Yatta Yatta Yatta

Well, my mom has been at home since Friday and all is well. My brother left back to Louisana this morning at around Five A.M. He was a big help during all this and although we all wish he would have stayed longer I am so glad he stayed as long as he did.

Mom has some appointments next week and I hope they go well.

Thanks again for everything.

Today, at around 3 P.M. the doctor sent her home. My truck is the lowest of all of our vehicles (cept for the Corvette) so I picked her up and drove her home. Which was great because I was the one that dropped her off in the first place.

She is very happy to be home. Very happy.

The doctor prescribed a few more drugs, but thank God for samples.

Thank you to everyone who sent their prayers, their thoughts, and there good vibes. We will all continue to pray that she keeps on recovering.

--Sal-

This morning at about noon they moved my mom out of ICU and into a regular room. This was great because we were no longer on a visiting schedule or restricted to four visitors.

Shortly after being moved in her new room, my mom wanted to lay down because she had been sitting up for many hours. The surgeon is very strict about having his patients lay down after that kind of surgery so the nurses were very hesitant about letting her lay down. It was really hard seeing my mom in pain. Her incision was hurting her a lot by the way she was sitting. We finally got the nurse to let her lay down for thirty minutes. It ended up being about an hour. She was very relieved and was finally able to get some sleep because she said she couldn't sleep the night before despite the sleep medicine they gave her.

When they finally sat her up again she was no longer in pain. We were all very happy for her.

The doctors are now saying that she will probably be able to go home by Friday. She is very very happy to hear that.

Thanks to everyone who has had her in their thoughts and prayers.

--Sal-

Let me just tell you that seeing my mom with all those tubes and other apparatuses coming out of her hours after the surgery was the most heart wrenching thing I have ever seen. Add the look of heartache in my dads face and eyes nearly killed me. For a few moments, my dad was unable to breathe right. I tried to stick by him but at times I was overwhelmed.

During the second visit in ICU, she was a little more alert but unable to speak although she really wanted to but we told her not to. They had just removed a tube from her throat which was doing I don't know what for her.

It was not until the third visit that she was very alert and talking to us and asking for us and even making jokes. Every now and then I could see my dad breathe breaths of relief that she was recovering.

About five minutes ago, I called the ICU and they told me that she is doing very well. Textbook he said; whatever that means. (I'm not hip with the lingo.)

So tomorrow should be an even better day. God willing.

--Sal-

In about six hours they will be starting the Pre-Op for my moms heart surgery. So at about eight they will begin the surgery.

My brother messaged me this after noon and told me that he led her to the Lord this morning. So God will definately be by her side tomorrow.

My brother John is a Baptist Pastor in Louisiana and he is going to be here all week to be with her. He started a blog here just recently. We are all glad he is here.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and the best wishes.

--Sal-

Well, the Heart Surgeon told my mom this morning that the surgery will be done on Tuesday morning.

I pray all goes well for her.

I think my mom is somewhat comforted considering the place she is in; waiting for a quadruple heart bypass to be performed. My dad has been there with her all day these past few days, only leaving for a short amount of time to go eat or check on the house. I was with her all day Friday and a great deal of the day today. I only left for a few hours when I knew she was going to have other visitors.

In the time that I am there with my mom and dad we laughed a lot and talked a lot. Every once and awhile she talks about wanting to go home. I tease her that all she will be doing there is watching TV on the couch. She just laughs. I hope we can keep her comforted for the 4 or 5 days she is going to be there after the surgery.

Sunday (tomorrow) is another day.

Well, after waiting many many hours for my moms Heart Cath to be performed we got the results. It turns out that she has four arteries that are not doing so well. The doctor could have used balloons to fix them but he said that that would not be the best thing to do. That the long term risk of a heart complication using splints and balloons is greater then the short term risk of performing heart surgery. Tear jerking, heart wrenching stuff.

When the heart cath was done my mom asked us if it was done and we said yes and there was so much relief in her eyes and face but I had to tell her that there was still more to do. She was kind of shocked at first but I think what bothered her the most was that she wasn't going home that night. After the drugs wore off, we told her again what needed to be done.

Her heart is in good condition and she hasn't had a stroke or attack so the doctor wants to prevent that by having the quadruple heart bypass instead of fixing the arteries with balloons and stints. God, please be with her.

I haven't blogged my testimony yet but if I ever do you will learn that I don't believe in coincidences to much and I just want to thank God for having one of the doctors that I work for do the heart cath on her. Ever since I started working at VDC Dr. Mild and I got along pretty well. He is a geek as well. So talking to him and getting him to explain things was very easy and knowing some of his medical past eased the nervousness in all of us. I also want to thank God for Ben. I am not to sure what his position is called but he played a big roll in the procedure today and knowing his skills from friends put me at ease knowing he was in good hands. We have hung out, had dinner, and few drinks in the past. Cool cat.

Tomorrow we will find out more about the open heart surgery.

My mom had been experience some chest pains and shortness of breath but she had been very hesitant about going to the doctor, like most of the people in my family, including me, but she finally went and her doctor sent her to the hospital to run some tests.

They did some stress tests, ekg's or emg's (I'm not hip with the lingo), and sonos of the heart and they concluded that she has some clogged arteries or veins, so tomorrow morning she is going to be getting her Heart Catheterization so they can see and unclog her veins.

At first she didn't want me to be with her when I took her to the hospital but when she went to the wrong place the first time I decided to stay there until she was settled into her room. She was really nervous, and so was I. When the nurse placed the ID tag around her wrist she said that she hadn't worn one of those since I was born. So it had been 29 years and 2 days since she was admitted into a hospital. Out of the whole day, the thing she didn't like the most was being pushed around in the wheelchair. She almost cried, and in turn I almost cried. I think I was able to comfort her a little. She kept wanting to go home though. Kept telling me that she wished she hadn't gone to the doctor. Like George Lopez would say, "Don't go. They'll find something wrong with you." I think she was only half kidding.

We didn't find out about the procedure she needed to have until late this evening so upon finding out I drove down to the hospital to get more information about it. It turns out that one of the doctors that I work for is going to be doing the procedure. I am glad that I know who it is and so was my mom when I started telling her about him.

In about 6 hours or so I should be heading down to the hospital to be with her. My dad should be meeting me there as well. I pray that it all goes well.