Thursday, April 17, 2008

Back In the Hospital

Neal's back in the hospital tonight.

I took him to the doctor's office this afternoon for his scheduled EKG. After lunch he began feeling really tired and out of breath. He could barely make it to the car when we left. At the doctor's office I got him a wheelchair because he had zero energy. I took him back for his Protime check (to check the thickness of his blood since he's on Coumadin). At that time they took his pulse and BP. His pulse was 56 (I am supposed to call the doctor if it falls below 57) and his BP was 98/50. His protime count was 1.2 and it was supposed to be between 2.5 and 3.5, so that meant his blood was too thick. Less than 10 minutes later we were at Dr. M's office. They took his BP and pulse. I don't remember his BP, but his pulse was 39! She thought the machine might have read it wrong, so she read it with something else and again it was 39. After that everything was a blur of activity. The doctor said we needed to do the pacemaker and that they would admit him to the hospital right away. I drove him to the hospital (less than one mile) and took him through admissions. They had him in his new room within 15 minutes.

His pacemaker surgery is scheduled for first thing in the morning...probably about 7:00. It should only take about an hour or so, and then they'll bring him back to his room. They'll either discharge him tomorrow evening or Saturday morning depending on how he does.

Again we can only praise God for His timing. If his pulse had dropped like this at home I would have been scared to death. Thankfully we were in the doctor's office and close to the hospital! Isn't the Lord good?!!!

I'll be spending the night with Neal and the kids are with my Mom. Please pray for their peace of mind, and please pray for Neal's peace of mind. It's very difficult for him to be laying there in bed feeling his heart beat so slowly. They have equipment right beside his bed if he crashes, but I don't know if that is a comfort to him or not. His heart rate is still only 39. While you're at it, I wouldn't mind having some peace of mind, as well! :o)

Thank you all for keeping up with my blog and praying for us. I'll check in tomorrow and let you know how everything goes!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm praying for you!

Christy Brenning

Perri said...

Teresa, I was IN bed and had the urge to get back up and come check to see if you had posted. I'm so glad I did.

Praying for peace for all of you and passing on the news.

Theresa said...

Like Perri, I was going to bed and then came back to check. I'm so glad I did. I will pray! I'm sorry this happened but like you said, the timing was perfect, thank you LORD! Hang in there sweetie!

Jeremiah 29:11

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."