Around the World in 80 Hours

   OK, so we didn't travel around the world. But it sure felt like a whirlwind trip somewhere...and I did a lot of traveling! I've posted statuses along the way but feel the need to put everything together and also thank a couple groups of people.

   At about 2:30 in the morning on Thursday (St. Patrick's Day), Drew (my husband) began throwing up blood. After the first time, he tried to come wake me up to take him to the hospital. But he couldn't even get out of the bathroom before having another episode. Once he was able to come get me (why did God pick that moment to make me sleep soundly enough that I didn't even hear him get up. That's unusual), we quickly put on some clothes, grabbed a trash can and headed out. He had one more episode before we got out the door. Being so early in the morning, there was very little traffic and we got almost all green lights the whole way. He had one more episode in the parking garage - thank goodness for the trash can!)

   There was one person checking in with their child when we walked into the Emergency Room at Memorial Hospital. They got us checked in quickly and in just a few minutes we were in a room. Jake was our nurse and he was hilarious!! He picked on us, we picked back. Drew (who was admittedly quite scared) was trying to hide his fear through humor, which is so typical of my husband. He was joking around with Jake and within the first two minutes we were with him, Jake proclaimed, "I'm so over you!" followed by a chuckle. We joked back and forth and Jake did an initial assessment and took vitals.

Waiting in the ER

   Dr. Monahan came in and asked Drew some questions, looked at some things, joked with us a bit (that's typical Dr. Monahan. Yes, having had our kids - son more than anything - and ourselves in the ER multiple times over the years, we have ER doctors and nurses that we know well and even triage and treatment rooms we like more than others.) He had an IV started to run some fluids. After a brief time, he left. A lab tech came and drew blood, Jake hooked Drew up to monitors to check his blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate. I had texted our associate pastor and he quickly made his way to the hospital to visit and pray with us.

   Later, Dr. Thompson came in. She's a hospitalist, which means she's a doctor who can see any patient in any part of the hospital. She just so happens to work with my best childhood friend. She said she was assuming Drew had bleeding ulcers and wanted to get a GI scope done to verify that. She left the room to get that scheduled. We waited a bit and then another nurse came in. His name was Dominick (I'm not sure if that's how he spells his name but I know that's his name). He was maybe 5' 2" tall. A tiny Italian man. He's worked at the ER for over 30 years. The doctor who delivered me and was my doctor my entire life got him into nursing and he worked with my Aunt Glida who was the nurse in charge of Memorial's ER for many years. He said they were going to be admitting Drew.

   Heather came in to prepare Drew for transport to the 11th floor of the hospital. There we were met by Chris (the day shift nurse) and Carolyn (the patient care assistant) who would be taking care of Drew. They were tremendous! They also joked around and really made us feel very comfortable. We got Drew all settled in, kind of thinking they would do the scope and send us home but were just keeping us from having to sit in the ER room until they could get him in. However, we figured it would be a long day so I left to come home and shower, change clothes and grab Drew's laptop and our chargers.

   After I got back, our pastor came to visit and pray with us. It was unexpected but certainly much appreciated. We tried to settle in and get comfortable for much of the day. Mid afternoon, Dr. Oh came in to introduce himself and the GI specialist who would be doing the scope. However, he had a full schedule on Thursday so would have to squeeze Drew in on Friday. Yep, we were spending the night. Sarah and Joe (our daughter and son-in-law) and Howard, a friend of my brother's who works in the cafeteria at Memorial stopped by to visit. Drew tried to get as comfortable as possible. (Of course, he was kept on a clear liquid diet which meant only broth and Jello until midnight and then nothing until after the scope. So that made him uncomfortable anyway). I wanted to stay at the hospital all night but I had signed up to bring milk and juice for our staff breakfast at school Friday morning. So, I left the hospital reluctantly, stopped at the store then came home for the night. As soon as I walked in the door, I wished I was back at the hospital. I knew he was in the very capable hands of his nurse, Sarah and patient care assistant, April. But that didn't make it any easier. Drew and I messaged each other for awhile before we tried to get some sleep. We were both pretty unsuccessful - he because they kept coming in to take blood or check vitals. He saw MedFlight come in, heard a code blue call for another floor and listened to the lady down the hall screaming all night. Me because I can't sleep well without my husband laying next to me. I never have been and most likely never will be. The absence of his breathing - and snoring - was so noticeable, the silence was deafening. As soon as I knew I'd be able to drop off the milk and juice, I made my way to school, made my delivery and made a beeline to the hospital.

   We found out the GI scope would be done at 11:30. We held hands and watched TV for the morning and waited to be taken down to "outpatient" surgery. Rhonda, the charge nurse during Friday's day shift came in and started Drew's IV in a much better spot. ER had put it right at the hinge of his elbow which made it hard to take a drink, blow his nose, or even scratch his head. Rhonda put it in the middle of his forearm which was so much nicer for him. A little after 11:00, Scott came and moved Drew to a surgical bed. A nursing student from Ivy Tech followed along as we went down to the basement of the hospital where outpatient surgeries are done. We waited while they finished prepping the room chatting with each other and the nursing student. Drew and I prayed together and gave each other a kiss. Dr. Oh was ready to get started, Stephanie, Dr. Oh's nurse, took Drew in and Scott showed me to a very nice waiting room. I sat and did my Bible reading, prayed and tried to relax. Before I knew it, Scott came to tell me they were done. He walked me back to the room where Dr. Oh showed me the pictured from the scan, explained his findings and also what he was able to do. Diagnosis was "multiple ulcers in the esophagus and stomach as well as a hiatal hernia." Dr. Oh said he cauterized the veins to stop the bleeding and said they would be closely monitoring Drew. We were taken back up to our room - me relieved it was done, Drew rather groggy from the sedation. We rested together and I got to show the scope pictures off to Chris and Tammy (the PCA for day shift Friday) who were with us all day Friday. Drew got put back on a clear liquid diet for the rest of the day. More broth and Jello. Yuck A friend of mine who grew up two doors down from me came with her daughter to visit and bring me dinner. I appreciated that so much! Food at the hospital gets very expensive! Dr. Waldrop came in to check on Drew. She talked about the plan of action for the ulcers and also discussed her concern with Drew's high blood pressure. She also works with my childhood best friend, so that was cool!

One of the wackiest camping trips ever

   I spent the night Friday night. Jenna was the nurse and April (a different one) was the PCA. They were amazing and so compassionate! While we didn't get to sleeping the same bed, I at least got to sleep in a reclining chair right next to Drew and we could hold hands. But to be honest, I spent more time just smiling as I listened to him snore off and on during the night. We still didn't get much sleep but did a little better being together.

   Saturday morning, I made a quick run to Walmart to get a few things. Soon after I got back, our friend Jim from church stopped in for a short visit. Just a short time ago, I was visiting him in the ICU at the same hospital. It was such a blessing to have him take a few minutes to stop in. YuYu, the daughter of Drew's assistant manager, works in the cafeteria at the hospital. She stopped up between her split shift to see how he was doing. Later, Drew's Dad, Mom, sister-in-law and nephew came to visit. They spent quite a chunk of time with us, which was wonderful. While they were there, we had a completely unexpected visitor. Our friend, Seth stopped by. He's the baseball coach at Bethel and his wife and I had a class together when we were in school. He's had some major health issues in the past and we've been prayer warriors for him. He said it was time he could come be a prayer warrior for us. He talked for quite a long time and prayed with us before he left. I'm sure Bobbie and Robin, our nurse and PCA during the day thought room 1139 had become Grand Central Station!

We saw some beautiful sunsets!

   We got some good news while Drew's parents were here: He could eat solid foods once again!! Bobbie brought him a menu and he picked food to make up his first "real" food since dinner Wednesday night! Sarah came to visit for awhile and so did my brother. He even brought a couple bags of Lehman's mints and a Guidepost magazine. He visited for quite a long time. Jodi and April were our overnight nurse and PCA. We hadn't met Jodi before. April had been there Thursday night. So it was fun to have her back. And Jodi was amazing!! We were having a very rough night sleeping. Drew was hurting from laying on his back so much but it was hard to lay on his side because of the IV tubes. In the middle of the night, Jodi and April located a special air mattress and pump to put on his bed, got that all set up, put new sheets on his bed and got us settled back in. We slept the best during those few hours than we had the whole time since we got there. Apparently I sleep better when he's sleeping better because my "bed" was no more comfortable than it had been!

   Sunday morning, Dr. Oh came in and said hemoglobin counts had stayed level so he didn't see any reason Drew couldn't go home!! He told us that he would need to do another scope in a month and discussed some expectations with us. Dr. Waldrop came in later to officially discharge Drew, give us his prescriptions, talk about changes that needed to be made as well as follow-up appointments that would be coming up. Drew got dressed, I packed things up and at about 11:00, we were headed down the elevator and towards the exit! After 80 hours in the hospital, we were headed home!!

My little pole dancer

   It was a whirlwind few days but we were blessed with so many great people. From Efrim, Pastor Randy, Joe, Sarah, Howard, Tracy and her daughter Sarah, Dad, Mom, Kathy, Kyle, Seth, YuYu, and Bob who visited, our son Jon, Drew's mom and youngest sister who called to check on him (Jon and Bekah took time to FaceTime each night so Jonny could say, "Feel better, Gwampa!") to Drs. Monahan, Thompson, Oh, and Waldrop, Jake, Dominick, Chris, Carolyn, Heather, Sarah, April #1, April #2, Rhonda, Tammy, Stephanie, Scott, Jenna, Jodi, Bobbie, Robin, Jill who cleaned the room each morning, the countless lab techs who drew blood, food service workers who delivered Drew's meals, and people at South Bend Chocolate Cafe who allowed me to refull my coffee cup repeatedly, to those of you who faithfully prayed for us, all we can say is...THANK YOU!!!

Our parting words to the most amazing team!

   We have a long road ahead, but we know we'll make it. We've been through lots of things together over the past 24 years, some good and some bad. But the good thing is, we've done it together. Each challenge has been conquered together. Each victory has been celebrated together. This challenge is no different. We'll win this victory together!