Two weeks ago yesterday, my husband had open-heart surgery. It was planned although it had been a surprise that he needed it. He scheduled the surgery at a hospital 90 minutes from our home because it was the only hospital in the state that could perform this rare type of surgery. We were nervous but also knew he would have the surgeon who had done more of these than anyone in the state and, as it turns out, probably more than anyone in the world.
Because the hospital was so far from home, we also booked a hotel right across the street for Cody, my mom, and me to stay in during Chuck’s recovery in the hospital. Cody was thrilled – the hotel had a pool AND a small basketball court!
The day of the surgery, I wanted to stay with Cody as much as possible so after Chuck was wheeled to the operating room, I went back to the hotel to wait. I received text messages from the hospital throughout the next 3 1/2 hours with status updates and, at 3:42 pm, I received, “The patient’s procedure is starting to close.”