Wednesday, November 21, 2012

How I Spent My “Fall” Vacation – Episode 21


...meanwhile back at the ranch...
Episode 21 – November 20 – Woke up this morning at 6:30 after some rather vivid dreams and began my exercise routine.
Solly came by to check my glucose levels which have been hovering just above and below the 6.0 level each morning. I am not looking forward to doing this myself when I get home. I just have a thing about self mutilation. Yes, I admit it, I’m a big baby. So there!
Esther’s my day nurse today so that adds a positive start to the day and breakfast with corn flakes instead of gruel is another positive note. However, all morning I have had this strange vibe that something is wrong. I get this feeling every so often and about 70% of the time something weird happens.
Maybe my Spidey senses are a little confused because Esther let me know that I have a shower booked for tomorrow. More positive news; now I’m getting scared.
Just before lunch, the physio decided that it was time for me to sit up in my wheelchair. The move team consisted of a new physio, Esther and Angela, the student from Langara who changed my dressing yesterday.  The problem with this was that none of them had participated in my transfer before so I had to instruct them in the whole procedure including how my legs had to be strapped down to each legrest.
Angela was a bit disappointed when she found out my dressing didn’t need to be changed again today because a few other student nurses wanted to see my cool fracture blisters. Different strokes for different folks.
So I got to enjoy my scrumptious lunch of a spinach salad and a dry salmon sandwich sitting in a chair.  for some reason they had omitted the soup. I checked the menu card and it did list borscht. I am not a fan of beets on their own but I enjoy a good borscht especially with a dollop of sour cream in the middle.
While in the chair my latest roommate moved out. The biggest problem with these quick turnarounds is that increases the comings and goings and the general chaos in the room. First when they bring a post-op patient there are several nurses running in and out off the ward and when they are being discharged there are therapists, doctors and such and then the housekeeping crew comes in to clean up the bed area in preparation for a new patient. They moved another overnight post-op in within two hours today. Tomorrow is going to be even worse because Charlie is being discharged so the craziness will double.
The new guy said the most ridiculous thing when discussing his precious dogs with Sam, the nurse. Sam said that she had to put her dog down. His statement was “I know how you feel. Losing a dog feels worse the losing a child.” Really, dude? And then he went on to say “the best way to get over it is go out the following week and adopt a new puppy.” I wonder what his advise would be for losing a child.
I spent two and three quarter hours in the chair today which was a bit too long and I was extremely tired. By the time the nurses were ready to use the lift; I was half asleep leaning to one side. Yes, I had become that old guy you see in every hospital drooling on his gown semi-conscious.
Dinner wasn’t half bad, beef macaroni with carrots. The pasta for once wasn’t severely overcooked.
On a completely different note, over the past few weeks, all the nurses passing through stop and admire my pedicure and the colour of my toenails, a metallic dark red. Although it originally started as a dare, I have continued to do have my nails painted for several years now. Awhile back someone very dear to me tried to convince me to stop this silly little habit for a number of reasons primarily to avoid people assuming things about me. I had seriously considered making this change. I finally decided not to stop at this time because I realized the true reason I keep doing it. It makes me feel good. Yes, I’m weird but weird is good. I love this person dearly for caring so much about me and I know she will understand and accept my decision for the time being. (Note: one of the first orders of business when I get paroled will be a fresh mani/pedi along with an overdue haircut.)
Kevin checked in as my night nurse and brought me my little blue friend and after Rachel Maddow, I headed off to dreamland.
To be continued...

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