Patient Number N00017528530

Get Well wishes from my triplet sisters.

They always have just the right words to cheer me up!


Flowers from Dan

The bouquet is beautiful!

a balloon from Faith and Charity

My vacation last weekend never happened. Instead it turned into a trip to the emergency room followed a few days later with a two day hospitalization.
I am patient number N00017528530. A hospital volunteer wheeled me to room 527 where beginner nurses attempted to start an IV, and take blood samples from my dehydrated veins. After blowing four veins, the beginner nurses called in the goddess of phlebotomy, Lenora, who with her grace and skill set the IV in my wrist! Yeah! Drugs were just an injection away, possibly within seconds I will have relief from the excruisiating pain of kidney stones.

Room 527 has an electric bed, a phone, a food tray, a sink, water closet (toilet with three walls), tv, wifi, two chairs, and a window with not much of a view. The room is quiet and once the morphine pump was finally working, it was as if nothing mattered. I went to sleep.

Tomorrow I will return to the hospital for outpatient surgery, hopefully having one of the two gigantic kidney stones removed. The urologist feels confident about the procedure, barring any extreme rare problems which he explained fully, while at times seeming to hate going through all the risks, he occassionally knocked himself in the head, bobbing it side to side, as he calmly explained the most awful problems which could occur but he's never seen in his 27 years experience. I waited for him to pull his hair a few times at the end but sadly he refrained. My urologists has the bed side manner of a highly educated Mo Stooge (yes of the three stooges).

Back to the hospital stay... I feel it fun to share what nutrition was provided during my two day one night hospital visit.

dinner day one ~ spaghetti with meat sauce, iceberg lettuce salad with a tomamto wedge, white roll w promise spread, something unrecognisable, and a chocolate cake desert cookie thing w chocolate icing. I didn't eat it... having instead the preferred dream dinner of bag-o-saline with a side of morhine and phenergan. tastless yes, but nice. Someone took a bite of my chocolate cookie treat on the tray. The dinner tray was still in my room at 5:00am when the cleaning crew showed up to empty trash cans and mop the floor.

Breakfast day two ~ Two 4" pancakes with a 5" sausage patty, two servings of syrup, promise spread, tea, milk, and ... that's it... what??? I was really glad Dan was in the room when I took the cover off my breakfast plate. Seriously, if I hadn't had a witness, I know not one person would believe this was my morning meal. I wasn't that hungry but sheesh, I hadn't eatin anything in 24 hours... so maybe a sliver of apple or something would have been nice... hmmm. Anyways, me and dan laughed at the site of breakfast, then I ate it slowly (morphine and toradol) and yes I ate it all.

Lunch day two ~ I was able to choose!Roast Beef or turkey sandwhich. I chose turkey. It came wonder white bread turkey lunch meat sanndwhich with real lettuce and tomato. a pickle on the side. vegetable soup, lemon cream pie, sweet tea... I was thankful for the tea. It helped loosen the white bread stuck to my palate. The pie was delightful with a shot of morphine.

Shortly after my last hit on the pump, the mean nurse came in and disconnected it from my arm, asking why I was all bruised up. I told her the bruises weren't there when I was admitted, maybe someone should come and check my arms. They were actually quiet bruised. No one ever came to ask about the bruises. Knowing these were blown veins from beginner nurses practicing their unlearned skills on a dehydrated vomiting, crying, me, it was no wonder.

During my checkout I was informed of my responsibilities, and follow up care needed, prescriptions to take at home, and how to care for my bruised arms. The nurse described it as "my veins blew", not the way i saw it. i saw it more like they blew my veins, four before they called for help. One arm is still half purple half green and hot.

so yeah, I'm a little scared about tomorrow. Being knocked out scares me, having more veins blown scares me, or God forbid, any of the never ever seen risks happens. I don't want to be that one person who went to outpatient surgery for a simple procedure and never returned home. I could just see my doctor punching himself out if anything went wrong.