Six months ago, he nearly died. Whatever happened to him was a fluke, an accident, or a mistake, the doctors still do not know the correct answer. He went from what was to be an overnight stay in the hospital to Intensive Care hooked up on life support in less than an hour. The procedure he had was a heart ablation. It was a long five hour operation, with little to no chance of anything going wrong. It was also a last ditch effort to get Tommy's heart back in normal sinus rhythm.
The operation went according to plan. The doctors had called me to tell me he was fine and I could see him in an hour. His primary physician, Dr. J. turned his back while he talked to his nurse. Out of nowhere...Tommy crashed. Suddenly, the normal organs that kept him alive quit working. His heart rate, blood pressure, breathing were all over the place. By the time they got him to ICU, he was on life support. His heart was working at 20%. Without machines, he would be dead.
Lisa and I were blindsided and numb. When we were finally allowed to see him, we didn't stay long. We were in the way. Machines were being added to his body, they strapped his hands down, inserted a tube down his throat because he was choking. They were inserting tubes everywhere as fast as they could. Never had my Marine been this close to death...or this fragile. Never had his wife been so scared. Over the course of the next few days, he took many dips and dives. Honestly, I did not think he would live. But someone did and he started to recover. Someone prayed and reached God's ear...or a lot of someone's prayed and touched God's ear. The doctor's could not believe the change in Tommy. They were prepared for the worst. When he started coming around it was almost hourly that a machine, a tube would be removed.
It is still a fog to me. The days all ran together. If someone held a gun to my head and said, "Tell me exactly what happened each day" I would be dead. I couldn't do it. Lisa and I slept in snatches of spent energy. I didn't have two working brain cells at the same time. I forgot to comb my hair. When I would go to the bathroom, I'd see myself and run a brush through the mess. I really didn't care. Neither did Lisa. We were with Tommy every minute that we could be. His caretakers were wonderful to Tommy and to us. They allowed us in there anytime and for as long as we wanted to stay. Once he started to recover some, we slept in ICU with him.
He had a two month recovery period where he was literally not supposed to do anything. It was winter and we could do that. Then the doctors told him, after a round of tests, tests, and more tests that he could do anything he felt like doing. What a relief.
Since then we have flown to Florida where he landed his first big shark, we are in the process of building a sun room and are almost done with it. That turned out to be more than we bargained for. It will be a lovely room and one we will enjoy. However, it was a big undertaking for the two of us. We will both be glad when it is done:)
I took 3 photos of Tommy when he was in intensive care. I wanted him to see what he went through. I had intended to post one and show how far he has come, but I can't. They are too personal, too raw. Even though I have them, I doubt if we ever look at them again. Some sights get burned into the psyche and never leave. Those 3 photos of Tommy have done that to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment