They took Mom to the cath lab at five and by six-thirty, Dr. Kumar had joined us in the family waiting room. He wore a large smile and came right to sit between me and Dad. My siblings crowded around but they didn’t push in too much, which I was sure the doctor appreciated.
Dr. Kumar glanced around at all of us before focusing on Dad. “Jenn is doing just fine. The blockage was exactly where the CTA showed, we cleared it, and placed a stent. Your wife will be moved to recovery shortly, and a nurse will come get you when she can have visitors. We’ll keep her overnight just because of the hour, but she can go home tomorrow morning.”
Dad released a long, slow breath and when Bodhi wrapped his arm around his shoulders, he leaned in. Dad closed his eyes for just a few seconds and then opened them, relief all over his face.
“Thank you so much, Dr. Kumar. Thank you for taking care of her. She’s the center of my world, you know?”
Dr. Kumar laughed with twinkling eyes. “I can tell. But everything went exactly according to plan, and in a couple of weeks, it’ll be like it never happened.”
Dad’s smile looked a little strained. I knew he wouldn’t forget this for as long as he lived. He didn’t say that and instead asked, “Will you do me a favor and tell my son, the doctor, the technical details? I’ll feel better if he knows.”
“Of course.” Dr. Kumar turned to me, his smile never slipping and just as kind. “Your mother had a near occlusion in the proximal LAD. Eighty-five percent stenosis. After the balloon angio, we placed a DES. I’m going to send her home on a statin and a P2Y12, but we can reevaluate the former when she comes in for her follow-up in two weeks.”
My relief was also palpable and I appreciated his straightforwardness. Dr. Kumar made sure we didn’t have any other questions, and then he left. I was sure he had other patients to see. We moved en masse from the cath lab waiting room back up to the cardiac floor waiting room, knowing we wouldn’t be able to see Mom until she was back in her room. After we were settled again, Gemma leaned forward and caught my eye.
“I wanna know what that means,” she said, her voice nasally from the crying. I’d assured my family time and again that while anything having to do with the heart was a big deal, this situation with Mom was the smallest of big deals. No one was really reassured by that, but I understood why. Heart attack was a scary term and having to undergo a procedure to fix it was scarier still.
“And shouldn’t she be in the hospital for at least a few days?” Bodhi asked, grumbling.
“No,” I said, at the same time as Isley. I caught his eye and we shared a brief grin. His knowledge of course was geared toward animals, but he was still pretty savvy when it came to anything medical. I offered the more in-depth explanation.
“What Dr. Kumar and his team did is so minimally invasive that if it had happened earlier today, Mom would have been released this evening. And to answer your question, Gem, basically there was some buildup in the top part of Mom’s left anterior descending artery. They put a balloon in there and pumped it up, to open up the artery and get rid of some of the plaque and then put a stent right there to keep it open. The stent they used has medicine in it that will continue to help. She’ll be on a cholesterol medication and an anti-platelet medication to hopefully keep it from happening again.”
“Will it?” Hawk asked. His eyes were just as red as Gemma’s.
I shrugged. “There’s no way to tell, really. Some people have one blockage and never have another issue for the rest of their lives. Others have continued problems in the same spot, or in other vessels. But Mom is young and strong, so there’s little reason to worry. Especially because we all know she’ll take her meds.”
That last bit caused a wave of laughter to rush through us all, which eased some more tension. Mom hated medication. So much so that she didn’t even like to take pain relief when she had a headache. But Dad wouldn’t allow her to be taken from him, and she would never leave Dad if she could help it, so there was no doubt in any of our minds she’d do exactly as the cardiologist instructed.
The nurse came in then, and Dad and Bodhi went to see Mom first. I was sure Dad would stay with her as long as he could and the rest of us would rotate in and out until we all got a chanceto see her. Fern took the opportunity to cross the room and sit beside me, tucking her arm through mine.
“It’s really okay?” she whispered.
“It really is, Fernie.” I used the childhood nickname to get her to scoff, and she did. I kissed the side of her head. “Anything medical is…well, it’s never nothing, right? But I promise, this is so minor these days. Mom is all fixed up.”
She let out a breath. “Good.”
“But there is one problem,” I began, tone grave. Fortunately, I expected her to jerk her head up so I got my face out of the way so she didn’t knock me. I raised my voice a little so all my siblings could hear. “Mom won’t be bed bound or anything. But she does need to take it easy for the next couple of weeks. And no lifting over five pounds, because of where they put the catheter in. No strenuous exercise at all.”
At least half my siblings groaned. Mom was not the type to sit still and if it was forced? Well that would be worse. They all knew we’d have to watch her like a hawk—no pun intended—for the next couple of weeks to make sure she didn’t overdo it.
Luke shook his head. “The babies weigh more than that.”
Demi waved that away. “We can set them in her arms so she still gets baby snuggles. I’m more worried about the fact that our wedding is just over three weeks away.”
“Good gravy,” Fern said with a head shake. “I have everything handled. You know I do. But that’s not going to stop your mother.”
“Nope,” Demi agreed.
“It’ll be fine,” Hawk said, but not like he really believed it. “There’s enough of us to keep her occupied. Plus Carter texted that he’s bringing in a chef to handle food. At least for a couple of weeks.”
I shot him a horrified look. I wasn’t the only one. Hawk pulled a face and held up a hand.
“I know, I know. But he needs to do something, and she can’t be cooking for everyone while she recovers.”
“I’ll break it to her,” Keegan said, making a dismissive gesture. “I’ll do the big cow eyes and the wobbly lip. You know she’ll fold like a house of cards.”
That had us all laughing, and the release felt good. A second later, Bodhi returned and Crew headed in to take his place. It was funny how we still, after all these years, defaulted to age order unless something else took precedence. I let the others fill Bodhi in and stepped out into the hall.
