It's the little things

One of the things that has been a bit of a downer is that all food seems to taste mushy and bland to Nana whenever her lungs are affected with the fluid retention.  Part of this might be attributed to her low salt diet, but even with fruit?

Yesterday was a busy day for Nana.  Both the home nurse and the physical therapist stopped by.  She did fine with both, but her pulse always seems to be on the low side and the nurse was worried about the increased swelling in the legs. She called Dr M. to tell him about the changes and he changed Nana's medicine.

Today, Nana's weight was down about 6 pounds from yesterday, and she's breathing a bit easier. We're thankful for that!  Laura says that her legs are still swollen, but when Nana ate a banana for breakfast, she was able to taste it!  For the first time in a long while, it didn't taste like mush. We're hoping that means her lungs are clearing up!

Catheter Ablation Procedure

Laura and I arrived at the hospital in the early afternoon, and Aunt D was there visiting with her again.  We're so thankful that she was there to spend time with Nana.

Nana had a catheter ablation procedure performed on the upper right part of her heart to hopefully control her heart rhythm.  She has an a-fib (atrial fibrillation) heartbeat, and hopefully this will help change her heart beat rhythm to a normal one.  Her procedure was supposed to begin at 3pm, but it was closer to 4:30pm when they finally began.

Laura, Aunt D, Cousin D and I spent a couple of hours in one of the waiting rooms being afflicted by the wonders that are afternoon TV.  I can now say I've been subjected to Judge Judy and Dr. Phil, and I really don't care to endure that again.  Around 6pm, Laura and I decided to go get some dinner (and to ponder the Oxygen Fiasco).

We got back from dinner around 7pm, and immediately went to the waiting room to see if Aunt D and Cousin D were still there.  Nope--they had left.  I said "Let's go check out Nana's room," and as soon as we got off the elevator on her floor, we saw some orderlies (is that what they're still called?) wheeling a gurney with Nana towards her room.  Praise God for good timing!.

This was another difficult day, as Nana had to lay flat on her back for about 4 hours.  As she was recovering, she kept asking Laura when the spaghetti was going to hatch, and what it does.  I'm not sure if she was just talking in her sleep, or if this was an after effect of the anesthesia, but it was pretty amusing.  What happened is that the hospital staff either washed her hair, or got it wet, and that became the "spaghetti" and the "hatching" was her hair drying.  It's amazing how the human brain connects words together, and if something interferes slightly, the lookup table can be a bit off.  Sometimes humorously.

Dinner for Nana tonight consisted of meatballs, plain white rice and green beans.  Since Nana has a hiatal hernia, swallowing things can be tricky...especially rice.  Again, Laura asked the nursing staff for something else, and they brought orange sherbet and chocolate pudding.  They also brought some green jell-o, which Nana decided to not eat because green jell-o is something to be wary of (this is an inside joke that I really don't want to explain right now).

We managed to get home from the hospital close to 11:30 pm after a long and tiring day.

Transferred again & Busier Tuesday

Isn't this the way things always seem to go?  A vital piece of equipment at the hospital where Nana was supposed to have her stent inserted and LAD angioplasty has broken.  So far, I have not heard what that equipment was, but apparently it was pretty vital to the procedure because Nana was transferred to yet another hospital in Orange County.

I took the day off work, and Laura and I made the hour or so long 60-mile drive up to Orange County.  Our plan was to arrive after Nana's procedure, as Aunt D was there visiting.  My wife and I had never been to this hospital, and we had quite a time navigating our way throughout this particular maze to find where they had hidden Nana.  We found her in a recovery room, and Aunt D was still with her (of which we were very thankful).

Nana was in and out of sleep and had to lie flat on her back for another 7 hours after these procedures.  She stayed in recovery until a little after 5pm, when she was moved to a room in the cardiac recovery area at the hospital.  By the time she was sort of settled in her room, it was just about 6pm -- time for the shift change in the hospital.  This gave Laura and I the opportunity to get a rather disappointing dinner at a restaurant we hadn't visited in probably 20 years.

We got back to her room shortly after 7pm and stayed until a little past 8pm.  She was able to sit up at 7:30pm, and was brought a dry turkey sandwich for dinner.  Laura was able to get the nursing staff to bring us some pudding and some yogurt, which she fed to Nana.  There was talk about Nana being discharged the next day.  We were a bit skeptical at this prospect.

Transferred & Busy Monday

Nana was transferred via medical carrier up to Orange County for her heart exam.  I don't know why they decided to ship her up there at 5am Monday morning...that part may forever remain a mystery.  Her procedure was supposed to start at 7:30am, but it didn't start until later in the morning.

Laura made the 60 mile drive up to Orange County to visit Nana.  She arrived shortly after 12pm, when Nana was in recovery.  Poor Nana had to lie flat on her back for 7 hours after the procedure, and it was a bit trying for everyone.  Dr. W decided that she needed a stent and some angioplasty in the left anterior portion of her heart.  These procedures are scheduled for tomorrow. Dr W is hoping this is enough to fix the swelling due to poor circulation and not do the riskier heart valve replacement surgery.

One frustrating yet kind of amusing thing that happened this day was what the hospital brought Nana for dinner--a big beef, onion and bell pepper burrito.  Think Chipotle, and you're getting close.  Now, please answer me this: How on God's green earth are you supposed to eat a massive burrito while laying flat on your back with a severe fluid restriction?  Laura wound up having most of the burrito for her dinner, and asking the nurses for some jello and pudding for Nana's dinner.