The Marriage Vows Part 2 (In sickness and in health)

Throughout the last 12 months I never would have imagined that we would be in and out of emergency rooms, urgent care facilities, hospitals, and doctors offices. We blew our entire flex spending account this year because of all of the medical expenses! We really just thought we would be getting some cool new designer glasses with the money, but that didn’t happen at all! So how did we get here...?

The first time that we went to urgent care I slipped and fell I was in so much pain it even hurt to sit up. On top of that Eddie also had a cyst that was causing him pain, so off to urgent care we go. Lots of x-rays later we were thankful to learn that nothing was broken I was just badly bruised. Eddie just needed some antibiotics. Well this visit was right before Christmas and while he was taking the antibiotics we head to Columbus and he forgot them on the counter.  The cyst of course came back much bigger and more painful so we went to the emergency room for them to drain it.  At the emergency room we learned that surgery on the cyst would be our best option for care and complete healing. We were given the name of a surgeon and the surgery was scheduled for March.

Fast forward to March on surgery day. I remember it was a Thursday early morning we woke up early and checked in to the hospital for an in and out surgery we were supposed to be home before lunch time. I had previously underwent a few surgeries before so I was joking about how great the sleep was under anesthesia. After they marked up the spot for surgery we had a quick prayer, and he was off to surgery. I then went to the waiting room. I met a few people while I was in the waiting area. A young lady with an energetic 2 year-old that kept us all entertained, and an older man whose wife was getting a knee replacement. Throughout the time in the waiting room all of us talked and 30 minutes later the doctor came out and told me the surgery went well and we should be going home soon. So I texted Eddie’s family and let them know all was well and we should be headed home soon. Well time kept passing and I knew something wasn’t right when the man whose wife had a knee replacement, which  is about a 2 hour surgery was heading to the recovery room with her. Well then the anesthesiologist comes out and says, “we had a little trouble waking him up but these things happen during surgery he is fine now you all should be leaving soon.” After this I still thought things were ok until the volunteer lady comes out and says, “that was really scary what happened to your husband back there wasn’t it?” I said, “Ummm wait a minute what happened?!” She said, “oh you don’t know um let me get a doctor”… Now I am worried and I want to  go see him like what happened?! I knew something wasn’t right. All of the people that I met in the lobby that had longer surgeries were gone, and I was now waiting with the afternoon wave of people who were in surgery. Finally, they allow me to go back and see him. When I get back there he has on an oxygen mask and there is blood all over his pillow and gown, plus there is a crash cart by the bed. What really happened to this day we still don’t know. What they told us is that he stopped breathing for a while because when they pulled out the breathing tube after surgery his trachea spasmed causing him to not be able to breath. This was a chain reaction that since he was fighting to breath he pulled blood and fluid into his lungs.  So while I am back there the nurse is explaining everything to me and then she says she wants to order up a chest x ray because of what happened. She also wanted him admitted into the hospital because his oxygen levels were too low for him to breathe without oxygen. I’m like ok please let’s observe him overnight. The anesthesiologist disagreed and said that he is fine and should go home he then looks at me and says, “a chest x - ray is unnecessary it’s just going to run up your bill. A hospital stay is also unnecessary it’s just going to run up your bill.” This is when I became angry. First of all we have excellent insurance, second I am not concerned about a hospital bill I am concerned about my husband’s health so give us everything he needs! I unfortunately have heard the line about running up a bill with medical staff far too many times, and I know it’s because of the color of our skin, but that’s another issue for another day.

Anyway I am so thankful for that nurse because she fought for us to stay and continue to be observed although the anesthesiologist was very much against it. He told me “like I said she is over reacting he is fine and you all can come home. Him staying here and being admitted is just going to cost you more money.” I looked him in the eye and said, “I don’t care about the money we make good money so that’s not an issue.” I looked at the nurse and asked her what she thought because I trusted her opinion over the anesthesiologist. She said that she thought he should stay, so then he was admitted. I am so thankful for that nurse without her I don’t even want to think about what could have happened. The next five days we spent the night in the hospital and Eddie’s parents came up to be with us. The next few days were filled with breathing treatments chest x-rays and oxygen. With all of the fluid that was in his lungs they were concerned about pneumonia setting in. During this stay  it was also my mission to figure out what happened, but I still was not really given any concrete answers. I will say that we didn’t end up spending too much money on the hospital stay we just had a few bills, but not as much as we imagined so we thank God for that. I will also say that I am so thankful for God sparing my husband’s life during that time. The entire situation has made us both more grateful to be alive and well. We don’t take our health for granted. I just want those to know that marriage is wonderful and beautiful, but there are times when it means sleeping in a hospital chair because your spouse is sick, and your don’t want them to be alone in a hospital by themselves. Sometimes it’s following up with staff to make sure that they are getting the best care possible. It’s keeping their family up to date on their status so they don’t worry about their loved one. Marriage is a ministry. We never expected for this to happen but being there for each other during this time was so key! One thing I also didn’t mention is that during this time in the hospital we were also in the middle of moving! By the time my husband got out we had 4 days to finish clearing out the old apartment and clean it up. The good part is all of the major stuff was moved before the surgery, but we still had to clean and remove some miscellaneous items. Through it all God kept us sane and we made it through that difficult time.

2 years ago at the BGSU football game during homecoming weekend!