We're Home and Joel's on the Mend!

Whew!
What a bunch of days.
We didn't get sprung from the hospital until Friday afternoon, and I think that if the weekend hadn't been Christmas, they might have kept her longer!!!

The doctors sent her home on oxygen and insisted on that and on home health services here at the house before they made the final decision to let us come home.

Other than childhood tonsils, this was the first hospital experience for both of us.
I WILL BE WRITING A BOOK.
There are so many things about which we had NO clue!

The first thing for me is that I really didn't realize that this would all be happening to me, too.
And I had to go through it without the benefit of Joel's drugs. What a trip.

Now, I still think this was a great hospital: The Heart Hospital of NM.
They are committed to the patient, specialize in heart health, and recognize (and honor) the value of family to a patient's recovery.

They believe in things like music therapy (Celtic harp and Native flutes), and pet therapy (we met a Rottwieler and a 'something else') and will accommodate any spiritual practice or belief.

This is Sue Hoadley. I'm so happy that she was there. Her music is wonderful on several levels and is most definitely of the healing sort. Visit her on the web here. She has a warm heart and a glowing spirit and was instrumental (sorry, I had to) to our well-being.

It is still a very stressful span of time.
I haven't thought of the right analogy, yet, but it's a little like being thrust into a foreign country and expected to submit to, and cooperate in, things you only partially understand.
For instance, the language sounded familiar - I'm pretty sure it was a version of English - but I didn't understand TONS of it.
I didn't understand the customs or the rituals. I didn't know what was expected of me and what my part in the rituals could/would be.

For example, the doctor said the first recovery goal was to control pain, not chase pain; and that Joel could have pain meds every three hours.
No one said that we had to ASK for them. Many times a nurse asked Joel about her level of pain, but many times the nurse did not, and sometimes we felt chided for not asking soon enough.

And when your baby girl looks like this, it's hard to hear.






I got to stay with her the whole time (except the surgery, of course); they even give you a free meal a day. The cafe in the hospital is very good and incredibly cheap.

Here's where I slept (translate that last word loosely).
It folds out just like a sofa bed and was about as comfortable. But I got to be there ALL the time. Dr. R ran me out when they had to put in a chest tube (the 2nd time her lung collapsed)!
That's a window to outside behind the 'bed' and we had a private bathroom. All the rooms are private, actually, and there are only 55.









This is Joel's "phone home" finger. I forget what this particular hookup was monitoring, but I could always find her in the dark.


And this is a sunset view from the nearest waiting area.


Amazing skies in New Mexico, and a great place to OMGod.











We're home now; there is still a way to go. But the worst is over and I figure I'll feel rested by February.

Thanks for all the prayers, warm thoughts, and white light. I know they helped smooth the way.