Ralph's Back

After 72 hours of sotalol (rhythmic drug), he did not convert on his own - came real close though. So, they scheduled cardio for Sunday morning. Then his INR level dropped to low, so no cardio that day. Monday morning he was scheduled for a TE&E (camera down his throat to check for clots and his valves) and then if no clots cardio. Well, we waited and waited! His cardiologist was having a bad day - if it could go wrong it had gone wrong and he was way behind. He finally called another cardiologist to do the procedures so Ralph could out of the hospital. No clots, valve not that bad, so they converted him (shock) and he was back in his room at 4pm. His cardiologist finally got up to see him after 5pm and ordered a shot to thin his blood before discharge. We knew that would take 2 hours to get it sent from the pharmacy, so we shared his dinner and a little after 7pm he had his shot and papers and we were out of there. Of course it helped that the nurse doing the discharge was off work at 7pm so she was eager to get him out the door! Now, you never leave the hospital without several prescriptions that have to be filled cause you need them that night. They had faxed them to WalMart, but WalMart never worries about faxes and it would be the normal WalMart wait of 1 to 2 hours. We have had enough of that, so we went to Safeway, got flu shots, prescriptions and groceries in less time than waiting at WalMart. Got back to the rig after 9pm - one long day! Today, we moved to a park Mount Vernon. It is a beautiful little park with a great manager and friendly people. And, we are 15 minutes from the doctors instead of 40+ minutes. We are glad they made us leave and find a new place. It was just stressful with Ralph in the hospital. He then had to get another INR test today to be sure his blood was thin enough and he wouldn't need more of those expensive shots in the stomach. For the 2 days after cardio you are at a higher risk of clots, so they want to be sure the blood is thin and his was finally thin enough!! No more shots! Yea!!! Now we can do some relaxing and hope he stays in normal rhythm this time!