May 20, 2011: Yesterday at 5:30 was my heart cauterization. I arrived just before 3:00 and everything spun into motion.
The plan was to work 'flex' beginning at 6 am and leaving at 2:30 pm. Phil picked me up at the nearest exit at work and dropped me off at the Hospital main entrance, then returned home anticipating picking me up the this morning. I put my overnight bag on my personal luggage cart and pulled it behind me through the hospital. That allowed me to walk the distance inside the hospital without a problem.
There was the obligatory pre-operation screenings and bloodwork. I dropped 2.5# since the Tuesday weigh in. Of course, most of yesterday was spent fasting.
Cassie biked in from home to visit for half an hour then left just before I was taken to the 'procedure' room. She had a church softball game to keep score for.
The journey to the procedure room included a length of hallway with windows on one length. There was an early Spring terraced garden on the outside of the glass. It must be beautiful year round.
One of the hardest things for me when having a medical surgical event is just before it begins when I am in the the operating room. All this activity is going on around me and I am laid out like a slab of meat waiting to be carved up. I want to jump up and bolt for the nearest exit. It is a relief when I notice the anesthesia taking affect.
Somewhere in the conversation I picked up that I would be going home that night, not the next morning. OK. I would take care of transportation later.
The procedure was a radial cauterization. A probe (?) was inserted through the radial vein in my right wrist to explore the veins / arteries of my heart. A die was used to high light this on the x-rays. The actual procedure took ~ 10 minutes. All the rest was prep.
The result of this procedure was verification that I have 'normal' heart veins and arteries. 'Normal' in the sense of generic population 'normal', not middle aged woman with heart disease 'normal'. Nya, Nay!!
A pressure band was put around my wrist to prevent any bleeding while the lidacaine (sp) was clearing my body. After two hours the pressure was gradually released using a syringe inserted into a valve on the band. There was numbness in my thumb and the thumb side of my index finger. That gradually went away. The doctor was called to verify it was a nerve that had been pressured along with the artery, waking up.
Larry came to visit after the softball game. I had just returned to the room. No phone call was needed to get a ride home.
A codein laced tylenol from last year's lump-ectomy and a colase set me up for the night, in my own bed.
The doctor who did the cauterization was the same doctor I initially saw. He remembered me and said, "This is what I heard when I listened to your heart." He knew on the spot what was going on inside my chest. It took since February to dot all the I's and cross all the T's. Most of this was because I was not convinced this was needed and they wanted to make sure I was ready emotionally, not just physically.
The meet and greet with the surgeon is set for Tuesday the 24th of May.
The header photos are from a post card in yesterday's mail. I think I would like to attend. It is a public meet and greet with my cardiologist and his support team.
1 comment:
Nannette, our prayers will be with you during this time of repair and recoup.
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