Our eventful weekend wasn’t over yet; after the church parking lot battery swap, we had a long drive to Houston. As a good friend says when he’s frustrated, “Praise the lord and pass the biscuits!” The car drives great, is comfortable, and gets much better mileage than our other suburban. So, that eased the pain of the battery incident.
After a naughty stent with eating, we ate at one of our favorites for a good plant based meal. It was semi-good for us just not the quantity we had. Two of everything: appetizers, entrees, and desserts! They sent me a coupon a few weeks back for a free entree but we spent that on extras, probably their plan all along. Sorry, but the only picture I took was one of the appetizers just to annoy a friend who likes the place we went to.
We’ve swapped from our old faithful hotel. Most of the old staff is gone, and it switched to another brand, so we can’t use the points as we did before. Our new choice is a Marriott brand hotel since I have top-tier status with their rewards program. This hotel is a high-end one, a Westin connected directly to the hospital—no need to get in a shuttle or take the car. We go down to the first floor, up to the sky bridge, then right to the hospital, all without even going outside. The hotel has 2 restaurants, and there are at least 8 on the ground floor, plus a much-needed StarBs!
When we got to our room, there was a nice handwritten welcome note with a little charcuterie board. We find the notes in most of the Marriotts we stay in, thanking me for being a high-level rewards member and sometimes a snack or sweet treat but noting that nice. I’d recently dropped down a tier without all of my Iowa night beefing up my status. Amanda was like we never even hit that when you were at the top level! We wouldn’t get much sleep or even enjoy the big upgraded room with only a few hours of sleep and a 5:30 am check-in at the hospital.
This procedure was to remove the remaining 4 of the original 10 sternal wires. The top and bottom 3 were removed at about a year out of transplant. Some had begun to poke her from the inside out. This time was no different; the same feeling, just in the middle of her chest. She described it as the way an underwire in a bra would poke you but from the inside. It would be a quick procedure, but they needed to put her under general anesthesia because it would be painful. It was last time, and the wires had a couple more years to become calcified there, so there would be a good bit of tugging and pulling to get them out. When the surgeon even said it’s going to hurt and you’ll be sore, you’d better believe it!
While in pre-op, we heard the transplant surgeon come in and talk with the surgeon performing the surgery. We’d hoped he’d come in, but he didn’t. Then, just before she went back, he stopped by to chat. He’s excellent and has a good personality. Remembering Amanda’s lung issues, he asked her how the singing was going. She said great, and he genuinely seemed happy to hear that.
The surgery was simple and quick; I don’t imagine she was even out for 30 minutes. Once the surgeon came out to give me the news, I went back to the hotel room real quick and grabbed a flat white from Starbucks. Once I came back to the waiting room, much to my surprise, they were already looking for me. Usually, it would be quite a while before she’d be up and out of pain, enough for me to go back. She was much more up and alert than I thought she would be. Still groggy from the anesthesia, but not bad.
It wasn’t long before she’d want a refresher from Starbucks. I wonder if there’s a way we could get sponsored by them; we’d take points and payment! It was a quick walk over and back, a route I remember well. I was part of my exercise walk when we stayed for a long stent. I know no this hospital better than any other we’ve been in. There was a lost nurse I saw coming back from the cafe in a confusing spot. I almost offered to help, but since I was in an authorized personnel-only section, I took for a shortcut, I opted not to say anything!
While still in the PACU, they came to get the usual X-ray. I walked over to look at it like I always do. When looking at it, I realized Amanda didn’t have any metal in her chest! This would be the first time in nearly 17 years without any type of metal. There’s either been a pacemaker and leads, a stent, sternal wires, a valve, or some kind of metal in her chest for so long.
We finally got a room after the transplant floor was full. Everyone on the team had approved, and we got a room on another floor. It still had to be on a cardiac floor since she had to be monitored by the tele team to make sure her heart was behaving.
Meds are always a problem; before the move to a room, I had to give her the rejection meds because they didn’t have them in the system. We don’t mess around with that stuff, and I’m not waiting for a doctor to put the orders in! Once to the room, the floor hospitalist changed the time she received the rejection meds as well. This is a time-sensitive medication, and I don’t understand why they even mess with that stuff. Needless to say, she refused and took it at her regular time. They also took her off the magnesium she has been taking for a while now without consult from the transplant team.
Once Amanda was getting set up in the room, I snuck off to get a bite to eat. I always have to stand in the hall while they transfer her to the new bed, so this was a good time for me to bolt. I grabbed a piada from an Italian street food place. It’s pretty much like a large burrito or a stuffed pita sandwich. Large it was, rivaling a loaded Chipotle burrito. By the time I was back, Amanda was all settled in.
Early in the evening in, I ran back to the hotel room to grab Amanda’s bags. One of the nice things about having the hotel so close is I don’t have to use hospital bathrooms; It’s the little things that make me happy!
On the way back, I ran into our transplant doctor. Looking at my bags, he surprisingly said I didn’t know you all were here. We’d already talked with the on call team, but they obviously didn’t tell him. I made a full report of the procedure and how she was doing, whether he wanted to hear or not. He was pleased with the results. Our next trip to Houston will be for me to see him. I’m still lagging on a check up for my valve issue. We’d planned to see him while Amanda had this procedure, but timing just didn’t work out.
We’d had other issues with the pain meds earlier in the day. They were giving her IV pain meds, and the PACU nurse, along with ourselves, wanted her on an oral pill as well. That’s what works best to get her out of the hospital. They put a pill in but only as one time. Then, when we got it changed on the floor, it was liquid and not pill! Finally, they got it right.
I was exhausted and told Amanda just before she got her nighttime pain meds I was leaving her to go rest. The chair in the room wasn’t even a decent one. Even after I asked for a good one, it was still a crap one. With nothing to put my feet on, my bad leg was swelling and uncomfortable. I need to lay down and rest either way. I slept good, but Amanda didn’t. I was out and didn’t even get up for at least 8 hours. After I got up and showered, I felt like a new man. When Amanda didn’t want coffee or even a refresher, I also opted out.
After the morning labs were back, Amanda’s magnesium was low. Hello, doctor who stopped it, and now it’s low. I don’t have a doctorate, but, duh! The IV mag always makes Amanda feel yucky and nauseous. A great way to get discharged! Needless to say, we left with the hospital bucket, just in case.
The discharge was done with a virtual nurse on a screen they had in the room, along with a camera and microphone. I’m not sure I like the invasion of privacy. The camera was pointed away even when not in use, and they always asked before they “came in,” but still not a fan.
We had to wait for them to get a nausea med called into the pharmacy, and then we were on our way. I returned to the room to grab lunch, a Hala Bros falafel pita, our bags, and get the car from the valet. I was a bit behind on picking Amanda up, but she only had to wait a few minutes for me. I blame traffic.
We’d need to stop at a pharmacy to pick up her pain meds, and the one just called in. Neither was ready, and we had to wait. The timing was the worst, and we’d now hit San Antonio at rush hour, so the wait didn’t hurt my feelings. We didn’t make it out of the burbs before stopping since Amanda had just received her diuretic. Bucees in Katy is our frequent, so we made a stop there.
Surprisingly, we made it all the way to Seguin for the next stop. Which was good because that’s where the next Starbs is, and I needed a pick me up! From here, we’d grab some Chinese takeout to eat at home. Then, a stop at Costco to pick up a new battery for the car. We made it home closer to 10 than I wanted, initially thinking it would have been an 8:30 arrival. Neither of us were too hungry, so that made for leftovers for the next day.
We don’t plan on leaving the house today, and I’ve even turned my phone off. It’s noon, Amanda’s still sleeping off and on, and the dogs and I aren’t even out of bed yet, either. Pretty sure they missed us, we were barely at the house the week before we left too. It’s been an exhausting couple of weeks, and we needed a little time just to rest.
Next on our plate is Amanda’s knee, with a follow-up with the new orthopedic surgeon next week. Once we see what he has to say and we make some decisions, I’ll update you. But for now, I think I’ll have a long nap!