Discharge Day

When I asked my husband how he felt on my day of discharge, this was his response:

“A little scared, unresolved, and confused as well.

Actually, pretty close to when we brought home our first baby…”

 

 

Well thanks….

Good thing I didn’t pick up on that at the time.

He camouflaged it very well, thank God!

 

“Let’s get the paperwork started to get you outta here!”

Nurse Sherry said in her chipper voice.

What I wanted to respond with was,

“Oh, that’s okay!!

We really like it here!!!

You don’t have to do that!

We can just stay…”

 

For the past four days, any question or concern we had was just a nurse-call-button-push away…

but if I were released,

well THEN what?

Instead, I smiled at her and took a deep breath.

I told myself it would be O-K.

Of course it would.

I was fixed now.

I was reminded of this when I looked up and saw my picture-perfect EKG!

Smoothly flowing across the screen in it’s flawless synchronizing line that was never changing.

It almost didn’t seem real.

Like, maybe it was a “demo” or a screen saver for the EKG machine.

But nope!

That was MY heart!!!

This was a big deal-a HUGE deal- for me.

I had never had a “normal” EKG before.

My previous ones always resembled mountainous ranges with crazy high peaks and extremely low valleys, never matching the subsequent ones, and were always followed by the beeps of the “irregular heartbeat” alerts.

But now I was fixed, and I would be O-K!

 

Before my brain had a chance to process it, out of my mouth came:

“But what about a shower??!!”

I said this almost as an attempt to delay the discharge.

(Coming up with a gazillion reasons NOT to come and get this surgery, and now, was I seriously making excuses to stay?!)

Nurse Sherry who was busy typing away my departure on her portable roll-a-way computer, turned to give me a puzzled look.

“I haven’t even taken a shower yet…” I repeated with a quick and uncertain smile.

I mean honestly, how could I possibly be released if I hadn’t even mastered taking my first shower?!

Nurse Sherry’s expression relaxed into a comforting grin.

“Don’t you worry about that!” She said. “We’ll get you a shower!”

Then she turned back to her task of finishing up my discharge paperwork.

That offered me no consolation.

After the removal of both my IV’s and my temporary pacemaker, Nurse Sherry brought in some bottles of Johnson’s Baby Shampoo and a mind body wash.

She educated me on the new process of showering with open-heart surgery incisions and the importance of having my back face the showerhead and not directly having my chest exposed to the water.

She situated the shower chair for me and then instructed my husband on how to help…

Uh- Wait! Hold up! What?!

Uh yea, so, ain’t NO BODY- not even my husband-helping me shower!!! I GOT THIS!!!

After about two minutes of water drenching me while I was unable to do, well, much of anything, I realized that I was probably gonna need some help.

Not only with showers, but with lots of things…

Wet, naked, and sitting on the shower chair, I had a pretty major meltdown.

So, I’m thinking if my husband wasn’t “scared, unresolved, or confused” YET, now would probably have been about the time that kicked in for him…

The shower was a very pivotal point for me in, this here, pilgrimage.

It’s true, showers were no quick or easy task, especially that first one, but over time and just like everything else, they got easier.

After getting dressed, (no easy task either) and going over my release paperwork, it was late afternoon and Nurse Sherry suggested that my husband take my prescriptions down to the hospital pharmacy and take a load out to the car.

She would wait with me for my transport to arrive to take me downstairs..

My “transport” pulled up.

It was a polished, shiny chrome ride with black leather seats.

I guess you could label it as a  convertible.

My driver was a friendly fella but a man on a mission.

Put it this way, if he was paid by “commission” (how many patients he transported every day) I’m sure he would be ‘making bank!’

He was super-fast!! And definitely drove it like he stole it!!

I had visions of being on Disney World’s “Test Track” the whole time!

I mean, in a crazy sorta way it was fun, but…

 

Being “discharged” for us meant staying in the Cleveland area from Saturday ‘til Tuesday.

Tuesday would be my week follow up appointment with my surgeon’s office before getting the go ahead to travel back to Virginia.

Because we couldn’t make reservations ahead of time, we called the Tudor Arms to reserve our three-night stay.

Upon calling, we learned that the Tudor Arms was booked for a graduation that Saturday night…

This forced us to stay in a hotel that was about fifteen minutes (in good traffic) away from the hospital.

This heighten my (and probably my poor husband’s) anxiety level, just a little.

We had offered for Nurse Sherry to room with us but she declined…

She did reassure us by explaining that the Clinic had an available nurse line (and they actually ANSWER when you call!) to answer any questions we might have. This made us feel a lot better.

After my whirlwind wheelchair ride from the sixth floor to the pick-up circle, I was helped into the car and buckled up in the back seat.

Being the “Back Seat Driver”

So, for the first six to eight weeks after a full sternotomy surgery, you are not allowed to drive, or ride in the front seat of a car. This is because in the event of an accident and the airbag were to deploy, it would subject your heart to damage as your newly opened sternum has not yet healed.

I, for whatever reason, had a problem with this, especially if it was just myself and the driver in the car.

I felt like “Miss Daisy.”

The first ride was a bit rough.

Some Ohio roads are not the smoothest, but thankfully my daughter and sweet grand babies had gotten me a “belt buddy” to place on the shoulder seat belt strap to help cushion my incision. (I highly recommend getting one!)

And (as my Mom used to say) we were “off like a herd of turtles!”

So, we still had a few things that we needed to get from a drug store like vitamins, a blood pressure cuff, and a few other things Nurse Sherry had advised us of. Plus, we also needed something for dinner.

Getting up and down from a bed, or chair, or anything else for that matter, was something that I couldn’t do by myself yet. My husband didn’t feel comfortable leaving me in a hotel room alone, (you shouldn’t be alone after OHS for about a week anyway) so the plan was to do all this on our way to the final destination, which was the hotel.

We strategically planned our outing to hit the local Walgreens (I opted to wait in the car-he could be in and out of the store by the time he helped me get unbuckled…) then run by a drive thru for dinner, and head to the hotel to be checked in for the evening.

It was no small task-but we did it!

We were even checked into our room in enough time to eat before my evening meds were due!

We were doing pretty good!!!!

All that would be needed before bed would be a quick blood pressure check and then, lights out, praise God!!

I was glad because I was EXHAUSTED!!! We both were!!!

One problem: Where was the blood pressure cuff???

Back to Walgreen’s we went…

 

Sunday morning came early as I think we both didn’t sleep the best. The “double” bed was quite small and personally I think my husband was scared he would somehow crush me, so he opted to get a roll-away bed to sleep on. At least we could look forward to the comfy king sized beds that would most likely offer a better night’s sleep at the Tudor.

We had breakfast and then did some walking up and down the hotel hall where we came in contact with an adorable set of little orange paws that tried to attack us from under the door each time we passed! (It’s the little things!)

 

After recovering from shower number two, (as much as I need my morning showers to wake me up, I was beginning to think that they were overrated) we took our time to check out and then headed back to the Tudor Arms Hotel.

Even though it meant packing up and another car ride, we would both feel better being closer to the hospital and would be able to “stay put” until Tuesday morning.

 

The hotel receptionist at the Tudor that checked us in was also the same lady that checked us in the night before my surgery. She remembered us being interested in the hotel manager’s tour and told us that he would be glad to give us a tour on Monday evening, if I was up to it.

Of course I’d be up to it!!!!! I would just simply have to nap and lounge most of the day on Monday making sure I would be well rested for that evening.

 

After checking in, we did our walking rounds in the Tudor’s corridors.

Turning each corner, I would secretly expect to see either a little boy powerfully pedaling a bigwheel, or a duet of two girls dressed in blue holding hands and waiting to “play” with me…

Nothing. We got more action at the “pet friendly” hotel where we were “pawed” each time we walked passed the room next to us.

Monday I took it easy as planned.

We both got to enjoy the delicious breakfast buffet that morning and then we headed back up to the room to chillax and have an “American Picker’s” marathon.

 

My day passed by in-between naps and computer chats with other heart valve surgery patients. Before I knew it, it was evening and time for my big outing!!!!

My husband asked if I was sure I wanted to go-of course I was!! I felt good, I was well rested and ready to go!

I couldn’t wait to hear this beautiful hotel’s stories!

I was so excited! I felt like Charlie Bucket as he waited for the gates of the chocolate factory to open!

I was dressed and ready! Heart pillow in hand!

We took the elevator down to the main lobby and met the manager. There were two other ladies who had also wanted to do the tour, so once they arrived, the tour began.

The hotel manager was a huge “hotel historian.”

He told us he always makes it a point to stay in historic establishments wherever he goes.

He was very knowledgeable about the Tudor Arms and knew it’s story inside and out!

And man! What a story it has!!

The Tudor Arms was even linked to the infamous Al Capone!

The manager did suggest that my husband and I take the elevator instead of the stairs when we would travel to the different floors.  He and the other two (older) ladies I might add, would patiently wait for us at each floor. I felt awful about holding the tour up, but he and the other ladies were very patient. He told me that this “wasn’t the first heart pillow he’d seen!” Still, it made me feel like I was a burden to the whole evening. I opted to go ahead and walk some of the steps-after all, it would probably be good for me!

We went from the grand ballrooms to the bottom basement level and everywhere in between.

And I was doing great!!! In the beginning that is….

I started to get a little winded, and of course it was right when we were getting to the good part- the Al Capone stories- I couldn’t stop now- are you kidding me??!!

“How ya doing?” both my husband and the manager asked me-

He was getting ready to take us into a part of the basement to show us where a secret tunnel was dug that once lead to Cleveland’s “Little Italy.”

“Great!” I said, “Let’s keep going!”

As we continued to descend downward into the tight and musky eighty-eight-year-old passageway, I could feel my head starting to spin and my legs getting weaker.

It was my husband that stopped me in my tracks, and I was glad too. I think as much as my curiosity was intrigued, my body was about to go kaput!

I could suddenly hear voices: One being Nurse Sherry’s saying something about “knowing your limitations,” and the other being my dad’s asking what I thought I was doing going gallivanting around a huge hotel less than a week after heart surgery!?

I guess it would pretty much suck to have gone through all the success of my heart repair only to fall dead in Al Capone’s secret tunnel…

Yea- that was probably a not-so-smart-move on my end.

We sat down on two milk crates while the manager took the two ladies to finish the highlight of the tour. I told my husband to go on and go, but I’m guessing with my pale face and heavy breathing he wasn’t gonna. One of the ladies did offer to take my phone and video tape it-which was pretty cool.

Needless-to-say I did indeed learn my limitations that night-but once I caught my breath and the color came back to my face- I concluded it was so worth it!!!

 

We woke up extra early on Tuesday morning, because of course I had to SHOWER before my appointment.

This morning I was also going to attempt to do my hair AND makeup.

I did succeed in this endeavor, but again, it was overrated.

Makeup didn’t get applied again for another couple weeks. Same with hair-sloppy bun from here on out.

I got a clean bill of health to head back home, and that we did right after the appointment.

 

Having to stop and “smell the flowers” aka walk every hour, made this trip a two-day journey.

As mentally and physically exhausted as I was, walking through that door was the best feeling ever!

And we even had baked spaghetti waiting on us made from one of my dear friends! I was a blessed woman indeed.

I didn’t know what kind of recovery road I had ahead of me, but at this point it didn’t matter- at least I was HOME!