EXTENDED CARE?

'E' is the follow up to my Easter Sunday, 2006 rush trip to the hospital after I suffered a heart attack in church. The paramedics had delivered me to the ER. The doctors and nurses had made sure I had all the clot-busters and whatever else needed to be pumped into me keep my ticker ticking, and transferred me to the Intensive Cardiac Unit.

For the next few days my life was all rest and relaxation interrupted by regular ECG's and more needles were stuck into my abdomen than ever was into granny's pin cushion... Contrary to popular belief, the hospital food, albeit bland was pretty palatable... For nine days, I was in residence in the ICU, For the most part feeling like an imposter, I felt so well. I was encouraged to walk around the unit and was allowed to use the kitchen to make toast and coffee whenever I felt peckish. --- Did I say I had a very healthy appetite? --- Visitors came and went and still they kept me in the ICU.

After eight days, I was trucked down the highway in an ambulance to Kelowna Hospital so they could perform an angiogram on me. Later in the day, I was returned to Vernon and my home in the ICU.

The very next day I was informed that I would have to go down to Vancouver for an angioplasty... To have stents inserted in my heart to open up the blockages... When they could arrange for the air ambulance. The bad news was they needed my bed in ICU and I would be moved upstairs to a medical ward until transport was arranged

I was not upstairs for very long before I discovered why I had been held in ICU for so long... Upstairs was on virtual lockdown due to a bad outbreak of Norwalk Virus. And only a couple of rooms were clear of the infection... No points for guessing who got to share a room with three other patients who already had the virus. 

I survived virus free for 48 hours before being moved to a clean room. From there, I watched the hospital world go around for another five days... Vancouver General were not taking any patients from Vernon until they had been clear of an infected area for 96 hours. Early on the morning of May 3rd, I was trucked down to Vancouver by road ambulance. The air variety was not available... Before leaving Vernon I was told the plan was for me to travel down then on the next day the procedure would be done and on the third day I would be discharged... On that understanding, I arranged a ride back to Armstrong on the third day... Sometimes things don't quite go to plan as anyone following this series of blogs may have noticed...

Anyway! We arrived at Vancouver General at 3:30 p.m. I was checked in and almost immediately was wheeled through to the pre-op area to be prepped for the angioplasty. A little after 4:30 p.m. I was on the table with the surgeon explaining what he was going to do... Just a bit disappointed, I was angled just wrong so I could not quite see the screen and what was happening... Whatever! The procedure was soon done and by 6:00 p.m. I was back in the room where I first started. Job Done! - Not quite! I had to lie flat on my back with my right leg clamped to the bed at the groin for 12 hours. All the while, I had to drink lots of fluids. What goes in must come out. And taking a bathroom break while in horizontal mode is not a lot of fun. - Oh the joys of being in hospital. - I did survive the night and at 8:00 a.m. The doctor did his rounds, unclamped me and pronounced me fit to go home after breakfast.

My ride having been arranged for the following day did sort of leave me in a little bit of a bind. I asked and was given the use of a phone so as to call my friends in Armstrong who were due to come and take me home... On hearing me tell the nurse where I was going, a ladies voice came from the other side of the curtain which separated our beds, said "You can come home with us, We live in Enderby." - Enderby is the next town up the highway about 15km from Armstrong... And that is the way I travelled back home after contacting my friends and saving them the 5+ hours drive to Vancouver and likewise back home... Another instance of the good Lord working in mysterious ways.