She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain When She Comes

 I have lost all concept of time. I know it is day, just not which one. I think it is Thursday. I checked my phone and I am right.

The week is going quickly. Monday night ended with The Patient going to Northeast Georgia Medical Center by ambulance. I waited until the next morning to make the drive. It should take about an hour and a half, but weather conditions made it be closer to 2 hours. It was drizzling rain when I left and vacillated between a drizzle and a medium rain and then when I arrived and was getting ready to exit the car, the rain started in earnest. 

Fortunately for me a nice older gentleman was weaving through the parking lot with a golfcart and stopped to help me find a spot. It was the spot reserved for those people who wanted to walk their dogs! That is a new one I have not encountered before. The spot was on the end closest to the hospital and the remainder of the row was reserved for visitors of the NICU. I was on the side of the hospital devoted to maternity patients. 

The man in the golf cart wanted to know where I wanted to go. I had not a clue, but accepted his ride in the covered golf cart to the entrance to the South Tower. Being the super smart person that I am, I surmised that there must be a North Tower and hoped fervently that it would not be my destination.

A tension headache was crawling up the back of my head. I have several remedies in my purse, but didn't want to walk a mile through hospital corridors. The emergency department was to my right and maternity to my left. A service desk was straight ahead and I approached to inquire about the whereabouts of my Patient.

He was not listed amoung the in house patients. This did not instill me with confidence! She looked and looked and asked if I was sure this was the correct hospital. I was and told her he had arrived the previous evening via ambulance. He was still in the ER. The emergency department is huge with different "wards" to hold patients waiting for rooms.

Well, I was right next to the ER, so I didn't have to go too far. He was lucid and upbeat when he called to let me know the procedure was over. This was after he had called to tell me it had been delayed due to emergencies coming in. I didn't expect to find him groaning in pain with a sheen of sweat on his bald head.

I waited in the tiny cubicle with the wickedly uncomfortable chair for almost 3 hours before he was transported to another temporary unit. This was a step down cardiac unit in another windowless room, but bigger, with a bathroom and a pull out chair for me to sleep on. And more morphine for the patient. 

The pain killers would be so much more effective if they left him to go to sleep. But there were questions and signatures. All of which I was perfectly capable, if not preferrable to take care of. Then they fiddled with the oxygen cannulas, made him stand up to weigh him. A stream of hospital personnel entered and exited the room and he moaned and groaned so much that his nurse joked that she could administer some pitocin to make his baby come sooner. He was immune to any humor, but I appreciated that he did sound like someone in labor.

Throughout the remainder of the evening they administered IV antibiotics and on through the night. One nurse talked too fast and too low, he could not hear her, then the next one was way too perky for my taste and had a nasal voice that was high pitched and even when she was speaking in her normal voice it would startle him. I tried to have her direct her questions to me, telling her he did not have his hearing aids in. 

That was a disaster, since from that point on she would raise that voice every time she entered the room and she was our night nurse. When I am sick, all I want is a dark room and quiet. My Patient likes attention .... or he did, this hospital visit might change that!

When I prepared to make the trip I was careful about getting clothes for him to wear out of the hospital since he arrived in a hospital gown, socks and boxers. I had taken his wallet and his clothes when I left him in the Blairsville ER. I did let him keep his phone, but no shoes. 

So, I gathered all his needs and totally forgot to take my own daily meds. I came back home yesterday after all the tornado and flash flood warnings had lifted. The drive home was much easier and the dogs were happy to see me. Except for Toni. She keeps looking for her master. She slept in his spot last night and got up frequently to sniff his pillow.

As soon as I got home I cleaned up and mopped the floor, then set about updating family members. After that I tended to Dora and gave her a bath and fed her. She was so happy to be held. She kept rubbing her neck against my finger and then twisting around to find my face. We had a lovely chat and then she settled under her heat lamp.

I went ahead and mopped the entire house and threw some laundry in the washer. Scubbed the bathroom and then had a meltdown on the phone with my sister-in-law. That done, I tackled the fridge and tossed all the dead and dying leftovers, washed all the dishes and scrubbed the sink and counters.

I was tired, but not sleepy. I called The Patient and he was highly agitated and in pain. He told me he had called for pain meds and water. He is not ambulatory without assistance. Connected to an IV with a pump and a drainage tube form his abdomen to a collection bag, he can't just get up and walk to the sink. If he could get up he would be walking down the hall to the nurses station. He is a social kind of guy and would be visiting patients and visitors alike.

So, now that I know he is in pain, I feel like I should go right back, but it is dark and I really can't see well enough to drive in the dark. I called my son and had another meltdown. I feel a little guilty about that. He is so far away and I only succeeded in making him feel helpless, too.

Back to cleaning, I tackled the stack of mail and other stuff The Patient had collected on the table next to his chair. This is when I discoved the Christmas cards and checks for the grandchildren that I was sure were long gone to their destinations. In my defense, The Patient has kept me busy for the past month.

I didn't have my youngest daughters address since she had move to temporary lodgings until her new home is finished. I had jokingly told The Patient that he should tell the nursing staff to step it up, or his baby girl would come straighten them out. I called to get her address and had yet another meltdown. When I told her they were not responding to her Dad's request for pain meds, she demanded to know the name of the hospital! She is our fierce protecter, the youngest child. A force to be reckoned with. She later let me know that she texted her Dad to make sure he got some relief.

I went to bed and slept fitfully and woke with a headache that is slowly subsiding. I am showered, packed and ready to go. My canines know something is afoot and Eddie had not left my side. The only time he was not making contact with myself, I was in the shower. Toni is still hunting her master and Bo is jumping on and off the sofa. I suppose he is just making sure I haven't abandoned him.

It is time to hit the road again. I wont need Siri's navigational skills if I keep making this trip so frequently! When I finally get to the hospital and see my Patient, I will worry about my pets. While here, I worry about him. 

I read somewhere that worry is a form of prayer. I like that thought. Good thing you don't have to close your eyes to pray! I am headed to the mountain and will need all the eyesight available. Tuesday I was singing "She'll be coming round the mountain .." It has been a brain worm wriggling around since! Later .....