Made it to Dallas Thursday morning and have to say the nurses at Baylor Heart & Vascular Hospital are the best looking group I have ever seen and believe me, I've had more than my share of hospital visits! And they seem to know their jobs and do it with a cheerful competent manner.
I got there are 7:15 AM yet I found out that my slot had been pushed back from 9. Turns out it was noon before I went onto the operating table. When I have had these cardiac catheterizations before, when they gave me the happy juice, I went to by-by land and slept right through the whole megillah.
Well, not this time. I was awake through it all. They gave me some pain meds for my aching back and that took the edge off so when they started I kind'a wondered am I awake or am I dreaming this? I had a huge x-ray machine rght over me face blocking my sight of the going ons but I could hear the two docs taking and snapping out orders to the nurses and so forth, but it was all so damn strange.
Finally they finished and I went to recovery. Turns out I was in recovery for about 6 hours, two hours being c-clamped to the bed to halt the bleeding. Finally about 6:30 PM I got to a room and something to eat after near 24 hours without food.
It was meatloaf but no meatloaf I have ever eaten. I have always made and eaten meatloaf that was made from hamburger meat yet this 'meatloaf' appeared made from a solid slab of meat whose taste was nothing like hamburger. Not beef. Nor pork. I don't know what it was but I ate most of it along with the thin brown gravy covering it. The accompanying mashed potatoes were okay but the gravy on it was called 'Poultry Gravy' AND did not have the taste of chicken nor any other fowl I have ever eaten. It was thin and kinda white.
So yada-yada-yada it is the next morning and around 9 AM the Nurse PA had told me I had to stints installed, how to care for myself the next 10 days, to check in with my local cardiologist ASAP and that I would be free top go at noon.
The hospital said I was be discharged and they would take me down whew them ride people gave me a ETA.
I called for my insured paid ride and there came the rub. I was told it would be up to 3 hours before she could call me back with an estimated time of arrival for my ride. I was used to waiting for these rides, so I said okay, kicked back in my hospital bed and started waiting.
Finally at 4 PM I called to the ride folks back to see what was was going on. I was told they had done nothing so far as the hospital had not discharged me and until that happened, no an estimated time of arrival for a ride could be given out. I got the hospital person and they said they could not officially discharge me until the ride people told me I had an estimated time of arrival for my ride. I was officially in 'Catch-22 Land!"
So caught right in the middle of a bureaucratic standoff, I called on my trusted best friend, Carey. Even though he had a houseful of company, he got into his car and came to the hospital to rescue me. He them drive me an hour south home to Corsicana. Thank the Lord for the Careys of the world, they keep sanity in control-- barely!
Still somwwhat in the dark and in limbo as to whether I will have my cancer surgery as that will be decided by the results of this procedure as viewed by the cancer surgeon, my local cardiologist and cancer doc in meetings this coming week or so.
So here I am this morning wondering what crazy set of circumstances got me in and through that nutty past two days?
Again, of course, could anybody make this up?
They gave me nitrous. I've never had any kinda general anesthetic (or took drugs) before. It was trippy. I start to hear this drilling sound and I wonder if they are doing it already. Then the guy comes into the room and says "sorry for the delay, we'll get started soon". 😂😂😂😂😂
I'm glad your friend bailed you out of that BS catch 22, those are the worst. Humans can be so stupid.
Additionally, I didn’t know until this thread you live not too far from my brother at Lake Fork.