Hospital Story, Day 1

I've been trying to remember the "visit" ...... don't really think of it as a visit ..... more of a "sentence" ...... so that I could write about it.

I've decided to just write about it one day at a time.

So Day 1 would be Thursday, Feb. 26th .... the last time I remember feeling relatively good.

J. & I got up way-too-early-to-be-considered-humane to go to the hospital.  We made it on time and I was where I was supposed to be at 5:30.  Our pastor and my dad were there waiting when we got there.  My dad and C. had driven down from Okla the day before.  What parents!

I didn't have to wait very long before they called me back.  I don't remember a whole lot .... I know they started an IV and a bit of sedation.  I barely remember them saying it was time to go back to surgery.  So I guess ..... up to that point .... all went well.

Evidently my friends decided to play with my camera phone while I was away:

The next thing I remember is waking up in an immense amount of pain.  Nothing is very clear about being in recovery, except that there were 2 nurses and they seemed to be scrambling quite a bit to get the pain under control.  I do remember the anesthesiologist coming in at one point and discussing the possibility of putting in an epidural if nothing worked.  I did think that was weird, as I knew I was not about to give birth, but I couldn't talk because of the pain.  

I remember hearing things like "2 drains",  "tumor much bigger and more extensive than anticipated", "aggressive", "lucky we got it out now", "almost into the hip joint", and "longer stay".  

I was told that they let my friends and family come back to the recovery room, but then kicked them all out because they couldn't get the pain under control.  They said I would be taken to my room once that happened.  I think it was well over 2 hours later before I went to my room and I do remember still hurting.

There were quite a few people waiting for me .... the room was full.  I don't remember a lot, but know the room was over-flowing.  

My friend M stayed in the room with me that night.  Let me just say here and now that you should ALWAYS have someone with you in a hospital room ..... 24/7 if possible, but definitely over night.  

At this point they were coming in to check my vitals about every 3 hours.  At 11:00 p.m. the shift changed and the new nurse came in to say hi.

About an hour later she came in to check my vitals.  I was trying to doze but heard her whisper, "Oh, my God." when she checked my blood pressure.  

I, of course, looked up to inquire what was going on.  She just muttered something about "this can't be right" and I realized she meant my blood pressure.  Here was our conversation:

Me:  "Oh, is it my blood pressure?"

Her:  "Ummmmm ..... yes."

Me:  "Oh, don't worry about it.  It's always low."

Her:  "No, I don't think it's this low."

Me:  "No, really .... trust me .... it's nothing to worry about.  It's always low and it always makes people look twice."

Her:  "Mrs. Eggers, your blood pressure is 79 over 43.  That's not normal.  That's not just low ... it's way too low."

Me:  ..... slight pause ...... "Oh, well ....... yes, that does seem a tad low, but I assure you, I'm fine."

Her:  "I'm going to take it from the other arm."

Me:  "Okey dokey."

And so she did.

And then she stared at the machine again for a few moments.

Then she said, "I'm going to have to do this manually.", and she left the room and quickly returned with the old fashioned cuff and stethoscope.  

She proceeded to check it again.

She was still ..... less than thrilled.

She then muttered .... "I'm going to go get the doctor." and practically fled the room.  No, not practically.

She. Fled. The. Room.

She soon returned with a sleepy-eyed doc.

He took one look at the reading and then looked at me.

I smiled and waved.

He said, "This can't be right" and told her to take it again.

She did.

Then he told her to take it out of the other arm.

She did.

Then he told her to take it out of my left ankle.

She did.

And then the right.

All the while I'm trying my very best to explain that this really isn't a problem, but neither of them would pay any attention to my mouth.  Only my arms and my ankles.

I said, "Really.  It's OK.  Let me give you an example.  When I was 9 months pregnant with twins my blood pressure never got higher than 110 over ..... whatever.  Really.  

I. Have. Low. Blood. Pressure.

I promise."

He ignored me and kept asking if I was having pain radiating down my arms.  Nope.

Lightheadedness?  Nope.

Pain in my back?  Nope.

Well, they messed with me for at least 30 more minutes, all the while ignoring my protestations.  So after about half an hour of all of that crud my blood pressure FINALLY went up to an acceptable number ... 93 over .... something.

They were relieved.

I was tired.

They came in every 2 hours after that to check my vitals and see if I had expired.

And so that was my first day/night at that hospital.  

My first ..... but not my last ..... time to not be heard.

Don't worry .... it only gets better.

Depending, of course, on what your definition of "better" is.

In these stories ..... "better" means "more interesting" .... at least for my readers.

Today was an easier day.  Less nausea ... I only got sick once.  The pain has increased but at least the nausea hasn't.  

I'm frustrated that they didn't call today to make me an appointment to come in tomorrow.  One of the drains is leaking quite a bit and I keep running a low grade fever.  I called and left a message but it was too late in the day before I realized I had a drain problem.  

Hopefully they will call tomorrow morning.

If not, I will be the lucky drain-wearer all weekend ..... which means I'm not leaving the house.  We're not talking small drains here .... we're talking canteens.  

I have pictures.

Besides, I don't feel well enough to leave the house anyway.  

Daughter #3 came home tonight .... yay!  Daughter #2 comes home tomorrow .... yay!  And I think Son #1 comes home tomorrow .... yay!

He, being the male he is, has not notified me of his travel plans.

Not that I'm leaving ..... or anything.

:)