happen. The tv guy had all ready left for the day but because it was special circumstances (the Canucks playing, not because it was Tim!) and there were a few people wanting tv service, they called him back so it could be done. We stayed until he started dozing again and I was going to take Lisa home and then come back up after dinner. I figured I could watch a bit of the first period with her and then head back up to Kelowna and still have an hour or so to visit with him. The game was on the PVR so I could just finish it when I got home later. Well, the traffic was backed up all the way to the hospital and there was no way I was going to be able to get home and then come back before visiting hours were over. Lisa was tired but she said that when I told Tim I was coming back after dinner, she could see that it meant a lot to him so she said why don't we just grab something to eat and then go back to the hospital. We went to Kelseys because we figured they would have the game on. We watched the first period and then stopped in briefly at Chapters so Lisa could pick up a book to read while we sat with Tim.
When we got there, Tim had the TV on, the headphones were on his chest and he was sleeping. He must have watched some of the game but I guess he wasn't feeling as good as he had hoped. We couldn't let the tv rental go to waste so Lisa and I watched the rest of the game (no sound which was okay because there was only one set of headphones and when I put them on, I couldn't hear anything anyway.) Tim stirred once in a while and but slept most of the time. We did not make a sound when the Canucks scored but Tim must have sensed victory because he woke up, asked who scored, watched the replay and went back to sleep. The game ended 2 minutes before visiting hours were over (lucky for us) and we helped Tim get situated with his pillows, gave him a kiss and left him sleeping.
I am hoping to spend most of the day with him tomorrow. I started crocheting an afghan the day before he had his surgery because I knew I needed something to keep my mind occupied and I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate enough to be able to read. I call it the aorta afghan or aortagan for short. I am just going to sit with him and crochet. When he is able to talk, we'll talk but when he wants to sleep, I'll just sit there and be with him.
