The HospitVALzation: Part 5, A Scary Proposition

The Unfortunate HospitVALzation started on Monday night, Jan 31. We are now up to Tuesday night, Feb 1. I'd had supper and my Lovenox bloodthinner shot, and was left alone to watch TV and breathe. Again, I could not sleep. Maybe nodded off for less than two hours in the wee morning hours. I know I was awake then the phlebotomist showed up at 3:30 a.m. for three vials of blood, and at 5:15 when Katelynn brought in my thyroid pill on Wednesday morning, Feb 2.

Breakfast was scrambled eggs and toast. Kind of tasteless. The toast does not fare well under that heavy plastic warming lid, perched beside the eggs. I also had a cup of what I assume was cream of wheat. I sprinkled a little sugar on it and gave it a try, but it wasn't so delicious that I wanted more than a couple bites. I had all the eggs, though, for the protein. And one of the toast pieces. Half with grape jelly, half with that Promise stuff that passes for butter. I was on the low-sodium and low-cholesterol diet, according to the name tag on my tray. I didn't really notice any difference from regular food. Also, I had a fruit cup again, and ate the strawberries out of it, plus a pineapple piece.

 

By 9:30 on Wednesday, Tabbi was back with my Lovenox shot, dexamethasone push through the IV, and the IV levofloxacin antibiotic that ran for 90 minutes. Again, I was pretty much left alone, though my roommate had a bath, a turn, and a consult because of low blood pressure. I tried not to listen. Not my business. Put the TV controller with the volume by my ear. It was not good news being discussed on the other side of that curtain. Not sure what all was wrong with roomie, but they treated her well, and with concern.

 

Lunch came pretty quick after breakfast on Wednesday. I had chosen it from the two menu choices, but it was not a favorite.

 

 

It was pork loin, sweet potatoes with apples, mixed vegetables, and a fruit cup. I don't know what that liquid is. Maybe tea? I only ever put WATER on my menu, writing it in and circling it. First of all, I'd hoped for an actual hunk of pork loin, but this was little slices like you might find of turkey in a TV dinner. It still tasted pretty good. I don't like sweet potatoes, nor apples cooked with them. I abhor mixed vegetables, but Hick would have loved them. Also, I don't know the obsession with corn muffins here. I had a bite. Not my thing. Another fruit cup, which I partially ate.

Around 2:30 on Wednesday, Dr. Debra came in. She said I was doing well on the meds I was receiving, and my oxygen was good on room air. "Do you want to go home?"

"WHAT? Um, no. I don't feel ready for that. What if my oxygen goes down?"

"It WILL go down. When you get home, your oxygen WILL go down. So you take your time. Catch your breath. Take it slow until you can breathe again."

 

"What if it goes back in the 80s? Then what do I do?"

 

"Then you come back, and we'll treat you."

"I'm worried about that snow coming in today. I live way out in the country. What if I have trouble breathing, and I can't get back to the hospital?"

"We can keep you another day."

"Okay. Thank you. I would feel more comfortable with that option. Because of the snow."

Indeed, the forecast had been calling for upwards of 12 inches of snow. Except maybe a little less in our area, because freezing rain would come first, putting down a layer of slickness before the snow and single-digit temperatures. I even asked my personal care tech Shannon about it when she came in to do vitals, since everyone was talking about the snow, it was all over the news, and they kept my window shades open so I could see it falling.

"Will you be okay? Can you make it home in this snow tonight?"

"Oh, I'm staying over. They set up a room for us to stay. I have to be back here at 6:00 a.m., so I'm just staying over."

"Well, at least that's one less thing for you to worry about."

I was quite relieved to not be kicked out in the storm. It might have been different if I was feeling more able to breathe, and if I'd had some advance notice that going home was a possibility. But to have it sprung on me after 2:30, with that snow starting, and no idea if Hick could pick me up, was a bit of a shock.

More of a shock was to come, round 4:30, when a flurry of activity kicked me out of my room.

TO BE CONTINUED...