April 17, 2016
It was a restless night. Neither Den nor I slept much last night. I talked to him at 2:30AM and again at 5AM. When I talked to him at 5AM, he asked me for Deanna’s email address. I don’t know how he planned to write and email to her, since I had the laptop with me, but I gave it to him. I told him to ask the nurse for the melatonin so he could get some sleep. His mind was racing, another side effect of not having an antidepressant for 2 days.
Em and I arrived at the hospital just after 8AM. We stopped and picked up a cherry danish for him from the cafe in the lobby. When we got to Den’s room, he was sleeping, so Em and I took a walk to the cafeteria to get something to drink. When we got back, Den was awake and had eaten all of the danish! He said it was the best thing he had eaten in over a week.
The doctors came by to let us know that Den had passed all of the tests and surgery was definitely a go for tomorrow morning. Marg came in to say hi to Den and then took Em back to the house.
Anesthesia came in to go over what Den would be getting in the OR. He would be intubated and on a ventilator. They would be placing an arterial line to measure his blood pressures and any changes in the heart and he would have a larger central line put in. Den signed all the consent forms for the surgery. So as far as surgery, we were all set and now just had to wait for them to come get him in the morning.
Den’s friend, Deanna, came to see him in. He was so happy to see her…remember he had asked me during the night for her email. They talked for quite a while before she had to go. One of Den’s daughters and her husband also came to see him that day.
Den had another cherry danish for dinner. That would be his last solid food for almost a week. He was on NPO starting at midnight…no food or drink. Neither one of us slept that night. I think we were both afraid that this would be our last night together and we didn’t want to waste one moment sleeping. We talked about the past and things Den wanted to do if all went according to plan.
We started making a list of things he wanted to do when surgery done.
- Go camping at the trailer
- See his daughter’s remodeled basement
- Go to my sister’s cottage in Wisconsin
- Mow the grass
- Help clean up around the house
- Wash dishes
- Vacuum the house
- Check on our antique car
- Clean up the garage
- Go out to a movie
- Go out to dinner
- Go to his granddaughter’s first communion
- Go to Em’s confirmation
- Go to Em’s graduation
- Go to kid’s sports events
- Go to a Cubs game
- Get his cataract surgery done
- Drive the car
- Get his knees checked out again
- Get the herniated disk in his neck checked out again
- Go to his granddaughter’s wedding
- Cook dinner
- Eat my BBQ ribs and scalloped potoates
- Take a train trip
- Go to chruch
- Go to his granddaugher’s dance recital
- Sleep in his own bed again!
I was very surprised that neither of us had a melt down during the night. We watched movies, listened to music, played cards and talked.
Den's LVAD 