As my husband was rolled down a corridor to an operating room in a Montgomery hospital, a young woman helping push the gurney bantered with our son Kerry. Our daughter Amy, our granddaughter Melissa, and I each gave the patient a kiss on the cheek and followed along to the waiting room.

‘Roll Tide’

“Roll Tide,” my husband said with a wave to Kerry, who answered in kind. It was a few days before the Alabama-Auburn football game and people throughout the hospital were decked out in clothing and jewelry (or both) expressing their team choices.

Our son, wearing an Alabama sweatshirt, appeared swept up in the competitive spirit of the game. In reality, while he carried on the friendly joshing walking beside me, his sister, and niece, his mind was on his daddy. The cardiologist had been compassionate but frank in an earlier conversation, leaving the four of us in fear of the possibility of losing him.

A heart attack in January had severely damaged his heart. Now he was battling congestive heart failure and his weakened heart just wasn’t handling getting rid of the fluid build-up. The trip to the cath lab was to insert an Impella pump, a cardiac assist device to provide partial circulatory support for him on a temporary basis.

We found scattered seats in the waiting room and tried to settle in. We were all tense and jittery, but trying to be calm for each other’s sakes. I retrieved a book from one of my heavy totes. Somehow, the words all ran together and I just stared at them. Amy, seated across the room from the rest of us, pulled out a pen and attempted to work a crossword puzzle. I’m sure her concentration was off like mine.

Kerry and Melissa spent a few minutes hunting coffee to brew a fresh pot, and lingered a little longer pouring themselves a cup.

Then my son stationed himself close to the waiting room telephone. When it rang, he was on it in a flash. The person on the line was the young woman who helped push the gurney. She recognized his voice. “This is the beautiful Auburn fan you spoke with…” she began and said she had some good news.

The cardiologist had installed a stent for a blockage that the catherization had revealed. Everything looked good. The patient was doing fine. She said she’d call when the pump procedure was complete.

Three days later, they wheeled my husband out of the intensive care unit for removal of that miracle pump.Afterward, his heart functioned on its own as the cardiologist had hoped. A few days later, he received a pacemaker-defibrillator. We praise God for his guidance of the cardiologist who found the right solution to treat our loved one’s very serious, perhaps critical, condition.

After several weeks of hospitalization, my husband returned home. We thank everyone for their concern and prayers and pray he’ll soon feel better.