Thursday, June 03, 2010

Last days of the hospital

During the day on Saturday there were no surprises. I asked my nurse if she thought the doctor would release me on Monday. I knew he wouldn't go for anything before that. She came back, and said that he would release me on Monday afternoon. That's what I wanted. I knew she would have to put pressure on him because he wouldn't be in to see me until Tuesday when office hours were held and Valarie would be back. He is a brilliant surgeon, and has many interests (his bachelor was in biology - like mine), but his nurse keeps him on the straight and narrow with the daily menial things. So I knew I had to work through the nurse.

So it was set. When it was time that the night nurse came on, things were different. She came in and said she was going to take the IV out. That's good. But this one was not in a place that hurt, and even though it was old - it still worked. No she meant she was going to take out that one only to put in a new one.

I don't know why, but all the veins in my left arm decided to be non-cooperative. This particular nurse seems to have great problems finding a vein. So after the poked around my hand for a vein (trying twice with a stick), she attached a new IV. It was in a place that hurt.

Sunday was OK until about 10pm. I was settling down to go to sleep. I had the TV on still, and I was snuggled in the bed. All the sudden, there was a noise in the hall, and then my door was thrown open with great force. There appeared something. I couldn't tell if it were man or woman. It was shouting something that was not plain. In fact, this scene could have come from your basic horror movie where the monster appears.

I was scared to death. I laid there wondering what to do. I had the call button in hand. Do I call the nurses station or use the button to beat the thing. About that time, another nurse entered the room. She told me that the woman (at least now I knew) was looking for her mother's room, and she was quite retarded. She said "she wasn't all there." No kidding!

Monday came. Noon passed. No doctor. We waited until 5pm. G called the answering service to try to make contact with the doctor to determine if I were really coming home. He was informed the hospital nurse had to call. So she did. No response.

To cut to the chase, after a couple of calls, he was finally on his way. I really think he was hoping I would not push coming home. Well - he doesn't know me very well. When he came in, I saw a little superstition in him. He hasn't had a blood clot problem in a long time, and it was getting to about time for that to happen. He wanted me to stay so I would be there and be getting the anticoagulant injected in my abdomen twice a day. I think he would have wanted me to stay forever!

Anyway, I was released at 7. Hallelujah! So that brings me home, where I have used my machine that moves the joint the times I am supposed to. That is because with this knee I cannot sit in anything in the den, so I am in the bedroom with the machine. I also make sure I do the ankle pumps at least once an hour.

Peace be with you.

3 comments:

Judy said...

This all sounds so very scarey. But--I am glad you are home--just keep moving so no blood clots set in, please.

Grandma K said...

Jude, you sound like the doctor now!!

But I do move a lot. If I'm in bed and not using the knee mover, I pump my ankles. Doing everything I can.

angela said...

So glad you're back home. I thought at first the woman was just a nightmare. Hospitals are weird places. And impossible to sleep and rest there...at least for me.