Hubbie is stubborn, I think all men are. Last Friday my sister was over at my house, just visiting. She left around 3:30ish. So as soon as she leaves my husband tells me that he has been feeling pretty bad for about an hour, chest pain, had taken 2 Nitros. Why did he not tell me while she was there. I'm sure she would have gladly left. So I take his pulse, it's weak and very irregular. He had been having diarrhea and nausea with some vomiting all day. So off we go to the ER. Our hospital has two campuses, the one out by us is the Heart Hospital. It's actually called that. So it's a very quick 4 minute drive. Quicker to drive him than to cal an ambulance. I was very glad that after the very quick initial EKG in the ER that they didn't have all the commotion like they did a year ago. that was when he had his heart attack. He was just in an uncontrolled atrial fibrillation this time. He had a short episode of that last year after his heart attack. He was actually scheduled for an electrical cardio-version but his heart went back into it's regular rhythm on it's own.

So after a couple of hours of getting him on IV medicine and deciding what dose was the best, they got him stabilized and up to his room. Saturday they did a stress test. We ahd always known that he still had 2 blockages that his cardiologist wanted to have open heart done on them and Charlie said no. So we knew that this stress test may not turn out well. Well he flunked it. So off to the cath lab he goes Saturday afternoon. The cardiologist on call was able to successfully put two stents into those areas that we knew were blocked. I don't know why his own cardiologist couldn't. So we are happy, and everything is going well.

So Sunday he just doesn't feel well again. Sure enough he had gone back into his atrial fibrillation. Well shoot So a specialist called electrophysiologist sees him on Monday. Her specialty is the electrical system of the heart where a regular cardiologist is the circulation or the arteries of the heart. So that's when we get the bad news, or good news however you want to take it. She can put him on a medicine but it takes 5 doses before his heart is considered protected enough before he can go home So that's evaluating the situation on Thursday for discharge. He was unhappy enough on Sunday when he felt good after having stents put in his two clogged arteries.

So Wednesday comes, I call him in the morning to see if the doctor had come in yet. Well yes he has and he has discharged me. I say, uh no, he can't do that. So I call the nurse and tell her that the specialist needed to be informed of this. She gives me this attitude that when the admitting doctor says to discharge that he has that right. No one else can discharge him. I choose not to give the 'I am an RN and I now all about admitting doctor protocol' card. I just gave the info that specialist had told us and to please inform her. She reluctantly agrees. So specialist comes in in the afternoon an says that the ther guy kind of jumped the gun a it. Well yeah. Then she gives her logic on her dosing. She loads up the system on a high dose then decreases the dose and evaluates. So Thursday night she decreases the dose so that Charlie has 2 doses in his system of the lower dose. So we went home this afternoon.

This was all very stressful to me. As a cardiac nurse, as a wife, as a person with MS, as a visitor with a very hard couch to sit on in his room, as a person that is used to having her own TV to watch and not listen to her husband listen to Fox news and give his own commentary every 5 minutes. They should block all news stations in a hospital. The food was awful in the cafeteria. I couldn't go to the Y for my Silver Sneakers groups. We did walk, and walk we sure did. We walked about 2 miles every day around that unit. Do you know how boring 26 laps around a unit can be?????

So when I came home every evening I was shot. I get on Neuro talk on my computer every evening late in my slow my brain down period. I'm on my laptop in he living room during the rest of the time. I took my laptop with me every day to the hospital. It's not the youngest thing and weighs 6 pounds and then the battery weighs more. So you put that in a carrying bag along with your lunch, water bottle, Ipad, charging cords for Ipad, laptop and phone and then anything else husband has asked for you to bring him every day. I was bushed.

Charlie still has his consulting appointments with a shoulder guy for his tendonitis in his shoulder...will more than likely get a cortisone shot, and the neurologist for the Parkinson workup. His appointment for that was this morning but he wouldn't be out of the hospital yet. Plus his body still isn't used to this new medicine and is having some dizzy spells yet with it. We didn't feel it was good to be put on a medicine for Parkinsons on top of that. So on March 3rd, my birthday, we see the specialist for her follow up in the morning and the neurologist in the afternoon. What a fun birthday!!!! He promised me that we could go anywhere I wanted to that night for supper. I don't think he realizes that for an appointment at 3 PM that he might not get out until 4:30. I will not be in any mood to be celebrating a birthday.

I have tried to be good on my diet while there. I have really done well on the water and walking but I stress eat. And when I stress eat it is with chocolate and not in small amounts. But with him in the hospital he couldn't see what I was eating and the evidence is long gone. Now he is home with me and I can't do that. I did finally get over my plateau and am losing weight again. I weighed 177.2 this morning. That's 55.6 pounds lost off of me!!!! Hubbie doesn't usualyy say anything about my appearance but this morning he did say he can really tell it. Well he better. I have gone from a 20-22 to a 12-14.

So all that is why I haven't been here in a week. I won't even pretend to try to catch up on what has been happening. I hope everyone is well or at least is status quo.

Wow...just wow Doydie,

What a week from you know where. If ever there was justification for snarfing some chocolate, this last week of yours is certainly it.
Hope that your hubby knows how lucky he is to have you as a partner.

May you both have a better week ahead.
Congrats on the "New body" .

With love, Erika

Doydie

Sheesh...what a scary episode.

keep up on taking care of yourself...good job!

Hope that the next week is a better one for you. Take care of yourself too! A binge on chocolate was definitely justified.

Doydie

My mind is in standby today, so all I can muster,
are hugs and thank yous.

Oh Doydie,

I'm so sorry for all you went through with your hubby. I have spent all too much time waiting and worrying in hospitals with my late parents so I can relate to all of the things you said.

I hope your hubby will be better soon and things will settle down. I am so proud of you losing weight and getting in shape. And to stick with it through all of that is admirable.

I am worried about my DH too, he does not take good care of himself at all in many ways and I wonder what will happen if he has a heart attack, a stroke or a bad fall. Maybe they will begin to follow our examples and take better care of themselves.

i know exactly your mindset as an RN professional.
when my folks were in the hosp i dealt with a lot of you know what.

i'm glad charlie is home and on the upswing.
i'm so jealous of your hard work on weight loss. what a great job!

i'm an emotional eater. just be gentle with yourself when you slip.

Thanks guys. I know one of my big worries through all of this is that worry of the unknown. We still have the appointment with the neurologist. heart disease and Parkinsons for hubbie and MS for me. That is the main thing I worry about. I wanted to live out all my days in this house, a bi-level, not so wide hallways, non handicap accessible anywhere. If only I had that elusive crystal ball. He did have a good nights sleep last night but still feels kind of lost, in a fog, malaise feeling. I hope it si just the Sotalol making him feel like that and he will get over it eventually. I am so, so glad we won't be putting him on any drug for Parkinsons for another month though. He needs to get used to one drug at a time.

Doydie, it's a good thing you're there to advocate for him.

I know being an RN can be both a curse and a blessing......sometimes it helps not to know too much .....but in this case I think you're probably the best one to help the doctors and your DH wade through all the issues.