Buying a Sick Day

Up near 6am.
Clear sky and 40 degrees.
Sit-ups, windmills, push-ups.
Took Mindy coffee near 620am.
Sipped coffee and played on the internet until 645am.
Since sometime Sunday, my mom was in the hospital with apparent heart issues. Had a stint procedure planned for early that morning. I knew that my dad and brother Tommy were planning to be there. Originally, I was going to go too, but remembered that I committed to covering for a peer who would be on vacation all week.
Meditate & stretch ahead of a run.
Headed out the door near 7am. By then completely cloudy.
Jacob already picked up by the bus.
Ran 4.1 miles.
Mindy gone by my return home.
Walked Eiknarf immediately after seeing Bella onto the school bus, which showed up right at 8am.
A little more coffee then a shower.
Off to work by 845am.
Planning to visit ASBCO at lunch. Took my ski boots.
Called my dad’s cell phone near 930am, asking about Mom’s status. He shared a few details. Heart too weak for stint procedure, and as a result, kidney and liver function poor, too. Had to postpone the procedure until her vitals improved. Didn’t set a time/date. Yikes!
Put finishing touches on monthly report.
Around 11am got a call from dad sharing that they were going ahead with the procedure. The meds worked some, but also felt it imperative to do the stints given that her heart was pumping at 15% (EF -15).
Left for lunch break near 1210pm.
Drove to the Polaris ABSCO location.
Scott S. not in. Another kid helped me. No fuss. Bought the Line Sick Day 110s and upgraded to Griffon bindings.
I asked them to make sure and have them ready before the weekend since I had to leave my boots. Said he’d have them ready by Wednesday. Sweet! Wasn’t in there more than 20 minutes.
Headed just down the road to Saturday’s for a haircut. First time at that location. They got me right in.
Danielle was my stylist. Cute. Couldn’t have been older than 22 or 23. Fast, effective and efficient.
Done in 15-20 minutes. Tipped her well.
Back to the office.
Covering for a peer who was on vacation all week. Took care of a couple escalations.
Dad called again near 3pm to share that the procedure was over. No stints because there was no blockage to speak of. No heart damage either. Said they referred to her heart issue as some syndrome due to stress. At first that sounded like good news – no heart muscle damage and no blockage, but the more I thought about it, the more concerned I became. After all, her ejection fraction was still on 15-20.
Mindy and I made arrangements to head to Adena – Chillicothe to see mom after work.
Rest of the work day went relatively fast.
Left for home near 5pm.
At home, Mindy shared that niece Lindey was coming by to stay with the kids, and Jimaken was taking Jacob to basketball so we could visit mom.
Mindy had a beef roast in the crock pot. We opted to eat later and left shortly after Lindy showed up.
While for Lindy to show up, I Goggled stress heart syndrome. Learned that it’s called Broken Heart Syndrome, or stress cardiomyopathy. Read a lengthy Johns Hopkins article about it. Mindy hadn’t heard of such a diagnosis. Was skeptical.
Rained for the entire drive down 23 to Chillicothe. Visibility was tough due to no highway lighting.
Guessing it was near 630p when we arrived. Found mom’s room easily.
Brother Charles was there. Haven’t seen him since Tommy’s place summer ’12. He left shortly after our arrival. We made it a point to invite him along with us to Tahoe. He declined for not skiing in maybe 20 years.
Nurse in the room for most of the next hour. Mom gave her a hard way to go the entire time. She took it well.
We asked for a more detailed explanation of mom’s condition. Nurse paged doctor, though said it was shift change and might be the oncoming doctor who would have to stop by and explain.
While waiting for the doctor, I dosed off a time or two.
Next thing I know, Mindy is having words with the nurse, frustrated that a doctor hasn’t yet come by to explain, let alone check on mom’s heart.
The nurse eventually went for the floor on-shift doctor, Reginald.
Reginald was most pleasant and very patient all things considered. Felt a little sorry for him since he was coming into the situation cold (no prior knowledge of mom’s condition). Mindy continued pressing for information and Reginald did his best to explain the ‘stress cardiomyopathy’ diagnosis.
Said they had another cardiologist coming in Tuesday morning to get another EKG and would then know more.
Mindy and I left for home between 8-830pm. Both of us were convinced that mom should transfer to Columbus Riverside or OSU for much better heart care.
It was still raining as we exited the hospital. Realized that I left my umbrella in mom’s room. Rushed back to get it.
As I was walking out for the 2nd time in the last five minutes, mom told me that I broke her heart. That’s my mom!
Rainy drive home. Took about an hour.
We got home before Jacob, who was at basketball practice.
Josh & Lindey were there with Bella. Josh was playing Bella’s Yamaha acoustic guitar – and pretty well, too.
Mindy and I were starving. She promptly whipped us up a plate of mashed potatoes and roast beef. Yummy!
Jimaken and Molly dropped Jacob at home around 945pm. Offered well wished for my mom. Thanks!
Josh & Lindey left around 10pm.
Josh & I talked about hooking up for a guitar jam session sometime soon.
Couldn’t believe it was already after 10pm. We headed to bed just ahead of 1030pm.