karenulijohn

Tuesday afternoon, Harvey’s condition took a distinct negative turn.  He was barely able to sit up, his color was all but non-existent, pale to the point of being gray, and his breathing seemed shallow and fast.  His heart rate was registering between 110bpm and 130bpm and his blood pressure was as low as 80/53.  There was some talk of giving him two units of blood by transfusion, but no decision had been made.  All of a sudden, there was a lot of activity in his room, and I found myself being afraid to stay and afraid to leave.  I didn’t want to be in the way while the nurses were taking care of him,  but, I think my imagination kicked in and, not to be too dramatic, I was afraid that I might not see him alive again.  I knew he didn’t want me to be there and see him in this condition, so I chose to leave.  I was really shaken.  As I got in the car, I put in a call to my daughter.  She answered immediately, despite being in a meeting.  She managed to ‘talk me down’ and convinced me that her Dad was in good hands, and that I had done the right thing to let the professionals do their work.  By the time I got home, I was in a much better frame of mind.  Our daughter has a lot of her Dad’s sensitivity and sensibility.  I am lucky to have both of them.

Later that evening, Harvey telephoned me to say that Dr. Y, the cardiologist, was on the case and had ordered the blood transfusion.  He said that Harvey’s red blood cell count was too low, and that treating the heart condition alone was not as efficient as treating the whole body.  Harvey’s anemia was interfering with the efficacy of the drugs.  The transfusion took about six hours and was completed overnight.

When I arrived at the hospital on Wednesday morning at 11:00am, the change in how he looked was startling.  His color was normal and all of his vitals seemed to be stabilized.  He was joking and smiling, and I could hardly believe my eyes.  He told me that he had eaten most of his breakfast, and finished most of the Jamba Juice protein shake that had been recommended.  I stayed for a couple of hours and then went to get some lunch.  Upon my return, Dr. Y was in the room telling Harvey that he was switching him to oral medications so that he could begin to get up and move around.  His heart rate and blood pressure, while still not at optimum levels, were stable enough to do away with the “drips.”  If everything remains as it is, he will be allowed to shower on Thursday.  I know he will welcome that activity.  Dr. Y would not speculate on a date for Harvey’s release, but he seemed confident that it would not be too long.

Our daughter and her family are coming here on Saturday.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Harvey could be home by then?