The HospitVALzation: Part 3, The Endless Night

I had been at the North ER since 3:00 p.m. on Monday, Jan 31. My ambulance got me to the hospital 20 miles south at around 11:30 p.m. The EMTs had trouble finding my room, as it wasn't written on the paper they had. Finally got me there. Parked me outside the door. Lowered that dang stretcher. Kind of helped me stand up. I had to walk past an occupied bed to the window bed, ample rumpus flapping in the breeze, dragging my oxygen tubing. A patient tech hooked it up to the wall oxygen.

I wish I could remember that patient tech's name. It was written on the whiteboard of my neighbor, but I can't think of it now. She was very good at her job. I will call her Shannon. She got the bed head up high like I prefer it. Took my vitals. 

"I will have to go to the bathroom about every hour. I don't think my oxygen and tubes will stretch that far, around that bed."

"Oh, I'm planning to get you a bedside commode so you won't have to walk over there. It should reach that far."

Well. She DID get me that bedside commode, which took over 90 minutes. She was in and out of the room, calling for it on her shoulder-com thingy, to several departments. When it arrived, she set it against the wall, at the foot of my bed, beside the window. Yes. The window to the courtyard. The shades were open. Lights on. So everybody could see me do my business! Well. Anyone awake at 1:00 a.m. When Shannon was back for vitals in the wee hours, I did ask her to close the shades, which she did.

 

My nurse came in to get me all hooked up. Her name was Katelynn, and she was the best RN ever!

 

"Hi. I'm Katelynn. I'm here to give your meds. I'm going to hook you up to this monitor. Right now you're getting a shot of Lovenox."

 

"Oh. I know that. It's for blood clots. I've had it before in the hospital."

 

"Yes, everybody in the hospital gets it. You'll have a shot of it every 12 hours."

 

"Thank you for telling me right off what it is. I am still in a panic from being over at the North ER. The nurse came in and was giving me an IV, and when I asked what it was she said, 'Remdesivir.' I'm still in kind of a panic about it! I said, 'NO! I refuse!'"

 

Katelyn looked me in the eye and nodded her head 'Yes.'

 

"I'm sure she was going to tell me what it was, but she'd already punctured the bag when I refused. I hope she didn't get in trouble."

 

"She may have told you, or not. And you might have to refuse it HERE, too."

 

"Because it's the standard of care?"

 

"Yes."

 

Katelynn gave my Lovenox shot, and moved around to the window side of the bed. I can't remember if she had to put on a new set of those heart monitor thingies, or if they'd left them attached. I know she had to plug in the connector for them. Then get a red ET finger thingy to monitor my oxygen.

 

"Could you not put that on my right hand? I interferes when I have to go to the bathroom. And it's awkward to hold my phone."

 

"Would you like it on your ear? A lot of people prefer that, because it leaves their hand free. It also seems to read better on the ear, where it's warmer than the finger."

 

"Yes! Put it on my ear."

 

Katelynn got that red ET thingy taped to my right earlobe. I really didn't notice it, except when I got out of bed for my potty, and sometimes dragged my head sideways if I hadn't laid out the wire carefully for when I moved around the bed.

 

"We can monitor this out there. You seem to be responding to the steroid and the oxygen."

 

"I feel like I can breathe easier now. I usually breath through my mouth. So if I go to sleep, I'm not sure how these nose things are going to work."

 

"Oh, you'll still be getting the oxygen blown in. It will be okay."

 

"Thank you SO MUCH for explaining things to me. You have made me a lot less anxious."

 

"Oh, that's so sweet. I really appreciate it. I'm just doing my job."

 

I was left alone until the 3:30 a.m. vampire showed up. The phlebotomist. She was wearing a bubble-headed suit! Like from the movie The Stand, when Stu was at the CDC being studied. Anyhoo... she introduced herself, and said she was there to take three vials of blood.

 

"Do you mind if I lay these on your chest?"

 

"Not a bit."

 

"Oh, you have a good vein."

 

"Yeah, it finally came back, after they blew it out on one of my regular doctor visits a few years ago. I guess she didn't put enough pressure on it when she was finished. So if you don't mind, when you're done, I'm going to hold my thumb on it awhile."

 

"Oh, that will be fine. I'll have the tape on it, too."

 

The rest of the night/morning proceeded without incident. I had my TV remote. Couldn't sleep a wink. The roommate had alarms going off often. Sometimes people would come in to check, but I had the curtain pulled. Didn't see, didn't want to. The whole time I was there, that lady never talked to anybody. She moaned sometimes. They turned her about three times a day. Had trouble with her vitals sometimes. No privacy in a hospital.

 

At 5:00 a.m. Katelynn was back with my thyroid med. I told her I had also been taking a vitamin twice a day, and asked if that would be allowed if my husband brought it in.

 

"The doctor will have to check it and approve it, but they might allow it. Bring it in the bottle."

 

"Okay. I take one at morning and night. So they would bring it then?"

 

"No. They'd bring both of them with all your meds in the morning. I'm not telling you to hide anything... but if one of them got pushed aside, you'd have to take it later. Otherwise, the nurse will look to make sure you have taken all the pills in your pill cup before she leaves the room."

 

"Good to know!"

 

Around 8:00, breakfast arrived. It was two pieces of french toast, with syrup. I ate it, but it was SO SWEET. No protein with it. There was a menu that my new patient tech said to fill out, but I told her I didn't have my glasses, so she did it for me right then. 

TO BE CONTINUED...