The Tide is Returning?

The tide may be returning. Already Linda feels better with more energy and seems more resistant to the cold. Even just a few hours after the procedure, she is moving around with more energy that I have seen in months.

At noon today, we went into the Albany Medical Center (AMC) where Linda was made ready for the catheterization procedure. Dr. Gary Siskin came in and talked with us again. He had called the previous day to ask what questions we had, and to help us with pre-procedure anxiety, and to help us manage expectations.

He’s a careful physician, but compassionate. On Sunday he basically said there is no telling what this procedure will bring about. Don’t expect U-Tube results, but hope for good outcomes was his message. Changes may be subtle, he said.

At AMC, the radiology team told us they have now done more than 200 of these procedures. The team at AMC was open, friendly and professional. It does make a difference to be among friendly people when going through something like this.

The procedure took only 90 minutes, which is the average, one of the nurses told me. I waited in a larger waiting room with a pager they supplied.

When I got back to the recovery area, Linda was already there resting comfortably. That doesn’t sound like a big deal….resting comfortably…..but that has not been the path she has been on in recent months. Mostly she has been in pain.

And she was laying there talking about big plans that she had for a choice piece of cooked bovis domesticus.

Dr. Siskin explained what happened to the table. He said that her azygous vein looked pretty good, and he only smoothed it out a bit. On the other hand, both jugular veins had noticeable stenoses occurring high up the neck. He said the constriction was impressive in both of them; more than the norm he sees. He did an angioplasty in both. That helped the blood flow a lot, he said. He could see it in the imaging. He provided a DVD copy of some of the images.

He recommended that we visit an Interventional Radiologist closer to Anchorage for a three month followup. He wants Linda to take aspirin daily for three months. He also asked us to email him with information on how it is going.

I didn’t realize the emotions bottled up in me until I called our daughter….and found at places in my oral description that I could hardly talk. It’s mainly relief that she is okay, but also a sense that this could be the beginning of the tide starting to return.

Whether it comes in all the way – and who would not wish for that – or only part of the way, we’re grateful for the hope that this has engendered. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!