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Re: Rep Retirement Lodge #189: The Winter of our Discontent.
Vera and I were supposed to go up to Houghton this weekend. Then her uncle went to the hospital for the fourth time in two months with an infection in one of his valves. All of this has stemmed from them putting in a new pacemaker due to a recall of his previous one. She's very close to him and he often calls her his favorite person, after his wife of course.
The surgery was today, his fourth open heart surgery. After the third, which was in 2015, the surgeon stated that cracking him open again wasn't an option. When it became clear last week that there actually was no other option than that, the same surgeon raised his hand.
11 hour procedure. He got it fixed, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. Blood just wouldn't clot. The hospital's ER had patients involved in a nasty accident and used most of the platelets they had. Other hospitals in the area jumped in and sent what he needed. Ambulances running back and forth with sirens blaring with no patients in them, the works.
The bleeding stopped. His chest is still open, but only as a precautionary measure. If something they're not expecting happens they don't want to waste the time cracking him open again. If things continue to go well they'll close him up in the next couple days.
He isn't out of the clear and has some hurdles ahead, but this was the biggest one. They've assigned nurses to just him. They have no other patients than him for the near future. I'm just blown away by the awesomeness of the nursing staff, the other hospitals jumping at the opportunity to assist, and this friggin boss of a surgeon. Chatted with him a bit. I don't use the word often. Hero.
Long day.
Vera and I were supposed to go up to Houghton this weekend. Then her uncle went to the hospital for the fourth time in two months with an infection in one of his valves. All of this has stemmed from them putting in a new pacemaker due to a recall of his previous one. She's very close to him and he often calls her his favorite person, after his wife of course.
The surgery was today, his fourth open heart surgery. After the third, which was in 2015, the surgeon stated that cracking him open again wasn't an option. When it became clear last week that there actually was no other option than that, the same surgeon raised his hand.
11 hour procedure. He got it fixed, but the bleeding wouldn't stop. Blood just wouldn't clot. The hospital's ER had patients involved in a nasty accident and used most of the platelets they had. Other hospitals in the area jumped in and sent what he needed. Ambulances running back and forth with sirens blaring with no patients in them, the works.
The bleeding stopped. His chest is still open, but only as a precautionary measure. If something they're not expecting happens they don't want to waste the time cracking him open again. If things continue to go well they'll close him up in the next couple days.
He isn't out of the clear and has some hurdles ahead, but this was the biggest one. They've assigned nurses to just him. They have no other patients than him for the near future. I'm just blown away by the awesomeness of the nursing staff, the other hospitals jumping at the opportunity to assist, and this friggin boss of a surgeon. Chatted with him a bit. I don't use the word often. Hero.
Long day.
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