No Sleep Here!

 Yesterday was spent mostly on the road. The Patient called to announce he was being released. That sent me into a different mode. I rushed around and settled and fed the animals and made ready for a homecoming.

The ride was uneventful and the day was quite pleasant. I woke The Patient with my arrival and he demanded to know where his clothes were. They were right there where I had left them in full view of the man. I had SHOWN them to him. I had carefully selected a loose pair of flannel pants and a long sleeved tee. He is always colder than me. Well, in normal circumstance ....

The last night I stayed at the hospital he complained of being hot and the temperature was set to accommodate The Patient. I nearly froze! The two sheets I had been allotted did very little to keep me warm. I found 10 pillows in the cabinet, but no blankets. I hated to complain because The Patient was a very difficult one that particular night. Not just him, but it seemed the entire floor was needy.

Back to the ride home. The Patient is still very weak and I noted that his breakfast tray had not been touched, then the lunch tray was pushed away. I will say that the food was hotly over spiced, but no salt. It had the appeal of cardboard bathed in gravy with lots of pepper. He could eat something more palatable on the journey home. He was very chipper and dressed and donned his shoes and was ready to simply walk out the door. I pulled in the reins and we waited for the discharge papers and instructions on the drainage set up. Then they wheeled him down to my waiting car.

We weren't out of the parking lot before he started to correct my driving. Given the fact that he had no idea how to get home, he should have just sat there. I knew all the landmarks and that there were two different ways to leave the hospital that headed home. At the very first intersection with a light, I was rolling slowly towards the vehicle in front of me. I was very aware of the fact that the truck had stopped, but he yelled, "look out". I may have hit the brakes harder than I should have. I thought the truck was rolling backwards. It wasn't and the braking was unnecessary, but the seat belt that held him back had tightened  and he was once again moaning. "Do you want to go back?" He proclaimed himself to be okay and he dozed most of the trip away.

I got him settled at home and forbade him to try to shower in my absence. I had to drive to the pharmacy to get the antibiotics and the gatorade he requested. He still didn't feel like eating, so I also got a six pack of Ensure and a salad for my dinner and some chicken noodle soup for him.

As I was pulling into Walmart, the nurse who discharged us called. They forgot to hand me the prescription for his pain meds. She was so sorry and had asked the surgeon to call Walmart to "fix" it. It was, in fact, the nurse practitioner who sent the request, thus doubling down on rule breakage. I knew they wouldn't fill it, no matter how bad they felt for The Patient. There are rules with narcotics and no one is going to risk their license. I get it.

I headed home after having driven 4 hours already. I was hungry and tired and ready for a peaceful evening and a good sleep. I brought in the supplies and went back to the car for the second load. I thought I heard feet pounding the floor as I approached the door. I thought it was Toni Louise with more vigorous tail wagging with her master back at home.

The Patient was up and in the bathroom vomiting. Okay, do you feel better? I thought it might be a quirk. He had asked for Tums and I guess that triggered it. He said he couldn't eat, so I suggested a shower and then got him into bed. I gathered his evening pills and even brought the two remaining pain pills from his leg surgery along with his water to the bedroom. He couldn't take them. He vomited into the wee hours of the morning. I re-read all the instructions and it said to notify them or bring him back to the hospital if he vomited for more than 24 hours. 

With that plaesant thought, I am waiting to wake The Patient and see if I can tempt him to eat, well, anything. Then he can take the antibiotic that warns it is not to be taken on an empty stomach. Fingers crossed that he won't vomit anymore and I can make the food tasty enough for him to be able to eat and take his medications. I truly do not want to head back to Gainesville today. I am so tired I want to cry!