OT: Good thoughts, please

Tomorrow morning is John's angiogram. In case you don't know what that is, here's what they'll be doing: They will sedate him, make an incision in his groin, insert a catheter and thread it all the way up to the arteries around his heart. Then they will inject dye so they can see what's going on in those arteries.

The irony of all this is John is probably the last person to need this test. His heart may be working at about 2/3 capacity (if that), but I'm betting his coronary arteries are clean as a newborn. His weight, blood pressure, cholesterol and pulse are all low. He does more exercise than most men half his age do, he eats healthfully, he's never smoked, blah blah blah. But they're doing it anyway. I guess they have to with all heart patients.

The test itself takes about 30-45 minutes. But there's a lot of prep, and afterward, he needs to lie flat without sitting up for two to four hours. And let's face it, it's Kaiser Permanente. There will be time delays and bureaucratic snafus. So I'm not sure when I'll be able to take him home. At least I have a proper address (the facility has multiple buildings and it's a huge maze) and the direct phone number of the lab area. 

I'm more nervous than he is, I think. I made the mistake of looking up the test online and reading the litany of things that can go wrong (bleeding, tears in the artery, heart attack, infection, much more). Reallllly stupid idea. I know they have to list all that crap for legal reasons, but it's enough to scare a person half to death.

John went to a lawyer today and had a medical directive and a simple will prepared. He's also giving me power of attorney, and the potential responsibility of that is terrifying. He said this procedure and all the prep and so forth is like a "trial run" for when he has open-heart surgery. Whatever. I don't even want to think about that now. I just want to get him through this stupid test and get him home so he can rest and recover. He's not supposed to do any bending or lifting for a couple of days, no driving, etc. He can go back to work on Monday, though.

I am not as on top of my game as I hoped I'd be. I had a coughing fit on Tuesday night in bed, and I guess my body was sick to death of all the stress caused by all this damned coughing. Because when I woke up Wednesday morning, my lower back was out. Bad. Saw the chiropractor, and I have been using ice-packs and Advil since then. I'm a bit better, but still moving gingerly. Hopefully it will be even better tomorrow. 

Notice I asked for good thoughts. I didn't ask for prayers, because I don't believe in them. But if you do, and you feel like throwing one or two his way, have at it. I'll take anything.

I just want him to be OK. 

Will update when I can. Meanwhile... have a great weekend, y'all.