Opening Day and a Day Spent in the Hospital

It's been quite an eventful few days for me. Saturday was opening day for the boys baseball and t-ball season. We got the uniforms just before the ceremonies began.

Porter was so excited to have his first uniform of his very own. He's been wearing Jake's old uniforms for forever, so having his own is fantastic. His team is the "Grasshoppers." We've struggled to find things that actually fit. The belts are all ridiculously too big, so we didn't get one, as are the green socks. His wonderful coach bought the entire team long sleeve jerseys for underneath the uniform, but it reaches Porter's knees. It was too hot on Saturday (imagine me saying that in March!), but I'm sure it will come in handy in the future!

Jake got on the same team he was on last year--with the same coach! Coach Paul apologized and said he hoped it was okay--okay? The Redwings nearly took first last year. Plus, we didn't need to buy much. Jake was excited to have a bunch of friends he knew on his team again. We did run out right after opening ceremonies and before Jake's first game, to buy him the "athletic supporter" he was told to buy. Jake was so excited about this--he's actually been asking to wear it to school!

Jake played against his cousin Tyler and a friend Skyler for his first game. Jake's team won by a single point--it was a very close and exciting game. Coach Paul is such an easy going guy, he really does a great job with the boys. It has been really fun watching Jake progress.

Now onto my adventure at the hospital. I was home playing with my son, niece and Porter's "shock brother," Chase on Monday morning. My sis-in-law had picked up my niece when my Grandpa calls and asks, "Are you busy?" Well, I've still got the 2 boys, but, something about the way he was asking made me say "Of course not. What's up?" Well, his heartbeat is doing that funny thing again, and he thinks he should probably head to the hospital. I agree! The last time this happened, my husband took him at about 3 in the morning, and they had to "reboot" him. Stop and restart his heart with paddles. I called Diana to come get the boys, she was there in a few minutes. (I'm so glad I have friends and family I can call and just ask to come get them!) At 11:30, I went to get Grandpa--visions of those paddles floating through my mind! When I got to his house, I loaded him up and we headed off. I let him off at the front entrance then went to park. I called my hubby to let him know where I was, and headed in to find Grandpa. Surprisingly, he wasn't admitted right away. I guess if he's there under his own power, even with heart problems, he doesn't get to the front of the line. We waited for about 10-15 minutes then got called back. The admitting nurse was cute. She saw the Grandpa was 90 and still sharp and active, and she asked if she could set him up with her mother--I told her my Grandma would probably have something to say about that! She turned around and said "I forgot you were there!" His heart rate was hovering around 160 bpm which is what I shoot for when I'm doing heavy cardio, so they got him a bed. The doctor diagnosed atrial fibrillation which isn't as serious as ventral fibrillation, but still pretty scary. They slowed his heart rate down with medication, but they were worried about blood clotting. So they've given him anti clotting medication which he'll have to take for the rest of his life.

We were pretty much done by 2:30, and that's where this gets frustrating. So, all we need is a check out consult with a nurse. The duty nurse called her, and she came down and started in on walkers, and driving, then started noticing that Grandpa doesn't have a walker and is still pretty independent. She goes out to yell at the duty nurse for having her give the wrong consult, at which point I intervene and say he needs an exit consult because he has to have the anti-clotting injection for the next week. She's supposed to tell us how it's done. She storms off saying something about getting the right paperwork, and we never see her again. The duty nurse goes back and does more paper work for us, and an hour later, he comes back. So it's now close to four, Diana had said she would pick up Jake if she hadn't heard from me--which was a good thing because they block cell phone reception in there--so I'm not too worried about my kids--but we should have been able to leave at least an hour ago, and it's frustrating to watch how ineptly handled this all seems to be. Thank heavens I brought a book--I finished a 400+ page novel in the time it took to calm down my Grandpa's heart rate and administer a single dose of cumadin.

Thankfully, my Mother showed up. When Paul couldn't reach me on my cell phone, he started calling the entire family. Mom figured out where I was, if not why I was there, and she came to relieve me. It was really only a matter of waiting for the medicine to be made up by the pharmacy, and to actually checkout. I was going to wait because I was worried something would get missed if I didn't stay. Mom reassured me, and I went and got my kids, picked up my husband and dinner, and spent the rest of the evening waiting for my mother to get back at my Granparent's house with my worried Grandmother. I think my Grandad will be okay, but I was sure not happy with how long everything took!