This part still gives me goosebumps.

I was finally moved to a new room, and the nurse who helped me was an angel. She could tell how upset I was and felt horrible about everything that had just happened. I apologized for looking so awful and said I just wanted to wash my hair. As she is pushing me to my room, she said, “Sweetie, I think the room they put you in has a shower!”

Wait, what? An ER room that has a shower!?

Sure enough, she pushes me into this room that is super private and has its own personal bathroom with a shower. How was this possible? I asked her if they had a lot of rooms like this, and she said it was the ONLY room with a shower in their ER.

That was totally God!!! Unbelievable!

This nurse was out front in the ER waiting room, but before she left me, she got me this whole box of goodies to shower with and some sweet little personal items she thought I could use. She told me she would be in to see me in the morning when she came back into work, and God bless her, she did come back to see me. Her name was Deja, and she was the only one who I truly felt cared for me. I’m saying her name because she deserves a shout-out!

I had to sleep all night with a BP cuff on, going off every hour.

“Why do I need to sleep with this on?” I asked my new nurse.

“It’s protocol,” she replied.

“Well, I sat in here for 3.5 hours before you or anyone else even came in to even see me, and now it’s a big deal that my BP is taken every hour? Whatever,” I replied.

I still wasn’t allowed to eat, and I wasn’t in the best of moods.

Morning approached, and we had no idea what was going on. My cousin, who is a nurse, came down to see me. As she was there, a nurse came in to put me on more antibiotics. This one was going to take eight hours. We asked what it was, and again — it was vancomycin! My cousin told the nurse, “She had a bad reaction to that last night and shouldn’t be on it again.” NO ONE notated my chart about what had happened. In fact, my nurse never even gave me Benadryl until 3.5 hours after the fact of that reaction. But, I did enjoy a ‘cold’ shower and got to wash my hair thanks to my hubby taking care of me. I never saw a nurse until 3.5 hours after this all happened.

Let’s jump to noon, when the doctor came in to see me and tell me what was going on. By this time, I was starving! She comes in and says, “I am not quite sure why you were even admitted. You never had an infection, and you are supposed to be at your plastic surgeon appointment this afternoon. So we are going to get you out of here so you can get to your appointment. You never should have been admitted.”

At this point, I probably looked like a deer in headlights. You mean to tell me I went through all this for NOTHING?! They rushed me out so we could make it to see a plastic surgeon. As long as I was OK with being awake during the procedure, she could do it that day. Dude, at this point, do whatever you have to do!

They found out the hospital had never let me eat, and they were supposed to because I couldn’t go into this procedure on an empty stomach. I would likely pass out. They were just appalled at what I went through and apologized. They noticed on my chart that vancomycin hadn’t been noted yet, so they added it for me and highlighted it in yellow. Again, apologizing for everything because they just couldn’t believe everything I went through. I loved that my plastic surgeon called my EP doctor to go over what she would be doing before the procedure. She was absolutely wonderful and extremely thorough.

They took me into this room and began my procedure of cutting out the infected skin and sewing me up really good. I felt like I was on Dr. Pimple Popper! Haha! I had a nice distraction of getting to talk to her about my future new boobs and everything else she offered as a plastic surgeon, bahaha! Hey, gotta keep distracted somehow, right? Come on now!

Finally, mid-afternoon, I was all done, and my hubby took me to eat at the Trail Inn, where I finally got to enjoy some wings and feel human again. All was right with the world until two days later, I got hit with COVID really bad and was down for the next eight days. Definitely picked that up in the ER, no doubt.

So here I am today, feeling better, and my incision is looking great! My ejection fraction came back up to normal, which they say is a miracle!!! It typically takes 6-12 months to see significant improvement like that, and I wasn’t even at the 3-month mark yet. From the day I got my ICD on October 24th, I endured two surgeries, infections, plus COVID, and my numbers still improved remarkably!!

One word — GOD.

Even though this has been so hard to go through, God never left my side. I saw his hands in so many things. It still gives me goosebumps when I think of everything he has done. When doctors are even shocked, that says something.

I just pray that I can feel and look my best this year. The past few years have been such a trial, but because of them, I have grown even closer to the Lord, and you truly learn to appreciate the little things in life. Even though I have been through so much, I still try to be positive and see the good in what’s happening. Only we can create our own happiness, and at this point, I am just grateful to be alive. I will always wear a smile. Life could be so much worse. Truly just living my best life right now, and so, so happy. God is so so good.

Kenzy’s mastering my sticky buns, and I am here for it. (Picture is hers!) If my 12-year-old can make these, so can you!

Sticky Buns

Ingredients:
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

• 1/3 cup butter, cubed
• 2 TBS of maple syrup or 2 TBS of corn syrup
• 1-1/2 tsp. 2% milk
• 1 tube (8 oz.) Pillsbury Crescent Rounds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, butter, corn syrup, and milk. Cook and stir over medium heat until butter is melted and sugar is dissolved. (About 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally.)

Pour into a greased 9-in. pie plate.

Open crescent rolls and slice into 9 pieces. Place them in the pie dish; sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top.

Bake at 375° for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 1 minute before inverting onto a serving plate. Enjoy!!