Thursday, Aug 27, Mark had a special doctors appointment to go over findings from the heart monitor that Mark wore for 24 hours a couple weeks before. Dr Kaynak found that Marks heart stopped beating quite often for 3 to 4 seconds at a time. This was cause for concern, which is why Dr Kaynak called Mark in earlier than originally planned. Mark was then told to go into the hospital Friday afternoon.
Friday afternoon I took Mark to the hospital for an angiogram and an angioplasty. After dropping him off at the door I headed home hoping I remembered the route. I went by landmarks. If Rally’s diner ever moved I would not find the hospital again. In case the procedure took longer than planned I talked to a neighbor lady about taking me to the hospital to pick up Mark. I don’t do well driving in the dark.
Early that evening Mark called to tell me that his heart was 90% plugged and they were unable to penetrate the plugged areas in 3 of his main arteries. He wouldn’t be coming home that evening as planned. After calling Barb, Lincoln, and Patty, I prayed hard. This was just the beginning of many many phone calls, texts, and prayers. Mark was put on many prayer chains and we know that prayer works!!!
Saturday, after consulting with a highly respected heart surgeon they scheduled Mark for open heart surgery early Sunday morning. The surgical nurse kept me informed with phone calls as to what was happening. As it turned out what was to be a triple bypass with a pacemaker ended up being a quadruple bypass.
It took until Tuesday afternoon for Mark to come out of the anesthesia. He was coming out totally confused and thrashing around so he needed to stay under until he was more calm and less confused. As he came out of the anesthesia he was asked questions. The ones Mark recalls is when they asked him if he knew his birthday. No he didn't quite have that one. Then they asked him if he knew who the president was, and his answer was,and I quote "that fucking trump". That's my Mark. The nurse got the biggest kick out of that and proceeded to tell everyone she met. Everyone who came into Marks room had to comment on his answer. He called me that evening asking what all had been done. Which he was having a hard time remembering. But after all he had gone through it would take some time before the confusion would lessen. He had an external pacemaker on until he was stronger to have a permanent one put in, which was only a couple days.
His breathing was difficult which was not uncommon for Mark or for the type of surgery. While in ICU we were told I could come and visit for one hour each day. But Mark was so weak and still struggled with his breathing that I didn’t get to see him until Thursday. When I walked into his room our tears flowed down our smiling faces. Holding on to each others hand the whole hour was priceless. Mark was lucky to be alive. And I was ever so happy and thankful he was.
On September 4th Mark was released from ICU and put into a private room in the cardiac care unit of the hospital. Still having a hard time with breathing though. He had wonderful nurses and great care all the while which made all this difficult situation easier to handle. God sure did a great job giving the doctors, surgeon, nurses, and staff the knowledge of what to do to keep Mark alive. I’ll forever be thankful. Mark called every day so we at least got to hear each other's voices.
A happy day came when Mark was released from the hospital to come home. I had cleaned my butt off disinfecting every inch of our home to keep him safe and well. September 7th Mark came home and was greeted by a very happy Lola. She sure missed her daddy. It was difficult keeping her from jumping up but she minded pretty well for a change.
Marks breathing continued to bother him and continuously got worse. On Sept. 9th I called his cardiologist and we were sent to ER where Mark was once again admitted to the hospital. It was a very long drive home for me since I don’t see well at night and it was way dark by the time I left ER. But by the grace of God, I made it home safely.
As the days passed Marks breathing became worse and worse. To the point that he couldn’t take one step or move without being extremely short of breath. Every x-ray they took showed no reason for the shortness of breath or why it was worsening. Finally one x-ray caught a glimmer of some fluid. So on the 14th they proceeded to pull liquid from around Marks left lung. Thinking it would only be a little, they ended up taking almost 2 full liters of fluid from around that lung. His lung had collapsed due to the fluid. Very scary to not be able to breath.
After a bit, Mark started to shake and get very cold, then out like a light, he went into shock. The nurses covered him in a heated weighted blanket until he was awake and comfortable again. His being able to breath again and oxygen level in his blood was a shock to his body and to himself. He was thrilled to be able to breath again. There were times he thought he was dying or would have to live in a wheelchair with oxygen for the rest of his life. But the diligence of the hospital staff by God’s grace once again saved Marks life. He called me in the afternoon so excited to be able to breathe more freely again that he sounded like his ole self again. He was told he could be in the hospital yet for another hand full of days. And Mark said he wanted to make sure he was well enough to come home this time.
Well, God had other plans. Mark called me at 3 in the afternoon the following day saying, “if you can come and get me, I’m out of here”. I grabbed my purse, keys, put on my shoes and was out the door before you could say “yipppeee”. About 40 minutes after I arrived at the hospital Mark was wheeled out to the car, smiling from ear to ear. We were going home!!! One of his doctors saw how well Mark was doing walking in the hall in the hospital that he called for a consolation with all of Marks doctors. They then decided to send him home.
His first few nights at home Mark had night terrors, dreaming he was suffocating. All due to the breathing struggles that he had endured for days on end. He thought he was dying slowly from not being able to breath. It will take a bit of time for his subconscious to heal. Each night it is getting better.
Each day is a learning experience for each of us. Not quite knowing how to or exactly what we are doing. But we are managing to get through each day learning as we go and taking one hour, one day at a time.
Gradually Marks lungs are getting stronger but as with the heart, it will take some time to heal and get to 100%. Mark is anxious to be able to walk further than a few houses down from our home, to drive and to get into the pool once again. We really miss our daily activities in the pool. Our eating habits have had to change as well as our activities.
No salt is a tough diet to follow and live with, but it’s what we must continue to do and it can be done. Not like last time, give up and go back to unhealthy eating that contributed to the heart and lung issues. We don’t want to go through that ever again. There is sodium in everything including milk and bread. If you keep track of all your food consumption you would be amazed at just how much sodium you take in, even without adding any salt to the food. And eating out? OMG, that is the worst of all. So eating out will have to be a special occasion thing and then eat responsibly. Not something we are used to doing. God help us to succeed.
The first and hopefully final visit with the heart surgeon went well. Everything on the EKG and the x-rays looked good. He told us to set up an appointment with the cardiologist, which is already done. And the cardiologist will set up physical therapy for Mark as well.
Today, Sept. 29th Mark and I got all the way around the block with only one small rest. He was so happy to get that far and not need any help along the way. This was quite a milestone. Each day we will go further as the weather permits. Summer isn’t quite ready to let go, but at least the mornings and nights have cooled down to comfortable temps.
Thank God from whom all blessings flow. We are indeed blessed and truly thankful.
