Thanks to all for kind thoughts and prayers...

[Guest guest]

Thanks to all who offered kind thoughts and prayers...After a long day... finally home and ready for bed, after getting my new (#4!) ICD. Feel great, although tired and thirsty.I learned today it's wrong to poo-poo a medical center... only because it's in a small town. Since I really like my current EP... I make the trek almost 40 miles from home to continue having him treat me (at Bayonet Point Med Center in Hudson, Florida) after he gave up priviledges at Morton-Plant Mease Clearwater Countryside. (The BIG hospital from where my wife left in tears last week over a delay in her treatment for a severe burn - more on that if I can stay awake.)Dr. Rajiva Goyal talked with me over the weekend by phone to

discuss my implant options.. and we chose to go with a Saint Jude

(Atlas) device, based on longevity record, size, weight, and lowest

frequency of component failures. Plus, Raj was able to use my original

leads... now 12 years old! And THAT really pleased me.

I did have a couple accidents... One heck of a bout of diarrhea and

uncontrollable urination just after I was lifted onto the OR table and

strapped down. What a mess - and what an

embarassment! Think that was a reaction to the anti-vomit citrus

concoction and another yuckily sweet drink to prevent some other

problem... given to me in pre-op.

A while after transfer from recovery to pre-discharge holding... I

thought my hand felt wet, and raised it to see it covered with blood.

My palm had a glob of clots on it.

Hit the nurse call button... and she came in and shrieked: There was an

18-inch wide puddle of blood on the floor. The IV line had twisted,

somehow. No big deal, a little pressure and the ooze stopped. Added a

half hour to my stay... but not as scary as it seemed.

Now... the BIG city hospital nightmare: I took Sheri to the Countryside ER

after she burned her hand pretty badly (with 3 blisters - one 1.5

inches long) on the stove. After checking in, it took a half hour for

the triage nurse to take her vitals... gave her an ice bag and told her

to sit and wait. While she sat writhing in pain... four others came in

with NOT life threatening situations after we got there and were

whisked quickly into the treatment area. I complained to the nurse,

and she said my wife did not say her pain was an "8 or greater" so she was passed

by others who did claim [i am sure falsely] to have more pain. REMEMBER THAT unless you like waiting. How much longer must she wait to get attention? "At least an hour, sir, please be patient." I asked if there was a walk-in urgent care clinic nearby... she said, "Yes, there are three." But she refused to tell us where - saying that that would be a conflict of interest! (as if denying treatment of a critical wound is not) I called our PCP... but when the doc on call that night failed to call back in 20 minutes, we decided to leave and head to a drug store to get some O-T-C relief. THEN, as we started out the door, the ER Triage Nurse called out that my wife REALLY needed professional medical care! I told her, "I agree... but can she get it here, NOW - at least have someone look at this - worsening - burn and tell us what to do?" When the nurse babbled, "Well, in time... but..." We did not wait to hear the rest of her drivel as Sheri was now in tears. Despite the good care I have gotten in the past at that hospital, I do not think we will patronize it again. This episode, added to that fiasco earlier this year was the last straw. In case you for got that incident, I was literally held hostage for four days because they no longer have staff or facilities to provide proper care for any person with a non-Medtronic cardiac devices, thanks to that ethically questionable exclusivity deal Bay Care execs signed with Medtronic. Since Bay Care bought out Morton-Plant Mease hospitals... they seems to have lost their sense of priorities.We now choose to avoid them if there are any other options. Now, I know of at least one... even with the long drive north.I

OK.... got that off my chest. And finally getting sleepy. Thanks again for your support. My worries were without foundation.Stay well....DuffeyPS: Sorry if my use of the cute highlighting and color formatting annoys anyone. I really love this New! Rich-Text Editor (Beta) to compose messages.