Chapter 4 – Surgery #1

Finally, a Doctor came in, introducing himself as Dr. McBride, he informed us that they were taking Charis upstairs to have a heart catheterization done to determine what the problem was with her heart.  Rhoda led us through the twists and turns of the maze of hospital corridors, and finally to the dark, impersonal waiting room for the Cath Lab.  Drew and I thumbed through magazine after magazine, scanning the newspaper for that day, reading the words, but not comprehending the stories.  Vending machines were located and raided, and couches were put to use as temporary beds for those that thought they could sleep a little.  It was almost 2:00 am, and I was exhausted.  I wanted to sleep, but it was hopeless.  We jumped at every sound, watching every person that walked near the doorway.  It was supposed to take approximately 30 minutes to do the heart catheterization.  We paced and snacked, talked and prayed; mostly we stared into space like the stunned, heartbroken people that we were. 

The predicted 30 minutes passed then 40 and 45 minutes.  Soon it was an hour, and time kept dragging, and we got more and more nervous.  Finally an hour and a half later, Dr. McBride came into the room, introducing us to Dr. Jeffrey Lin, a heart surgeon.  They proceeded to explain that she had suffered a 100% occlusion of her left main coronary artery, causing extensive damage to her heart.  The only available option at this point was to proceed with a double by-pass to try to restore blood flow.  Unfortunately, the heart needs to have blood restored within a 4 to 6 hour timeframe, and we were far out of that timeframe, so the Doctors were not very optimistic about the outcome of the surgery.  However, without the surgery she would certainly die.   A very terrified Mom signed the stack of permission forms and sent the Doctors on their way to try once again to save her life. 

 We were instructed to go to the family surgery room and wait.  They promised that we would receive frequent phone calls to update us.  The whole group caravanned behind Rhoda as she led us on another long journey through quiet, semi-dark hospital corridors; finally arriving at the empty waiting room.  We scattered throughout the room trying to find a comfortable spot to wait.  Rhoda disappeared and then reappeared through a side door, her arms loaded with blankets and pillows for us all.  Some of us found a corner to curl up in, others paced.   Drew would walk over to the phone saying forcefully “RING! RING!” willing it to ring, yet fearing the message.  Around 4:15, it rang with the news that she had been anesthetized.  Ten minutes later it rang again, she was on the heart lung machine, but they had a very difficult time getting that accomplished, her heart had stopped twice, and they had used the defibrillator to restart it.  

Time dragged by slowly.  Rhonda decided to run home and get my Dad and a change of clothes.   Drew and I tried to lie down, but were too keyed-up to sleep or even relax.  We would jump up and pace around, then try to sit and read a magazine.  Finally someone came through the door.  I recognized him as a parent of children at the school where I work; he introduced himself as the anesthesiologist.  What a joy to see a familiar face.  Even though I didn’t know him very well, it was a huge comfort at this time.  He explained again about her heart stopping and her very grave condition.  He added that the next big hurdle would be bringing her off the heart lung machine.  I felt like we were walking a tightrope over a very large and terrifying crevasse.  Every minute that passed without a call was a minute spent in relief that she was still hanging on.  Every second that the phone wasn’t ringing was a second spent in worry, fearing the worst. 

            I would lay my head on Drew’s shoulder thinking I could sleep for 15 minutes, then be compelled to get up and walk to where I could see the doorway, hoping to get a glimpse of the Doctor.  We paced and prayed and sat and fidgeted.  Around 5:00 a.m., we decided to start calling family.  Drew awakened his Brother in law in Michigan with the news, and the phone chain started from there.  I held off as long as I could before calling my boss, Barbara.  She must have been awake most of the night worrying; she picked up the phone before the first ring had finished.  After I finished crying, I was able to tell her what had transpired since Drew had called her the previous night.  She assured me that she would be praying for us, and not to worry about work.  I called Cody’s house and told his Mom what had happened, and asked her to fill him in.  Meanwhile, Drew was calling his various family members.  I remember hearing him call his brother, Jeff in Austin.  Jeff’s daughter, Arian answered the phone, and I heard Drew say “Wake someone up!”   Rhonda and my Dad got there around 5:30 a.m.  It was comforting to sit next to my Dad at such an unsure time, just to have his presence, even though he was just as worried as we were.  Charis and Grandpa had an especially close relationship.  They spent a lot of time together, often taking short trips to his hometown to visit relatives. 

The sleepy hospital began waking up as another spring day in Texas dawned.  People began to trickle into the waiting room, a reminder that others also had family members in surgery.   The phone rang with a little more frequency, as other families received updates on loved ones.  I would jump up and run to that phone, only to call out an unfamiliar name in disappointment.  Finally, it was our call.  She had survived surgery!  They were closing up.  We all hugged in relief!  I was told that a Doctor would be out in a little while to talk to us.  We fidgeted and paced and watched that door for Dr. Lin.  Finally, around 7:30, a very tired looking Dr. Lin came into the room.  He squatted down in front of us, and said in a low voice, “she made it”.  A chorus of relieved sighs punctuated his pronouncement, which was followed by “but she is hanging on by her fingernails”.  We all chose to cling to the fact that she was alive, instead of thinking about how close to death she was.  He went on to explain again about the difficulties with her heart stopping and told us that her coronary arteries were abnormally small.  We were again told that it was a miracle that she didn’t die when she fell in the road.  Her heart had suffered extensive damage, his estimation was about two-thirds of the heart was damaged.  He very frankly told us that most likely her heart would not recover much, but they were hoping for the best.  The next 24 hours were the crucial hours to know how much she would recover, if at all.  I still felt like I was standing outside of myself watching a horrible nightmare happen to someone else.