Tuesday, July 15, 2008

7/15/08 Our 19 Hour Day

When the clock struck midnite plus one today I never thought that Bob and I would be awake for nineteen hours of it.

Around 12:30 a.m. Bob woke me up and asked if I was warm. I was quite comfortable with the temps in the mid-50's and all the windows open. No, I wasn't warm. He went on further to say he was feeling dizzy and his left forearm was numb and his fingers were tingling. I was wide awake now.

When he said, "Snook, I'm scared" I knew we were headed for the hospital. Thankfully, I don't have one of those husbands who thinks the world is coming to an end because he has a cold. I knew this was serious stuff just by the look on his face. I asked him if he wanted me to call an ambulance or should we drive in. He thought for a minute and said that since he didn't have any pain that it would be ok to drive.

Within minutes we were dressed, teeth brushed and keys in hand. We got Doris, our GPS, to find the directions to the nearest hospital. She did a great job! You rock Doris!
The emergency room wasn't busy at all, maybe four or five others in the waiting room. Needless to say, they took Bob right away when they heard his symptoms.

They whisked him away while I waited in the waiting room with nothing but my thoughts and prayers.

It was quite awhile before I got to see him again. Like 2.5 to 3 hours. Let me tell you, your imagination can run away with you in that amount of time! I finally decided to go looking for him. I found in a him trauma room waiting for the room on the cardiac floor.

Poor guy was trying to cat nap but every 15 minutes the automatic blood pressure cuff woke him up when it tightened on his arm. At this point he had been nearly drained of blood anyway by the phlebotomists.

He was scheduled for or already had had a stress test, more blood tests, an x-ray, more blood tests, MRI, more blood tests and an EKG.

Finally around 5:30 a.m. a room came available and we moved to the 4th floor. We were both exhausted by now and just wanted to sleep.

The staff in this hospital, do you think I can think of the hospital name right now when I need it, was outstanding! So attentive and caring! We were both enormously impressed with the doctors and nurses. The blood suckers left a little to be desired as they had to stick him multiple times and he has good veins!

There was a recliner in his room and they took care of me too, making sure I had a pillow and blanket. I must have had a good cat nap because he went for the stress test and I never heard them come after him and leave the room or come back.

Once the hospital really came to life for the day it was too noisy to nap after that.

Bottom line, his heart his healthy, his doctor said, "You are too healthy to be in this hospital". We don't know exactly what was wrong but the amount of pollen in Yellowstone could have contributed, a really bad nasal drip could also be part of the problem and who knows what else.

He was finally discharged around 4 p.m. and we headed home. We were beyond tired at this point, we both thought we would turn in early but we knew we couldn't go to bed too early, we didn't want to be up again at three and raring to go. Of course around 9:30 or 10 when we felt it was late enough we both caught our second wind and couldn't go to sleep.

It was a long day, a scary day, one that I certainly wouldn't want to repeat, but I'm thankful that Bob is ok. Friends,,,,you know who you are, thanks for the prayers!

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