2:00 AM: Tonight started rough, was losing patience and Faith!
So one bad memory that I have from when my beautiful mother spent 17 nights at this same hospital is that some nurses do not like giving pain medication! Why they work on a surgical floor is beyond me!
Patient Advocate: My husband is my “patient advocate.” I was my moms, you need to have one! Tonight he almost got in the car and drove back over to the hospital at 11:00 pm. I was on schedule to call for pain medicine at 11:20. I called at 11:00 to request the medication for 11:20, the time came and went, a different nurse came in for something else, I asked him and he said “I’ll ask your pm nurse, but they are in-between shifts right now and are having meetings.” I don’t get a response from anyone. I understand the need for the meetings to fill in the incoming staff about patients care, but now it’s 11:50 pm and my pain is registering a 10 on the hospitals pain scale. I just had a major surgery where muscle and tissue is now “pissed off!” And so is my husband/advocate!
As I was talking him into staying home, citing that he needs sleep and Joey needs his BS checked at 2:00, the nurse walks in. I tell her that it’s nice to meet her and ask her where she was at 11:20, assuring her that I know she has up to 7 other patients in her care and I don’t expect special treatment! But I do expect treatment! She explains why she wasn’t in my room with my medication and I explain to her that I have a very angry advocate who is requesting a meeting tomorrow with the nurse in charge. She sits down with me and we come up with a plan for her entire shift. She follows through and so far am pleased! She offers me an additional drug that will take the edge off, that order was written earlier in the day, yet was never – up to this point – offered! Ridiculous! Going to try and get some sleep because this nurse comes in like clockwork!!
10:10 PM: Wow, I am amazed at how this day went, until it didn’t!
The thought of today was a nightmare in my dreams! In reality this day was a dream!
The surgery started a little late, maybe a few minutes. I loved what the Doctor said to me and Joe, to paraphrase, he said to me, “you and I have about three (3) hours together, four (4) with anesthesia, but to you it’ll seem like a minute.” Looked at Joe, “for you it will seem longer than the four (4) hours that it will take us, you have it the worst.” Which is so true!
My biggest fear – nightmare actually -was waking up from surgery! Been there before, sicker than a dog, vomiting, in horrible pain. Guess what? Not today! I had major back surgery, at L3-4, and S1, and woke up happy! Had I been able I would have jumped off that bed and done the Happy dance! No extreme pain. The last surgery I had an out of body experience caused by pain! I’m not ill, no vomiting from nausea! In fact I woke up starving!
I am getting used to the Thrombo Embolic Deterrent hose (TED) or more commonly called the socks that go from my toes to my upper thigh, and the Sequential Compression Device (SCD) which is the sleeve that fits on your lower leg and is hooked up to a hose that send air in, which tightens and releases the sleeve to keep blood flowing. These sleeves and stockings help keep pressure on the legs to help stop blood from clotting so I’m not complaining-however the SCD is super noisy! And it’s constant. Good luck sleeping!
I got up and walked tonight at 8:00 pm, after being in bed since 6:00 am, it felt great! Not to much, just up and down one hallway.
Had a lot of company, my boys came up, and Jenny and her family! Even Tony’s friend Kevin came to say hi! I appreciate everyone’s love and concern!
Here are a few funnies, which I say were caused by the pain medication:
I have been awake most of the day except for when I fell asleep and was awakened by Joe’s SNORING! Not by the SCD machine! 😴😹
I was explaining to the boys that the doctor used a donor bone for the fusion. They insisted I said he used a BONER bone! Really! 😖😳 This promted me to start laughing so hard that it actually hurt which lead to the saying on the nurses instruction board!
Tony was kind enough to send an update to all of my family and friends on Facebook. Later in the evening I was able to dictate the message to him, but he left out the part about my saying to tell everyone that my afternoon nurse could have been in the movie Magic Mike XXL!! I wonder why? (No disrespect intended to him, he’s an excellent nurse!)
6:50 AM:
All prepped and ready for surgery! My gown is heated! Like car seats! And they play spa music and have nice soothing scenes on the tv! The nurses are wonderful, they are getting ready to give me a cocktail before the show begins! See you later!
5:12 AM: I got up and showered AGAIN with the antiseptic soap, I feel so clean! We were on our way to the hospital and I asked Joe if he had an insurance card, good thing because he didn’t even have his wallet! It’s early in the morning for all of us!
Joey’s number was 400 this morning! Kind of figured because he had to treat so much last night to get above 60! This is what’s so frustrating! To get your number up, you over treat because when your low you feel very hungry! We corrected so he should go down. Joe had him set his phone alarm loud so he will call him in a couple hours!
2:00 AM: I should have been asleep hours ago but as I was packing my bag for the hospital Joey came in saying his blood sugar number was only 68.
He went straight from 2 hours of weight lifting to an hour of basketball. Exercise can cause a low blood sugar measurement so we always monitor him pretty closely on these active days.
He went from 78, drank 3 cups of chocolate milk, to 68! That’s crazy! So we went downstairs at 12:22 am, and he had a juice pouch and 10 pizza bites. So now I am waiting for his alarm to go off for the 2:30 am check. He suspended the delivery of insulin for 1/2 hour to try and get his number up!
I have to be at the hospital at 5:30 am, my surgery is at 7:30 am. So I have to get up at 4:30, just a couple hours from now.
I took my shower with that special soap they sent me, and have to repeat tomorrow morning before we leave.
Goodnight! I hear his alarm!
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