D
John used the commode today. And when he was done, he was bleeding. Enough to scare the nurses, so they sent him to the ER. I was there with him, and he pushed to have lunch before he went.
And I spent time with him in the ER. The doctor there said it was just something like "road rash" (my word, since I can't pronounce or remember the medical word - but something as minor as a skin knee, jut inconveniently located) near his anal sphincter, no big deal, AND his blood count was up to 920 -- "normal" even for healthy men -- so we finally learned he was making his own blood. This was great news. All they had to do was wait four hours to get another blood sample before he was transferred back to the nursing home.
Yesterday, we found out they might keep him there for an extra week or two so he could go from there straight to home. He could be home by July 4th! We were elated, (although he's scared I might be too hopeful.)
So, I asked him to call me when he got settled back in, and I've been waiting for that call, not because I was worried about him bleeding, but because I was worried they weren't going to give him dinner tonight. (They have screwed up three meals in a row, so he hasn't had a full meal in a full day. I am still dressed, because I was going to take him something if they didn't feed him.)
He should be back by now, so I just called the nurses' station.
According to them, they're admitting him back into ICU because he's bleeding that badly in his intestines.
He just called. According to what he knows his second blood count was 850, so they sent him to ICU to watch him overnight only. Oh, BTW. He can't eat!
We didn't just go back one step. We just went back to January!
I cannot do this anymore, and yet what else can I do? He really cannot do this anymore. That hospital terrifies us by its incompetence! They really are back to dickering if he's bleeding in his intestines. The last time they played at this hunch for SIX weeks! They still don't know! He's got some inerrant blood vessels lining his intestines that can bleed whenever they want, but every time they scoped him (or used a camera) they weren't bleeding. They add "at that moment."
Pray! And pray I can pull this off without crying while I'm driving. And pray I can actually park the car without having to walk up three levels of a parking garage. And that's the easy stuff!
And I spent time with him in the ER. The doctor there said it was just something like "road rash" (my word, since I can't pronounce or remember the medical word - but something as minor as a skin knee, jut inconveniently located) near his anal sphincter, no big deal, AND his blood count was up to 920 -- "normal" even for healthy men -- so we finally learned he was making his own blood. This was great news. All they had to do was wait four hours to get another blood sample before he was transferred back to the nursing home.
Yesterday, we found out they might keep him there for an extra week or two so he could go from there straight to home. He could be home by July 4th! We were elated, (although he's scared I might be too hopeful.)
So, I asked him to call me when he got settled back in, and I've been waiting for that call, not because I was worried about him bleeding, but because I was worried they weren't going to give him dinner tonight. (They have screwed up three meals in a row, so he hasn't had a full meal in a full day. I am still dressed, because I was going to take him something if they didn't feed him.)
He should be back by now, so I just called the nurses' station.
According to them, they're admitting him back into ICU because he's bleeding that badly in his intestines.
He just called. According to what he knows his second blood count was 850, so they sent him to ICU to watch him overnight only. Oh, BTW. He can't eat!
We didn't just go back one step. We just went back to January!
I cannot do this anymore, and yet what else can I do? He really cannot do this anymore. That hospital terrifies us by its incompetence! They really are back to dickering if he's bleeding in his intestines. The last time they played at this hunch for SIX weeks! They still don't know! He's got some inerrant blood vessels lining his intestines that can bleed whenever they want, but every time they scoped him (or used a camera) they weren't bleeding. They add "at that moment."
Pray! And pray I can pull this off without crying while I'm driving. And pray I can actually park the car without having to walk up three levels of a parking garage. And that's the easy stuff!