Well, what a very nice compliment, Brynda, thanks! I am very proud of my German heritage! Looks like we’ll be going home sometime soon (like today). I’ve already loaded the car except for this computer.
D will definetely be on home O2 and a walker. We don’t think she’ll be able to work anymore. (She was working as RT prn).
More later.
Thanks
Bill
Sat dropped to 86% on the walk.
Excellent comparison of the sizes - I never got a photo or a good feeling for whether mine was swollen when they yanked it (though they did say it was full 'o rocks and there were adhesions). Hopefully the pain prediction is a little pessimistic - with mine, whether the area was certainly a bit tender that long, I was off the narcotics within 72 hours (except for 1 dose at bedtime the next day). And I discovered the hard way that when I’m grocery shopping and need to move the cart forward a bit, I tend to nudge it with my stomach (scared the produce clerk with THAT one!). Anyway, it sounds like she’s better off with it GONE.
“it is what it is”??? WTF??? Also seems to me that a leaky heart valve is something they can fix, especially if it’s contributing to PH!!
Hmmm - you’re supposed to do BETTER with sats when you’re moving around, right? since you’re breathing harder, right?
Well, remember that the pulmonary hypertension compromises the breathing process, so less oxygen is being pumped from the heart to the lungs, resulting in a lower saturation level. This is also why she’s going home on O2 and a concentrator. Oxygen, medication and a lung transplant due to the fact that PH damages the pulmonary arterial tree, are treatments for PH. There is no cure for it.
I checked on the “leaky heart valve” comment, and was told that “everyone has a leaky heart valve.”
I’ll check in later tonight.
Thanks,
Bill
We’re home! Walked in the door about 15 minutes ago and are awaiting our home oxygen guy to set Dondra up with her tanks and concentrator. I hate that my otherwise so active wife has been brought down by these stupid happenings, but I’m making it my project to get her back on her feet and, as soon as she’s able, taking her with me to the track so she can walk and build her strength again.
Those of you who saw the pic of her that Mama Z posted, will, I hope, agree with me that she looks nothing like 63, and I’m gonna keep her as young and active as I can.
Funny story: As D was getting dressed, and I had already taken some stuff down to the car, I came upon her nurse giving report to another nurse outside her door.
“She’s doing so much better”, she told her, “and will be going home within the hour and thank God she’s taking that asshole husband of hers with her!”
I walked smiling past them into D’s room, and I know she knew I’d heard her.
But I don’t mind being thought an asshole as long as I know I did the best I could to watch over my wife. They’ll meet many more assholes worse than me, I think!
She’s in bed, and, as we say down south, "give out!', so she’ll write later, but she wanted me thank all of you for being with us during these last 9 days!
I thank all of you as well, and I love you guys with all my heart!
Your friends, Bill (Quasi) and Dondra (Ms. Quasi)
You should have said, ‘That’s Mister Asshole to you, Nursie!’
Hurray!
And if the nurses think you’re an asshole, it’s because you were a most excellent advocate for your wife.
Oh, I remember recovery from getting the gallbladder removed (Jenny Craig, that bitch, cost me mine). Ugh. Very, very gentle rubbing of the tummy may help with reabsorption of the CO2 they use to inflate the abdomen, but give her pain meds first. And keep giving her pain meds, even if she says she’s doing okay. I remember the pain from the surgery was very sneaky. It didn’t act the way I thought pain was supposed to. I didn’t hurt, but I felt like absolute crap and had nightmares and wanted to cry, and if someone had tried to smother me, I probably would have handed them a pillow. When my roommate insisted I take my pain meds, I got all magically better!
Pain meds, they are your friends!
John,
Next time something like that happens, I want you to mind-meld with me and whisper those come-backs! Yeah. Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda!
At least they know I heard ‘em. I doubt they understood what I was trying to do, but maybe one day, if they find someone like I found Dondra (twice), they’ll know, although they’ll forget about the ol’ German Asshole. 
I’m just so happy to have her home so I can watch over her.
Honestly, I never thought I’d ever remember any of all that medical shit I learned so many years ago.
I appreciate it, **John ** and everyone!
So glad you guys are home! & good on ya for being an asshole. That means you were doing your job!!
Thanks, Bethie. So glad you arrived safely at your Mom and Dad’s in FLA, and thank for blowing the kisses at us over Atlanta! They must have worked.
We both appreciate the prayers, Hon.
Bill And Dondra
Nurse Roomie says that nurses’ workloads are very high, and when there’s a family member getting in their faces it doubles the workload. They want to provide care, but they’re limited because Corporate wants to make a profit. So don’t take the ‘asshole’ comment personally. But…
She says don’t stop advocating. Patients who don’t have a friend or family member advocating for them tend to get neglected. It’s your job to advocate, and it’s the nurses’ job to deal with the workload.
John and Ms. Roomie, RN :),
Of course I didn’t take it personally. There were many times I’ve done the same thing she did, which is why I smiled at the comment.
Overworked, underpaid and underappreciated. You add an asshole into the mix, and I’m not surprised at her comment at all, and I don’t hold it against her.
This is also why I wanted D in ICU. More one on one care, less hassle, less of a chance to forget something or make a mistake.
But we knew we didn’t meet the criteria for that, so I did my best to make them pay attention, which, to me, was the next best thing.
And yeh. I know how the corporate mind works, which is why we had to pay $55.00 to park in their parking lot, even though she was a patient.
Thank you both.
Q
Oh – She also said that was very unprofessional of the nurse to say that.
No one can be professional all the time, Johnny. We all slip up, and it’s okay, because Dondra got some great care.
I’m just so glad to have my pretty baby back home (and so is Bert! who missed his Mommy: http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff71/Drummerboy49/020.jpg)
I am so happy I could be her caregiver for a change, although I wish it had not been necessary.
Thanks
Bill
Adorable picture, Quasi. It’s the eyes and the set of the mouth.
Glad you guys are home. Now keep an eagle eye out for a while longer than you think you need to. But you know that.
E,
Which one? Me, Dondra or Bert?
Q
Beautiful kitty, Quasi! Glad that Dondra and you are home. You’ll take care of her and help her get her strength back. It seems that the oxygen will be a permanent thing, but how long will she need the walker? Apologies if this was explained and I forgot it.
Hugs to you both and scritches to Bert.
Thanks, Mood!
You shoulda heard him meow constantly when I broght Dondra home! He couldn’t leave us alone, presenting that pretty head for a kiss on it, crawling under the “cubbers” with us, playing “tent”.
He is such a smart kitty! He knows exactly what’s going on when his Mom or Dad aren’t feeling well, and he’s always there for us.
And of course I’ll take care of my precious lady!
I have been such a loser all of my life, and now this beautiful lady comes back and agrees to marry me again.
I will protect her with my life. You can count on that, dear Margaret.
Both the O2 AND the walker will be temporary, Hon! I will see to that.
She has such strength in her, even she will be willing to let go of all those “crutches”.
Don’t worry, okay? We won’t start any kind of exercise until me and the docs are ready.
Although I believe it, my D has never met with such kindness from people she doesn’t even know.
As I write, she has her teddy bear “DeeCee” in her arms and is sleeping soundly.
I know, I know: I go “over the top” sometimes with my thanks, but look at it from my side; you guys are my family, and anything you do, even just posting in one of my dumb-ass threads, means we’re talking to each other, and that is something sorely lacking in my life.
And I thank you for that.
Quasimodem
I gotta tell you Bill, the love you hold for the lovely Dondra is tangible in these posts. You guys are the cutest couple on the planet!
And Bert… Bert looks so very much like my kitty I used to have named Buster.
Love to all of you!
