It...IS....ALIIIVE! And finally back home. Procedure was not

Sep 21, 2023, 5:40 PM

anything like I remembered from my other one in 2015, even though the same Doc was doing it.

Firstly, they now go in through the left arm, not through the groin anymore. Groin is still prepped as a backup, in case they can't get into the arm like they want for some reason. Thankfully, that part went smoothly.

But, I got ahead of myself. I have what nurses and doctors have described as "deep, rolling veins." What that means is, those veins are extra smart, and don't want no needles to puncture them. Because of this, drawing blood or inserting an IV has always been a crap shoot. Some nurses are real pros, and get it on the first try, without hurting me too much. Others, not so much.

But, today was a first. The little nurse hit the vein with precision and speed just below the right elbow, had that IV up and running before I could even pucker up. Here came mistake number one, which just proves no good deed goes unpunished. I lavished her with praise, saying that was the best needle stick I ever had, because it was. Wrong, wrong move. Because, for this procedure, an IV in the right hand was also required.

Well, that same wonderful nurse moved a needle around my hand, mostly INSIDE my hand, for at least five minutes trying to capture a vein for that one, before I had to call a halt. By that time, the temperature in the room was 205 degrees CENTIGRADE, and I was sweating like rain, and about to faint. Yes, when it comes to needles moving around in my hand, evidently I am a sissy boy. No need to deny.

So, somehow by the Grace of God, by the time I had cooled back down to the point where I thought I might be able to stand it again, they had decided they didn't really need that second IV on the right side after all. THANK YOU!

The procedure itself went very well, and, we hopefully found the smoking gun for my breathing issues. All three of my previous grafts from 2015 were wide open and good. But, another branch which they did NOT bypass in 2015 was 90% plugged. And this was with not one, but TWO perfectly normal nuclear treadmill stress tests. The Doc put a stent in that plugged one, and did not find any other issues.

But, alas, all could not be sweetness and light, this is MY luck, after all, right? About 15 minutes from the end, it felt just like a giant mosquito had bitten me on the back of the neck. And, I couldn't reach it, since my arms were harnessed up to IV on the right, and catheter to the heart on the left. I told one of the nurses about it as we were rolling out of the OR, and she, of course, looked at me like I had two heads. Fast forward to the recovery room, where another nurse was busy on the left arm pumping up a little balloon "watch" looking thing that they now use to put pressure on the vessel where the catheter was. She suddenly noticed ANOTHER big welt, on the left arm, and another nurse found one on my RIGHT shoulder, about the time I was feeling another one outside my left knee, and yet another on left ankle. These things were raising up and almost the size of DIMES. It was HIVES, I was having an allergic reaction to the massive amount of Iodine in the contrast that they had shot into my heart!

Now, this suddenly concerned them a great deal, and the nurses literally sprinted out of the room to consult the doc, and came running back with no less than SIX very big syringes of Benadryl, and proceeded to mainline them into the IV. I was having no difficulty breathing, but I know the dangers if this thing ballooned into full blown allergic shock. Thankfully, even though it took almost three hours, the Benadryl worked, and the Hives went away.

They eventually, after the Hives were under control, had me do a couple laps around the hall in the hospital, and I swear I can already tell the difference. It won't be a cure all, I still have to get in better shape. Butt, maybe now I can actually try that without worrying about keeling over with a heart attack. Thanks to all who prayed for me, and thanks for all who read this novel to the end! I salute you!