Report from Rockyview

From the picture above you can see what a beautiful view we had from our room. You will also notice a little device to help patients recover lung capacity after surgery. The nurses gave me one in the recovery room after my operation and I was using it Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, I woke up and after a little yogurt and coffee, thought I should exercise my lungs. But no matter how hard I blew, I couldn’t get it to work. My daughter, Alana, and granddaughter, Cailynn, came for a visit and found me beating the poor little device on my bed and tray table. Without success. I figured I would have to get a new one. No big deal. Later during a vist from my daughter, Tamara, and her friend Jack, I asked if they had something sharp. “It looks like the check valve is jammed. Maybe if we got it to move it would work.” Jack didn’t have anything that might work. He has a good set of lungs and could probably blow up tires. By mouth. Anyway he tried to blow into it without success.

I happened to look over at my roommate, Don. He had the funniest look on his face. And he said, “Suck, don’t blow.”

Thankfully, I hadn’t broken it and it worked a charm, inhaling.

Now I have the most embarrassing moment out of the way and I can start at the beginning.

The story actually goes back a few years to just after my wife Margaret passed away. Tamara had heard that if you found a dime it was probably a visit from a person close to you who has died. I had found some dimes and was happy realizing Margaret was close. I have a small pile of dimes that have turned up at the most amazing times. My kids and grandkids have pots of them. It wasn’t until last week I realized it was Margaret and God. Margaret is with God. So if Margaret is around, so is God.

Last Sunday after church, I started to feel a dull pressure in my stomach, unlike anything I had ever felt before. My blood pressure was seriously high and Alana said, “Dad, we should go to Emergency.” I think I really surprised her by agreeing to go. After a couple of hours, a doctor had done a preliminary ultrasound, “You have gallstones and an irritated gallbladder. Come back tomorrow at 10:15 for a detailed ultrasound and we’ll go from there.”
So I did. The ultrasound confirmed the diagnosis: gallstones, irritated gallbladder. The nurse asked me a series of questions and sent me into Room A-4 to wait for the doctor.

I went into Room A-4, sat on the bed and looked down. In the middle of the floor, there was a dime. God and Margaret were there and I think they brought Jesus, too. Because I needed them all the next morning.

The surgeon, Harry, came in and said he could get me in the operating room tomorrow (Tuesday) and get that gallbladder out. I thought “Wowser, this is kind of a miracle getting seen this fast, getting operated on the next day.” And I said, “Let’s get it out.”

“We’ll get you admitted. Don’t eat anything – clear fluids only – we’ll see you tomorrow.”

The night was pretty quiet, although I got the shivers and piled on all the blankets and an afghan my daughter had brought. In the morning, the shivering became seizures and I was vibrating pretty good and couldn’t breathe through my clenched teeth. I couldn’t get warm.

“Breathe Hal. I will get a mask, the candula isn’t working. Deep breaths Hal. Lets get antibiotics on board. Breathe, In, Out, He’s coding. Breathe. Oxygen is helping.”

I wasn’t too scared until things slowed down, and looking around, I saw all those scared faces. Two ICU Nurses, and an ICU doc, and everyone from Unit 83. All greatly talented people. With those guys and Margaret and God and Jesus in my corner, I was able to fight off a nasty blood infection.

I am not sure if the protocol is to clear up the infection before operating or not. I started feeling okay. The doctor, Dr. Reso, said, “If you are going to have this happen, this is the best place. We’ll see how you are feeling this afternoon. We may have to postpone your surgery.” But at 4:00, they whisked me down to the operating room. It's like a spaceship that OR, amazing.

By 6:00, I was in recovery, gallbladderless and feeling pretty good. Half a chicken salad sandwich, a cup of chicken broth and a night’s sleep and I was on the mend.

When Dr. Reso dropped by on Wednesday, he said, “The gallbladder wasn’t just irritated, it was infected. It appears the infection was a really nasty bacteria that was leaking into your bloodstream. Blood infections are serious. That’s what caused the rigor, and your legs to go multicolored.”

“It’s a good thing that we got that gall bladder out of there."

It was a really good thing.

Thanks to Jesus, God and Margaret and to everyone for your thoughts, prayers and concern. 

Hal Anderson
July 9, 2024