Where To Begin.............

At the beginning I guess.............

It started back in June when Glenn had a stress test and echo cardiogram done due to pressure he was feeling in his chest.  We met with the cardiologist on June 18th to discuss the results and found that Glenn needed a heart cauterization done to check an artery that the dr was concerned about.

On July 1st Glenn went in for the procedure - the cardiologist was hoping to put a stent in during the procedure but it wasn't to be.  Not long after the procedure we were informed that Glenn had 3 blocked arteries - one at 95%, one at 65% and one at 50% - but they were all in tricky places to put the stents so the dr couldn't do that - instead he informed us that Glenn needed bypass surgery!

To say that was a shock was an understatement! 

They did his pre-op while he was still in the hospital and scheduled his surgery for the next Wednesday.  He was to take it easy and not work at all - pretty tough for Glenn being in the middle of building the house.............

We went down on a Monday morning to meet the surgeon and found out then he was moved up to Tuesday for surgery - the surgeon was very nice, answered all of our questions and then it was home for one more nights' sleep!!  And a short night it was as he had to be in Co. Springs at 5:30am!

What a drive it was in the dark morning - the fog was horrible - some of the worst I have ever been in and as I was driving, couldn't see more than one stripe on the highway at a time!!  We virtually crawled along and finally it broke as we entered CO Springs.

Jaime met us at the hospital and after getting registered and prepped (interesting watching a male tech shave most of Glenn's body!!) they headed him off to surgery and we were in for a long, long wait!!

Luckily we had brought our phones and cords as we ended up playing each other at Trivia for hours!!  Glenn was in surgery for almost 5 hours - I was getting pretty impatient by the time I finally got the phone call that he was in ICU.

The surgeon talked to us when we arrived - said the triple bypass had gone smoothly and he had also done a "maze" to hopefully take care of Glenns' Afib problem that he's had for years!!  And then it was off to see Glenn in the ICU.

He was hooked to every tube imaginable - he was waking up and of course the tube was down his throat - he kept looking at me with hurt in his eyes and shaking his head no - I knew he wanted that tube removed but it was to be almost another hour before that happened.  Jaime and I went to grab some lunch as it was just too hard to watch Glenn with that tube down his throat - by the time we got back up, they removed it.

Glenn spent the first night in the ICU with round the clock nurses at his side - he was so thirsty but wasn't allowed to have even ice till evening.  I knew he was in good hands when I left him that night to start the hour long trip home - it had sure been a long day but I was so thankful that he had come through the surgery just fine.  I know I had many, many people praying for Glenn and I thank all of you for your prayers!

And so it was to be for the next 6 days...............a journey to the Springs early each  morning to spend the day sitting with Glenn!

Memorial Hospital has a great little snack shop and I was there each and every morning for my coffee!!  They made a great caramel mocha and I loved reading their "board" as I stood and waited for my coffee!

 Jill came on Wednesday to spend the day with me - she brought drawings that the kids had done and we hung them up on the wall so Glenn could see them!  That morning Glenn was moved out of ICU and into a double room - the guy next to him had 5 to 6 visitors all the time!  They were quiet and not bothersome but it's still tough to have another person in the same room - luckily Glenn made quick friends with his RN that day and she insisted that Glenn have a private room so by evening, that's where he was - his own room with a beautiful view of the park across the street and the mountains in the background!

 The nurses and techs were all so nice at the hospital - I got to know several of them and it was interesting to see who Glenn had for the day when I arrived.  Unfortunately he was nauseated most of his stay in the hospital which meant it was hard for him to eat much. 

Thursday Jessi, Gary and Gwyn came to visit - again there were more posters to hang from the kids and Jessi brought along pictures too to put on the wall!

I had brought pictures of Glenn's garden for him to see that day - it's looking great!!

 Glenn sure enjoyed seeing Gwyn and even holding her for a minute!!  What a cutie she is!!

 Because Glenn wasn't eating much at all, his sodium level dropped and the nurses told him he couldn't have any water - any FREE water that is!!  Free water means no water all by itself but he could have it mixed as a lemonade drink.  I laughed when I heard another heart patient in the hallway walking by with his tech as he said "Well that's a bummer - that guy has to pay for his water."

 Glenn's days were spent resting, walking at least 4 times a day, breathing through his "breathalyzer" machine as I called it and trying to eat a little to regain his strength! 

Friday Jaime, Brad and the kids stopped by.  Kylan had also wrote a note to Papa and Rayna had brought her favorite photo of her and Papa when she was a little girl!!

Friday was also Jessi's birthday!!  Happy Birthday to my baby who turned 34 years old!  Yikes - I'm feeling older and older!

I actually left the hospital early on Friday to have a massage - trust me, I needed it!!  Unfortunately my gal was running way behind so I had to wait almost an hour but it was well worth it!  Then it was a race home for a showing of the house so it ended up being a long, long day!

We had BOTH hoped that Glenn would get to come home on Saturday but that didn't happen - his sodium level was still too low and then his potassium dropped.  It wasn't one of his better days at all and he even ended up getting 2 pints of blood as his hemoglobin was low.

And then it was Sunday and we thought for sure he would come home but again, sodium level was too low!  But he felt SO much better on Sunday and looked like his normal self so that was a good indication that Monday would be the day!!