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My Husband's In The Hospital
3 months ago
General
Yesterday, while digging out after the 1/25 snow storm, my husband felt strange, and went inside. He checked his blood pressure and it registered something like 190/80. So I drove him to the local ER. Lucky for us our neighbor had just finished plowing the half-mile-long driveway for us!
They ran a few tests on him. He felt better, but his BP was still very high, although not as bad as before. Eventually I had to leave to get home and feed the animals and refill the sheep's water tank. I expected to go back afterwards, and probably bring him home--a prospect that made me nervous due to the ice that was forming on the roads, and we live in hill country--but he called me and told me he was being transferred to a hospital 2.5 hours away that had a cardiology department.
I passed an uneasy night. I don't want to think about what I'd do if things go wrong.
Today, I spoke with his brother, who is a doctor. He talked to the cardiologist. Scott had an 80% blockage of the artery supplying the heart. They put a stent into him. He called me at 6 PM this evening to say he was in the recovery room, waiting to be moved to another room. When he gets settled in he's going to call with the phone number. I have his cell phone--I'd brought it back to the house with me to refill the minutes on it.
So now I wait. He's probably going to be in the hospital for a couple of days. With my responsibilities here--fifty-six sheep, five dogs, seven guineas, a cat, and the house to maintain--driving 2.5 hours one way, over not-so-good roads, to sit and fret in a hospital room for an hour or so before making the return trip to get home in time for the afternoon feeding--is just not an option. And I feel badly about that.
We had a lamb born that morning, at around 6.30 AM and fifteen degrees F. It was a breech birth and I had to straighten the hind legs out and pull it, then give it mouth-to-snout to get it to breathe. Unfortunately, he had spina bifida--a place near his non-existent tail where his spinal cord was exposed--so he would never be able to walk.
I tube fed him because he wouldn't suck on a bottle. This afternoon, I took him to the vet and had him euthanized. It made me sad to do it but there was nothing else for it. If he was just weak I'd've worked with him, but as I said, he never would have been able to walk, and with Scott's heart attack, I just couldn't take care of the lamb as well. The vet said I definitely made the right call.
This is the eleventh lamb I've lost this season. Normally we have about 35 lambs born, this year it's 24 live lambs. So we have lost a lot of income, in addition to the vet bills for a C-section, several emergency calls, and now this.
So it's been a rotten winter so far. I guess it could be worse. I don't want to think about that, though.
If you're inclined to pray, please pray for the recovery of my husband Scott. I don't know what I'd do without him.
They ran a few tests on him. He felt better, but his BP was still very high, although not as bad as before. Eventually I had to leave to get home and feed the animals and refill the sheep's water tank. I expected to go back afterwards, and probably bring him home--a prospect that made me nervous due to the ice that was forming on the roads, and we live in hill country--but he called me and told me he was being transferred to a hospital 2.5 hours away that had a cardiology department.
I passed an uneasy night. I don't want to think about what I'd do if things go wrong.
Today, I spoke with his brother, who is a doctor. He talked to the cardiologist. Scott had an 80% blockage of the artery supplying the heart. They put a stent into him. He called me at 6 PM this evening to say he was in the recovery room, waiting to be moved to another room. When he gets settled in he's going to call with the phone number. I have his cell phone--I'd brought it back to the house with me to refill the minutes on it.
So now I wait. He's probably going to be in the hospital for a couple of days. With my responsibilities here--fifty-six sheep, five dogs, seven guineas, a cat, and the house to maintain--driving 2.5 hours one way, over not-so-good roads, to sit and fret in a hospital room for an hour or so before making the return trip to get home in time for the afternoon feeding--is just not an option. And I feel badly about that.
We had a lamb born that morning, at around 6.30 AM and fifteen degrees F. It was a breech birth and I had to straighten the hind legs out and pull it, then give it mouth-to-snout to get it to breathe. Unfortunately, he had spina bifida--a place near his non-existent tail where his spinal cord was exposed--so he would never be able to walk.
I tube fed him because he wouldn't suck on a bottle. This afternoon, I took him to the vet and had him euthanized. It made me sad to do it but there was nothing else for it. If he was just weak I'd've worked with him, but as I said, he never would have been able to walk, and with Scott's heart attack, I just couldn't take care of the lamb as well. The vet said I definitely made the right call.
This is the eleventh lamb I've lost this season. Normally we have about 35 lambs born, this year it's 24 live lambs. So we have lost a lot of income, in addition to the vet bills for a C-section, several emergency calls, and now this.
So it's been a rotten winter so far. I guess it could be worse. I don't want to think about that, though.
If you're inclined to pray, please pray for the recovery of my husband Scott. I don't know what I'd do without him.
Bright side, thank heaven they caught that at its 80% state. That's a silver lining, for sure!
If need be, forego the comic for a bit until things calm down. Dust off the old film reels and show us the ol' "Real Hyenas of Seregenti" for a bit. Or work on the comic on your tablet while you're with your husband in the hospital, a little something to keep your mind occupied. Whatever works. But take care of what's important to you first.
Had similar with my father before his quadruple-bypass (which would have been a quint except the one fully-blocked vessel had grown a bypass around itself).
Praying that Scott will be fine and that you don't overwork yourself during this time!
Positive thoughts for Scott.
We appreciate all the good wishes. We need all the prayers we can get. Going forward, a lot of adjustments are going to have to be made to our lifestyle to safeguard his health and aid in his recovery.
It's not set in stone yet, he just wanted to tell me what the nurses were saying so I could get ready to go if called. I need to either get my tractor started to put out hay for the sheep, or call my neighbor with the 4WD tractor and ask him if he can do it. Starting it in this cold will be a trick, but getting it up into the field through the frozen snow may prove impossible for my 2WD machine.
Husband sounds good, he's just really bored and very uncomfortable having to lie in one position in the hospital bed, with wires hooked up to him, and needing to call for a nurse to help unhook him so he can use the bathroom.
May you both have an uneventful recovery from this, both health-wise and financial-wise.
Vix
He also said they would be keeping him another day for observation. That's a relief to me because I felt like discharging him the day after surgery would be risky.
I had brought Sandy along, because I didn't like the thought of leaving her locked in her crate for over five hours, possibly more. The trip out, I had her in the airline bag on the passenger seat, and she was sleeping most of the way. On the way back, however, I put her in the wire crate in the cargo area (because she didn't pee when I got to the hospital) and she complained bitterly for about half the ride. She did not go in the crate, but she crapped on the living room carpet when we got back.
It was so cold that I just wanted to bundle Scott into the car and head back immediately. We needed to pick up fuel, though, and he used the restroom while I filled the tank. He bought two candy bars, and said he hadn't gotten dinner. Dang!
I was too scared to eat. I was too focused on trying to see the road. We could have been home sooner if I didn't feel like 50 MPH was the maximum safe speed for the road conditions.
I thanked God most sincerely when we got into the house. Scott washed up and went to bed. I had some oatmeal for supper. Sandy is too wired up to go to bed just yet. She needs to wrestle something to get the bounce out of her. I have to guard against her injuring Scott with her rough play, since he's on blood thinners.
He has a small bandage on his right wrist, and a bit of a bruise, but otherwise he looks good. Tomorrow I need to review the aftercare information he was given.
Hopefully tomorrow he can check in and say howdy. He said the nurses were very nice, conscientious, and helpful, and that the reason he was discharged so quickly, was because five more stent patients came in and needed rooms. It's been a nasty storm.
We are deeply grateful for the prayers and concern you folks have shown to us. It's a comfort to know that others care about us, and we consider ourselves very lucky to have caught this in time so that Scott has a good chance of making a full recovery. Of course we will have to remain vigilant to avoid a relapse, especially in these early days.
Hoon!
Hopefully I can motivate him to exercise, and to reduce his caloric intake.
He should also get into a cardiac rehab program to help him recover.
We met with Scott's new cardiologist this morning. Very nice chap, very knowledgeable but also quite personable, friendly and reassuring.
Gave us a lot of information, and a lot of advice, and I think we both now feel more reassured about Scott's condition.
He may even be OK to return to work on Monday. It's OK for him to drive again.
I will have to get a kitchen scale so I can better judge portion size, in order to help him lose weight. Wegovy for cardio doesn't seem to get covered by insurance. So he's going to have to do it the old fashioned way--reduced dietary intake, and increased exercise.