On Monday we were told that NE had to be at the hospital to check in at 9 a.m. On Tuesday afternoon we were told that the 7 a.m. patient "probably won't make it because they are sick" so to come by 7 a.m.
So ... on Wednesday I picked NE up at 5:30 a.m. and we made it to the hospital about 6:40. Guess what? The 7 a.m. patient previously scheduled HAD come.
So we waited in the intake lobby for about 40 minutes. NE hadn't slept in 24 hours (too anxious.) I went to the lady at the desk and asked if there was anyway he could go into his room early while we waited. Nope. However she did tell me about a lobby with some comfy chairs (and couches!) We sat on a couple of chairs for about 20 minutes before I could convince NE that nobody would care if he laid down on one of the couches. (the lobby was pretty empty)
A bit after 9 the guy in charge of taking NE to the preop area found us and took us there. We were there for over two hours.
About 11:20 NE was taken to the operating area and I was told how to find the surgery waiting area.
About 12:15 I was told by the volunteer that the surgery had started.
About 2:30 they were closing up and going to recovery.
The doctor came in and talked to me then - let me know everything went well.
About 4:15 I got a call telling me his room number and that he'd be up "soon."
At 6:30, nearly 12 hours after arriving, he was FINALLY brought up to his room.
The head nurse mentioned that if I wanted to spend the night, they could get me an extra pillow. Neither of us had known that was a possibility. I had thought I'd be heading home by 7 at the latest ...
I stayed the night. And I'm so glad I did! They were short staffed - let's just say that.
About midnight they took the blood pressure cuff off of him (which inflated every 30 minutes ...) and said they'd leave him be til 4am. During that 4 hour period I managed to get maybe two hours uninterrupted sleep, plus a few snoozes.
I got up and got ready to go home at 5 a.m. Drove by his place to check on the cats quickly, then got home. Pulled into my spot around 6:50. Ate breakfast and went to work.
I was SO out of it... my boss asked me why didn't I call in (after I told her about spending the night at the hospital) I told her I didn't because I knew it was staff meeting ... which of course was canceled.
Instead I went home at noon and managed to sleep about 30 minutes before my phone rang. Sort of dozed off and on for another hour.
About 3 I headed back to the hospital. Ended up being there til about 8. NE had his first meal, which I helped him with (which is why I didn't leave earlier.)
I had a few brief moments of ultimate panic that my car had been stolen. Thankfully decided to look down one more level before calling the police ...
Thursday night managed to sleep about five hours. Went to work in a slightly grumpy mood which was not helped by an emailed question from my boss (a misunderstanding, but just rubbed me the wrong way.)
Left work at 3:30, arrived at the hospital at 4:45. NE had ordered me a piece of cheesecake from the room service menu.
Waited and waited for the charge nurse to do the needed paperwork for discharge. Picked NE up in front of the hospital shortly before 7:00.
Got to HyVee to pick up meds shortly after 8.
Dropped him off at his place a bit after 9 - of course could not find his keys which he'd put in my purse on Wednesday. Luckily I had a spare key in my change compartment so he could get in.
I stopped at Burger King on the way home (hadn't eaten anything other than the cheesecake since 3 pm.)
Compounding all this is that my allergies / sinuses were beating me up badly. Especially yesterday afternoon.
Slept about six hours Friday night and decided that I would stay home from church - just too exhausted.
This morning I cleaned out my car (something I've needed to do for a long time) in an effort to find the keys. I had cleaned out almost the entire car when the thought hit me - we'd put something in the center console. There they were. Whew!
I had two slip ups this week on my no buying junkfood for 40 days quest. Thursday and Friday. I'm not going to beat myself up about it, but just continue on back on track.
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Now I'm going to try to catch up with everyone!
Long Week - NEs Surgery
March 14th, 2015 at 05:38 pm
March 14th, 2015 at 05:56 pm 1426355790
March 14th, 2015 at 06:51 pm 1426359089
March 14th, 2015 at 09:17 pm 1426367847
March 15th, 2015 at 02:58 am 1426388296
March 15th, 2015 at 04:21 am 1426393285
VS - Thanks NE does seem to be recovering pretty well so far.
March 15th, 2015 at 04:27 am 1426393627
Hopefully NE has a full recovery... and you too!
March 15th, 2015 at 06:30 am 1426401050
March 15th, 2015 at 09:30 am 1426411855
March 15th, 2015 at 01:50 pm 1426427459
March 15th, 2015 at 04:00 pm 1426435205
LR - Yes, it does look good. Of course it is still early days, but his doctor feels like the surgery went well and since NE is so young (relatively) that he should recover a good bit of mobility.
Snafu - Funny you should mention that .. I was thinking about getting a pedicure today. Just have to actually get myself going.
MM - I am getting some good rest this weekend with the help of sleepy making cold meds!
March 15th, 2015 at 08:06 pm 1426449987
March 15th, 2015 at 08:25 pm 1426451148
March 16th, 2015 at 01:51 pm 1426513883
March 17th, 2015 at 02:30 pm 1426602631