Pharmacy wrestling match

Laura has been trying to get all of Nana's prescriptions from her latest hospital stay filled.  The pharmacy had a problem with the prescriptions.  It apparently isn't on the correct form.  Since one of the medicines was for a substance that keeps platelets from sticking to and building up around Nana's stent, Mama Bear mode kicked in about .02 seconds later (oh, that poor pharmacist). My sweet wife started reciting the list of who to contact at what hospital and here's everyone's phone numbers and call me when you get it figured out.

She went to pick up all of the prescriptions later that day.  On a Sunday.  Don't mess with Mama Bear. :-)

Apparently there's slightly more to this story:  When the pharmacist called to the hospital to verify with Dr. W, all the pharmacist wanted was Dr. W's FAX number.  The hospital was unwilling to provide that information, but they did provide Dr. W's personal cell number.  Which the pharmacist called and spoke with Dr. W. on a Sunday.  Twice.

Home at last

Nana's finally being discharged today.  This time for real.  Laura made the 60 mile drive yet again today up to the hospital.  Traffic on the freeways was miserable, and it took her close to 90 minutes to get to the hospital.  Aunt M and Uncld A were visit with Nana.  I think Aunt D was there as well.  Nana's little hospital room was pretty close to a full house that day.

I called the Oxygen Supply company to get things squared away.  At first they couldn't find the information for me.  The gentleman on the phone said he would call me back in about half an hour.  He called back as promised in the time frame promised.  He said that he found the paperwork, and everything was in order.  He said he would be by in another 30 minutes to drop everything off, and wanted to know how many oxygen tanks we wanted.  Amazing...once things were figured out, they really did a nice job.

About half an hour later, he showed up and delivered three oxygen tanks and a 5 liter oxygen concentrator.  He also provided about 60 feet of tubing and several cannulas to go in Nana's nose  Having 60 feet of tubing gives Nana free reign--she can get into just about any room she desires.

Laura and Nana arrived home around 7pm, and we had a difficult time trying to get Nana into the house.  When she was rounding the bend by the rose bush in front of our house, the air hose popped off the oxygen tank.  Her strength just drained away.  We got it re-connected, and my wife turned it up so she was getting quite a bit of oxygen.  One of the boys brought out a chair, and the other brought out this other walker we have that rolls and has an integrated seat.  Nana sat down for a few minutes, then transferred to the rolling walker and I wheeled her into the house.  It was good to have her home, but it was a difficult night as she needed quite a bit of help.

The Oxygen Fiasco

It all started with "Will somebody be home to sign?"  Laura told the Oxygen Supply Company "Yes."  They never said anything about the need for said signer to be at least 18 years old.

So while Nana's ablation is going on, the Oxygen Supply Company was trying to get ahold of Laura on her cell phone.  The hospital in Orange County may as well be one of those dread "dead zones" for cell coverage, as calls drop faster than eggs into soup at a Chinese restaurant.  *ugh*

It turns out that the Oxygen Supply Company was delivering the oxygen concentrator and tanks about 5pm, which was when some friends were picking up our sons for an activity with our church's youth group.  Our daughter (who was originally supposed to sign for the oxygen) wasn't home from work yet, and the delivery person from the Oxygen Supply Company would not leave the oxygen with our 16-year old son.

So Friday night started out with no oxygen being delivered.  Laura called the person whom she spoke with at the Oxygen Supply Company, and had to leave a message.  Since having a portable tank of oxygen was one of the requirements for Nana being discharged, we were thinking they weren't going to discharge her until Monday.

After dinner, Laura was able to get ahold of someone at the Oxygen Supply Company, and arranged for delivery of a portable oxygen tank that night.  Our sons had returned from their activity, and our daughter was home from work so someone there could sign for the oxygen.  It was around 10pm when I received a text message from our daughter saying that someone from the Oxygen Supply Company had delivered a single tank of oxygen.  We were glad for that single tank, but Nana needs oxygen 24/7.  There was a little more of this particular battle to fight.

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.

Catching Dr. Y

Dr. Y (at Dr. W's request) came and presented an option to Laura and Nana: A catheter ablation procedure to help control her heart rhythm.  He said that it could be done soon, or Nana could return and have it done.  He then left the room.

Nana decided that since she was already in the hospital, that it would be a viable option.  Laura had to go hunt down Dr. Y to let him know their decision.  Laura spotted him in the elevator, and the door was closing.  She jammed her arm in the elevator, and managed to catch Dr. Y and get things set up.  The ablation procedure is scheduled for Friday the 11th.

Coming home---NOT!

Nana's supposed to come home today!  She was cruising around in the halls at the hospital, and doing just fine.

Laura made the 60 mile drive up to Orange County to get her today, and started getting all the discharge stuff in order.  Nana was getting dressed, when she started to feel tired.  A nurse took her vitals, and her oxygen level was way down, and her heart rate was way up.  Laura said that she will be re-evaluated for home oxygen tomorrow and have to spend one more night in the hospital.

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.

No Test Weekend

Nana was supposed to be transferred to a hospital in Orange County (about 60 miles away) to have her heart examined.  The transfer did not happen, so we had to wait until Monday to find out when she was going to have this test performed.  The good news was that we didn't have to make that 60-mile drive this weekend.

The start of the 12-day stay

Nana was admitted to the hospital because of fluid retention and breathing difficulties again.  She was in a hospital about a mile and a half from our house.  She was scheduled to be transferred to a hospital in Orange County (about 60 miles away) to have her heart examined via catheter and camera on Friday, March 4, and schedule a valve replacement.

Dr C, Nana's kidney doctor, came by to tell her that it's almost a sure thing that if she has this valve replacement surgery, she will need to go on dialysis. She only has 1 kidney working, and it's at about 40%. He wants Nana to drink more to help her kidney. Of course Dr M doesn't agree and still wants Nana on the fluid restriction. Wouldn't it be great if doctors could agree on a course of treatment?

On March 3, they performed an electrical cardioversion (shock treatment) on Nana's heart to try to correct her a-fib (atrial fibrillation) heart rhythm.  She came through this procedure with flying colors.  The problem with this was that her heart returned to it's a-fib rhythm within a few days...