Archive for May 11th, 2008

The heart cath and more….. Happy Mother’s Day….

Sunday, May 11th, 2008

Wes had his heart cath on Wednesday, and it didn’t go as well as the one in January. They found that the stint that was put in in January was covered with scar tissue, and the artery(which is on the left side of the heart) was 95% blocked. The doctor said had he gone another week he probably would have had a massive heart attack. If this stint doesn’t work, then he will have to have by-pass surgery. He will have another heart cath in about two months. The bad news doesn’t stop here; however, I didn’t find this out until later. I don’t know why the doctor didn’t tell me when I talked to him, but he was in a hurry because his grandfather had just passed away. As they injected the right side of his heart with the dye, he went into cardiac arrest. His doctor hit him three times in the chest with his fist and that didn’t get the heart back in rhythm, so he had to shock him. The shock worked thank goodness; however, Wes’ heart then started beating too fast. This is a little less dangerous, but not has dangerous as what happened when they injected him. This is what happened to him back in September when we rushed him to the ER. This went on for several hours until I brought Emma Grace in to see him. I don’t know if it just happened or if she settled him down, but it went from beating 110 – 160 to the 80’s. I am sure it was the medicine they gave him and it kicked in right around the time Emma Grace came in. He waited several hours, and then they put the stint in. The stint placement went well; however, wherever they brought him back to the room, he started bleeding inside. He started complaining with his side hurting, and they felt of it and it was very hard. They started applying pressure, and got the doctor. I think all the staff was in there and I was FREAKING out. The dr that put the stint in told him if it wasn’t for bad luck he wouldn’t have any at all, and then started to singing a song about it. Wes said he sang the whole time he was putting the stint in. The nurse applied pressure for at least 30 minutes or longer. Wes was in a good bit of pain until the nurse gave him so feel good medicine. As soon as she put it in, he said thank you to whoever gave me that shot. He said whatever it was it should made the pain go away. He stayed in the heart cath lab room for about an hour, and then was moved to the first floor. He was pretty much out of it most of the night. He was very nauseated when he would wake up. He had to lay flat for 8 hours, and finally at 11 he was able to get up and move. He finally got over the nausea, and slept most of the night. (I guess) Since Emma Grace decided to wake up at 2:30 the night/morning before and did not want to go back to sleep, I hadn’t had any sleep. I have been up over 36 hours, and I was EXHAUSTED. I woke up several times when the nurse came, but I would go right back. The dr came in around 10:30 the next morning, and informed us of him going into cardiac arrest. I knew they had to shock him, but the nurses didn’t say exactly what had happened. I guess they didn’t want to worry me or they just thought I knew what had happened. All they would say was that he had to be shocked and that he was ok and that it was not uncommon for them to have to do that when they mess with that side of the heart. Dr. Burkett asked Wes if he was sore in his chest and he said no. He said, “Well, good, because I hit you three times very hard there.” Dr. Burkett’s nurse told Wes that he should get to hit him back since it didn’t work, and Wes said no because he may need him in the future. We were out of the hospital by 11:30. That is the fastest we have ever gotten out of the hospital. This was probably the best hospital stays we have ever had. Everyone was so nice. He had it done at P&S Surgical Hospital, which is right by St. Francis. When we walked in the waiting room, we were met by one of Wes’ old nurses from North Monroe. I was so happy to see her. She was so sweet when Wes was in the hospital back in 2005, and we knew she had started working at the main hospital after St. Francis bought North Monroe. She was pregnant with her first child when Wes was in the hospital for pneumonia in November of 2005, and she just had another baby in December. She now has a girl and boy. She was as nice as ever. She said she asked if this was her Wes Monceaux. I think she is what kept me calm the whole time, because I knew she would take care of him. She told me when they had to shock him that she got a little excited but not worried, and I trusted her. She came down Thursday morning to see, but I never knew she came in. She brought the photos of the before and after pictures they took during the procedure. She also came down to see us as we were getting in the car. I am truly glad she was there. She said she had only been working there four or six weeks, I believe. His nurse he had for a short time Wednesday night and Thursday morning was wonderful too. As we were leaving, we were talking about how the weather had changed and about the storm that had come through the night before. I said I didn’t hear it because I was OUT. She told Wes I heard it because I was up praying for you. I thought that was so sweet and nice. When she came in the room Thursday, she told Wes that he looked so much better than he did the night before.. As a matter of fact, the other nurse told him the same thing. He did look pretty washed out. I noticed it most after he started bleeding after the stint was put in. It was like he lost all color. I stayed in the room the whole time they worked on him, which I was surprised they let me. I asked them if I should leave and they said no. I don’t want to forget the night nurse. He was very nice too. His name was Wes, and Wes said that is the reason he was so nice. There were only three other people on that floor that night, and the day nurse said usually they don’t have patients on their floor at night but the floor that usually keeps patients over night was full. The funniest thing happened when Wes was just being brought to his room. The nurse came in and was checking his vitals, and Emma Grace decided she was going to get her doctor kit out. She started opening her bag and got her stethoscope out and laid it up on the bed toward Wes. She then turned around and said, “Oh, no,” and then said (with both her little hands in the air), “hey, lady I need some covers.” I knew exactly what she was asking for…. Gloves. As soon as I told everybody, we all fell out laughing, and Karri started looking for “covers”. She never found any, but thank goodness Emma Grace got her mind to something else. I don’t know why she called them covers, because she has gloves at home. I guess the ones they use look different than the ones she has. The odd thing is I don’t know how she knew to put gloves on. Wes thinks she remembers seeing it on Little Bill. I don’t know, but it was so funny. She kept the whole place entertained Wednesday as she always does, and she was very well behaved.

Wes is still sore, and has become sore in his chest from the “beating”. We are not sure when his next appointment will be because his doctor has been out of the office. I am going to call tomorrow to get it. He will do another heart cath in July probably, but will only check the left side of the heart. The doctor said he wasn’t going to wait to see if Wes started showing any complications. He wanted to check it in two months to see if any blockage is showing, and if it is, then by-pass will be performed.

On a sad note, my aunt (she was married to my uncle, but she is still my aunt), Pam Bible, lost her husband Saturday morning. He had been battling cancer for years, and had an aneurysm Friday. His funeral will be tomorrow so please put them in your prayers.

Hopefully, the electrician/plumber will show up this week. Our floor was set to go down this week, but until we get power, we get no floor. Painting is still going on and I think it will be going on for a while from the looks of it. I don’t know when we will be in this house. I have about decided we might be it in by Christmas, I hope. :-)

I am going to end this entry with a Happy Mother’s Day to my mom. I/we know I/we don’t always tell you how much I/we appreciate you, but I/we do. There is NO way I/we could have made it through the last two and a half years without you. I/we thank you for everything and I/we love you.