Same Song, Second Verse...

A little bit louder, but hopefully not worse.

Back home again from the hospital for the second Friday in a row. RJ's heart rythm is now stable from the medications, so they decided it was OK to let him leave again.

Another run to the drug store for two new drugs, and stopping three other ones from the plethora o' pills. Since I had already measured them out into the weekly pill boxes, I now get to go figure out which ones to pull out. Is it the little white one, or the little bit bigger white one; or the blue one, or the 1/2 blue one... hmmm... or maybe the orange one. And then I have to find the third drug that has been reduced, so that I can cut it in half for the duration. This of course, is after I decipher the doctor's scribble, or the nurse's filipino handwriting.

Fortunately, he is saying that he feels better. He's not sure if it's the fact that the staples got pulled out the other day, or the $1000 bottle (seriously..) of IV medication they had him on, but either way, it is easier to breathe.

I however, am holding my breath, since Sammy is now on his first official date. He took her to Disneyland for the afternoon/evening. Very nice girl, too. I better not write too much more, cause I know he reads this blog.

Picture with "Cherry Oakes Annie" - from Cherry Valley, CA (you know, where you can see the cherries on the trees)

Thanks to all who have called, written, and prayed these last two weeks. We have been blessed with a great group of friends and family members who have done whatever needed to be done. THANK YOU!

To Clear up any Confusion -

1. No, he didn't really like the food at the hospital so much he just had to go back - although he did like it, which says loads about my cooking ability. And no, they don't have takeout. Too bad, we would bring some to the wedding in July.

2. No, it wasn't a reverse vasectomy, it really was open heart surgery. Sorry Michael and Karen, we aren't back in the hospital trying for a girl.

3. No, we aren't trying to make our hospital bill bigger than Karen's. Some things are better left for the Jones' to keep.

4. No, we don't need a gold sticker or even $7 for parking.

5. No, Earl the 75-yr old security guard is not my boyfriend, even though he enjoys asking me my name and hands me a lovely, fashionable wristband each and every day.

6. Yes, I do know the way to the cafeteria now without getting lost. I keep saying that is the true measure of when a patient is ready to go home, but they don't listen to the family members.

But it's not a step backward..

RJ and I went to the surgeon's office at 11:30 this morning for his post-op check. Everything looked good, from taking that gross strip of tape off his chest, then taking out the staples (do you know how many utility poles there are by Angel Stadium? I do..), and clean up. He then took RJ's bp, and it was 104/68, and looked over his medications list. He kinda questioned the stuff he is on, and then listened to his heart. He said RJ has arterial fibrillation (or irregular heartbeat for the rest of us laymen), and mentioned that this increases his chance of clots and stroke. Say no more. He called the cardiologist, and they decided to admit him right away back into the hospital for a couple days to stabilize things via medication. If that doesn't work, they will shock his heart (ugh).

RJ feels totally fine, never felt anything racing or anything irregular in his heartbeat. He has been taking his meds; doing his breathing exercises; walking faithfully - today's trip was WalMart; and napping throughout the day.

I was told not to make a mountain out of a molehill, and this happens in about 30% of surgery patients - they can't predict who it will happen to. We are trying to look at the bright side, in that we went in today instead of the original Friday 4pm appointment time; and that we didn't have to call 911 when we would have noticed it, and go back via the ER.

He is back at Anaheim Memorial, in room 440, which coincidentally happens to be the same room he was in pre-op last week. For some reason, he has this deja vu thing going... wonder why...

Once in awhile, something happens that makes me think... man, I am getting OLD. Usually it's things like realizing that I'm never gonna lose this weight if I don't stop eating at In-N-Out; signing my life away 30 times over to the escrow company; buying a mini-van. Today it was looking at these pictures, thinking how grown up my kids are getting!

I see them every day, but don't notice how much they are changing cause I am too close to see it. But after looking at these pictures, you can't tell me that I am not going to have girl problems one day!

And that day is coming sooner than I think - Mortimer* has his first date set for Friday night.

* Name has been changed to protect the innocent

T.G.I.A.

Well, the month of April has finally arrived, the dreaded month of March is OVER!!

Friday saw mom go through her surgery in a shorter amount of time than ever before. Curtis, Sharyl, and Cindy were doing hospital duty at Kaiser, since I was getting RJ home and settled, at the same time that Michael was getting Karen home and settled. Three hospital stays in this month - can you even believe it - and all three home the exact same day. Hooray for our side!

We spent Saturday with one of us counting pills; the other one taking pills; one of us sleeping like a log like he was in his hospital bed all by himself still; the other one of us half asleep listening to the sound of breathing all night just like we had a newborn baby in bed next to us; one of us drinking water; one of us drinking wine; one of us with low blood pressure; the other one of us worrying to death about hypertension.

We spent Sunday with one of us shopping garden centers; the other one snoozing; one of us weeding and digging and running fingers through soil for therapy; the other one watching from a chair in the shade.

One kid had his mission project already done and turned in on Friday; one kid finished his alligator report Sunday morning; one kid had his English paper written and in the backpack by Sunday afternoon; and one kid turned the page at 8:30pm Sunday night and started the second half of his science project. One parent is in bed snoozing; one parent is printing the science project and missing Desperate Housewives. But that's OK, cause the gardening has wiped that parent out enough to put the bp down a few notches and conk them out for the night.

Welcome, April - oh, and happy birthday, dad.