The HospitVALzation: Part 4, Stabilization

After spending Monday night awake, I was just coasting along, switching around my TV remote to occupy my mind from possibly dying. The staff was working 12-hour shifts, so I got a new RN and personal care tech at 7:00. The care tech came in first, to get vitals. She wrote in the names of my day's carers on the white board. Again, I cannot remember her name. So I will call her Courtney. She was very efficient and friendly. 

Vitals were blood pressure, oxygen, and temperature. I had no fever. Blood pressure was a little higher than usual for me, though still in the "borderline" range. Oxygen was 92 percent, according to the finger pulse-ox that she clipped on. Courtney opened the window shades again, but I didn't complain. It is harder to catch a glimpse of my ample rumpus from outside during daylight hours. I asked for two cups of water (you never know when you might get another), and she called on her shoulder radio. They were delivered within minutes.

After my french toast breakfast, my new RN came in around 8:30. Her name was Tabbi, and she rivaled Katelynn for the best nurse ever.

"I've got your Lovenox shot, and your meds." She stabbed my stomach with the Lovenox. "Now I'm going to flush your IV with saline. And now I'm injecting it with your dexamethasone. You might feel hot. It might make you jittery. Okay. Now I'm hanging an IV antibiotic, levofloxacin."

"Oh. I'm allergic to ampicillin and the cephalosporins. So that won't be a problem, will it?"

"It should not. It's been approved by the pharmacy."

"Okay. Just asking, because I don't have that red bracelet I usually get for allergies."

"It's on the barcode of your bracelet that we scan before we do anything."

"Okay. How long will this be hooked up? In case I have to get up for the bathroom."

"It will run for 90 minutes. This tube is long enough to reach over there. And it's hanging here where you can pull this over if you need to."

"Okay. Thank you."

I still had not seen a doctor since I got there. I guess the timing was off for that. Courtney said that the North ER had sent them six or eight patients overnight. I guess I was lucky to be in the fourth ambulance that rolled up. I just chilled in bed, watching TV. Getting vitals every two hours. Inhaling through my nose prongs. When I got up for the potty, I got out-of-breath. It took a few minutes to regulate again after hoisting myself back in bed and getting situated. Kind of scary, but still able to breathe better than before the steroid and oxygen.

 

About an hour into my IV, an alarm started going off. Not good. Was I getting an air bubble? Did the thing run dry? A clog? I pushed my call button and told the answering voice that my IV was giving an alarm. Tabbi came in and showed me the screen on the infuser thingy.

 

"Sometimes if you move your arm, it will set this off. See here where it says (I can't remember the message), you push this reset button, and it will turn off."

 

I had to do that one more time, but at least I knew what was happening. Then about a half hour after it was done, Tabbi came back to unhook me.

Lunch arrived. I ate what I could, lying in bed. I was sitting as high as that bed-back would allow, but still, it's not easy to eat in a bed. I had meat loaf, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli, a corn muffin, and some fruit for dessert. I ate the meat loaf meat part that wasn't too loafy, a couple bites of potatoes, a couple bites of broccoli, one bite of corn muffin, and the strawberries out of the dessert, because I figured the pineapple and cantaloupe and honeydew would give me heartburn. Gotta say, the food was good!

 

After 2:00, my doctor showed up. Dr. Debra. She was fantastic. She said that they have no idea how the VIRUS is going to affect people. That it causes a viral pneumonia, and the steroid seems to help relieve the inflammatory response in the lungs. Dr. Debra said I was responding to the steroid and oxygen, and they would continue with the antibiotic and the dexamethasone, and remdesivir.

 

"Oh, I won't take that. No remdesivir."

 

Dr. Debra nodded. No comment either way on if I should or shouldn't. Just an acknowledgement. She was very reassuring, saying my vitals were good right now with this treatment.

All morning, I'd been trying to get my glasses. Hick had said he'd bring them over, along with the vitamins I wanted. He had left them at the main visitor desk around 11:00 a.m., in a baggie with my name and room number. I'd asked Courtney a couple times if anybody had seen them. She called on her shoulder radio to two different people. Nope. They knew nothing, although they'd found a pair of glasses on a food tray. I also asked Tabbi when she came in. Hick had come back, and the desk had told him they called three times, but nobody would come get them. I guess Tabbi went, because she appeared while I was talking to Dr. Debra, and stood patiently against the wall, holding the baggie.

"Oh, Doctor. She would like to know if she can take her vitamin supplement while here."

Dr. Debra took the bag, took out the bottle, read it over, and said, "Yes. That's fine." So Tabbi whisked it away (leaving my glasses) to get it labeled by the pharmacy. 

I was left on my own the rest of the afternoon. Peeing to my heart (and bladder's) content on my port a potty in front of the window. I had the curtain pulled between the beds. My roommate was inspected regularly. Her CPAP mask was rubbing her face, they said, so they put in nasal prongs. They were always so polite, calling her by name, telling her what they were doing, apologizing when she moaned.

 

 

Supper was there by 5:45. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes with white gravy, corn, a corn muffin, SLAW, and a yogurt strawberry dessert. I ate the chicken and mashed potatoes, most of the slaw, a bite of corn muffin, half the corn, and half the dessert. It's really a lot of food when you're laying around not feeling good. Pardon my potty in the background!

After 7:00, KATELYNN showed up! The same night nurse, twice in a row! And also Shannon was my patient tech.

"Well, hello, Miss Val! How are you doing?"

 

"I'm so glad to see you! You put me at ease."

 

"Looks like you had Tabbi today. She's good."

 

"Yes, Tabbi is excellent! I'm feeling better than when I came over here. Just laying here, making sure to breathe through my nose."

"You are doing well. In fact, let's take this oxygen off your nose."

"What? Take it off?"

"Yes. Your oxygen reading on the ear has been around 98 to 100 percent."

"When they take it on the finger, it's 92 percent."

"Yes, that does read lower. We've been watching your stats. It has gone down to 92 percent, but we figured you were up moving around."

"Uh huh. I DO get breathless when I get up for the bathroom."

"Then it goes back up. In fact, for the last hour, we've had your oxygen unplugged. You've done fine."

"Well, aren't YOU tricky!"

"We do that. To see how patients respond. So they don't panic. We'll leave it off and see how you do."

Katelynn proceeded to give my Lovenox shot, and flush the IV with saline. She also closed the window shade for me, so no nightly ample-rumpusing for outside observers.

TO BE CONTINUED...