The alarm sounded off at 4:30 a.m. As you can perhaps imagine, Chris was not too happy about that. She needed the extra time to get a shower, though. She was determined to wash her hair before all this got started. Meanwhile, I snuck some breakfast (she wasn’t allowed to eat or drink) and did my usual morning routine.
We
got to the hospital a little after six. They called her back soon after. It was
great to see a familiar face. Nurse Teri, who we have known for many years, was
on duty. An answer to prayer, to be sure. All the preliminaries were taken care
of, and by 7:20, she was on her way to the cath lab.
The
first text we got was a prayer from Josh. For some reason he wasn’t interested
in a play-by-play of the IV insertion. Something about it causing him to pass
out …
We
also heard from Sam and our good friends from afar, Karen and Diane and KayLynn.
Early morning pray-ers were out in force.
In
the waiting room I sat between two ladies who were quite entertaining. One was
a West-ender who recognized my Seaside sweatshirt as “the place we go to vote.”
The two ladies were comparing notes about their husbands. Absolutely hilarious.
For example, one said her husband once told her that if she died, he would die
the next day. Romantic, right? She replied, “Oh, no. Don’t do that. Let me have
enough time behind the pearly gates to find someone else. I’ve had about enough
of you.” Ouch. Lauren also arrived to hang out for a while.
After
about an hour and half, Teri came out and got me. Results: all looks good in
the heart. No stent necessary. What does that mean in the grand scheme of
things? Chris is still a medical mystery. The doc now thinks the issues she is
continuing to have with shortness of breath and chest and back pain probably
stem from blockages in the tiny blood vessels that do not show up in the tests
they run. The treatment is an adjustment in current medication and adding yet
another one that addresses those specific blockages. But he did specifically
clear her for anything the cancer doc needs to do, as well as for our Hawaii
trip.
Since
Chris had to stay flat on her back for four hours, Nurse Melissa (another
Seasider) brought us each a turkey sandwich. It was actually hot, but the bread
had an unusual flavor. It satisfied our hunger, though. Thankfully, there were
no bleeding complications this go-around. When our four hours were up, the
fellow checked the site one last time and signed off for us to head home.
Chris
took a long nap in the afternoon, and last night we just took it easy. Sam
brought us some takeout from Olive Garden for supper. Nathan called to check in
on his way home from work. Josh called with a hesitant request for some
pediatric nursing triage. AnnaGrace fell and was complaining of her arm
hurting. They were wondering if they should take her to the emergency clinic
right away or see how she does through the night. This Nani’s work is never
done. Nor would she have it any other way.
Isaiah 55:6-7 says, “Seek
the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 7 Let the wicked
forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the
Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely
pardon.”
Father,
thank you for Teri and Lauren and family and friends and even those two lovable
ladies from the waiting room. Bless them all.
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