Actually, the nurse was trying frantically to call me late Friday afternoon. And I’m the kind of person that rarely hears their phone, and I was driving anyway, so I missed the call. They also called Missy, and she missed it, but she did hear the voice mail. After an hour of phone tag we settled in with the notion that I would call Monday morning.
I finally get a hold of the nurse on Monday morning, and she’s kind of upset. Says it’s urgent that I go in for an angioplasty as soon as possible. She told me what was up, but most of it I didn’t catch. I knew they wanted to possibly… probably… put in a stent. We schedule for that Thursday. I arrange to take the day off as I’m told the whole process will take about five-ish hours.
No eating after midnight the night before. Only clear liquids… which includes coffee, soda, tea, etc., caffeine was ok this time, who knew?… only up until three hours prior to the procedure, which was scheduled for 1030 am.
We get to the hospital and sign in. It was as if everyone was expecting me. haha I get a room and nurse… I’m going to call everyone except the doctors a nurse as I have no idea which ones were and which ones weren’t… and am told to undress to a certain point and put a gown on. And let me say that hospital gowns have not changed for at least the last 50 years. Anyway, eventually a second nurse comes in, who I believe was my primary nurse, and they poke and prod and hook stuff up and get all kinds of vital signs. Everyone is super friendly, and professional at the same time.
Come time for the procedure they wheel my, still in my bed, out into the hall and down the hallway, around a couple corners, and into a room that looks like a surgery room. It’s very sterile looking, but also very large and has an enormous set of equipment. I have an IV in my left arm that was put there in my room. The nurses… I must have seen a dozen different nurses that day, except for a couple they all seemed to have a single purpose… are all doing various prep-type things to get ready for the procedure.
Time for the procedure comes, and I had been paying attention to my surroundings and all the bustle up until then, and one of the nurses tells me they’re going to inject the anesthesia into my IV now. I say, “Ok.”, and off we go.
And I mean “off we go” very literally. This is the same kind of anesthesia that they use for procedures like colonoscopies. You’re ‘out’, but not out cold. It’s kind of hard to explain. Anyway, I say “Ok.”, and they keep bustling around, and my mind wanders a bit. I think I’m still with it. Before long I’m no longer aware of my surroundings, though I think I am. They did tell me when they were going to insert the tube into my artery in my right wrist, I do remember that.
As a side note they go through the wrist now, preferably the right, instead of the groin, though the groin is sort of a ‘Plan B’, if necessary. And it strikes me as odd that they have to go through an artery, though maybe that’s the only place big enough for the tube, I don’t know.
So there I am with my mind wandering… and wandering… and wandering… thinking I’m aware… and wandering… when they suddenly get my attention.
To be continued.