Tuesday, February 8, 2022

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...

14 comments:

  1. Val, you must have a photographic memory. Or a good hand at fiction. This saga is extremely informative and well written. Bravo! And another bravo to you for your recovery.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I WISH it was fiction! I'd rather be writing my boring old blogs that this. But I'll eventually get back to that.

      Delete
  2. They give you a shot through the stomach? I had trouble reading the rest after that!

    Not so sure about the food, but I guess if you are just happy to breath any food taste good.

    Gad you are starting to feel better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it has to go into fat, not muscle! Lucky I have plenty of fat. Which might also explain my like of the hospital cuisine. Every day I make a little progress.

      Delete
  3. Thanks goodness you are getting good care and responding to meds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, the staff was exemplary at this hospital.

      Delete
  4. You have some good care. Your nurses and caregivers are awesome.
    Corn bread is good.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. These folks make it more than just a job. I'm not a fan of cornbread unless I make corn muffins from the blue Jiffy package!

      Delete
  5. Well I learned something new: melons can cause heartburn. and that oxygen readings are lower on the finger clip.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can take the teacher out of the hospital, but you can't take the teaching out of the teacher.

      Delete
  6. This is all so scary! I did not know what you said about the remdesivir! I will avoid that if it ever comes up. When I was in the hospital for one day after surgery, the nurses said they could tell I was a teacher. I have no idea why...lol. I always worry when my O goes down to 97, but I did not know it was low on the finger. Maybe I can ask them to put it on my ear. Rest well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Again, I would never presume to advise anyone to take or not-take remdesivir. The more you can read about it, the more informed you will be. Since I was responding to the steroid and oxygen, I was horrified that they wanted to automatically push the remdesivir. But it's the current standard of care policy that hospitals follow.

      Hick was reading online that a finger reading of 95-100 percent oxygen levels are essentially the same, due to the variance in the finger-reading process. We have a little pulse-ox thingy that I ordered way back when all this started.

      Of course the nurses could tell you were a teacher! Because you probably asked informed questions.

      Delete
  7. I must admit the food does look tasty. Having two of my adult children recovering from your ailment right now, I would have to say that the element of bedrest is number one in recovery. Actually, it is my twins who contracted the virus, though not from each other. Jeff seems to have overcome it much quicker that Jill. This is Jill's second bout, so that may have something to do with it. She laments that it does allow her to indulge in one of her favorite activities .... napping.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Any food that is brought to me while I'm lying on my back in bed is going to look good!

      I definitely needed all that hospital rest, with the monitoring to take away my panic. Dr. Debra said "everybody reacts differently, we don't know why." My problem is that I CAN'T sleep! I get tired, but can't nod off.

      Hope your kids are on the mend. I make a little improvement every day.

      Delete