If you have ever been a patient in a hospital you know that sleep is almost impossible. I can't really fault the nurses, they are doing their job, but every 15 minutes? They come in, check blood pressure, temp, whatever. Then they leave, come back because they forgot to check something, leave, then the doctors-in-training come in. Sometimes they acknowledge you, sometimes it's a group and it's "Mr. so-and-so blah, blah, blah, and we did yadda, yadda, yadda." Then they mumble to each other, look at the charts....And they move on to the next victim.
The dietician brings in "Breakfast." Now, those that know me know that I will eat most anything that's put in front of me, but really people...Lemon Jello, decaf coffee, something that may or may not have been eggs at one point in time, and cream of wheat with no milk or sugar? Wallpaper paste like consistency. I had a bad part, not heart disease. Ah well, nothing really tastes right anyway. I eat what I can.
I'm really good about doing what they ask, "Here, take these pills, time to draw blood, time to clean your IV, ect, ect, ect." But it's usually when I finally get a chance to sleep a little. I can see that I will be ready to climb the walls after a few days of this. I'm glad that Laurie is here and that the guys have dropped by too. I'm afraid I'm not very good company right now, but they are cool about it.
Laurie started a sweater for me when I went in for surgery and her goal is to have it finished by the time I go back to work, and she is knitting like crazy while she sits here and listens to me whine about pretty much everything. *Sigh*
The Physical Therapy people come in a few times because they would like me to get up and walk around. I try, but I feel a bit "disconnected" between mind and body when I do. Maybe later...
Sometime in the afternoon
I feel bad for my roommate. He seems to be in pretty bad shape. I guess he has been here a while and I don't know what the problem is, but there lots of doctors in and out of his side of the room.
I feel pretty good, all things considered. I can't really move much because I'm pretty sore so I have to lay on my back. My breathing is mostly short breaths, I can't take a deep breath. I am surprised that I really don't have any pain, probably the drugs. That tube in my neck is annoying, not because it hurts but because I know it's there. Same for the one in my chest. I drift in and out of sleep during the day, probably the drugs again, or maybe because I'm bored. Shannon and Kelly gave me some cool toys to play with, and puzzle books, but I'm not ready to play with them yet. I figure I will have plenty of time for them later.
I asked if the tube in my neck could come out and one of the Docs came in. It was easier than I thought it would be. He said, "When I tell you, cough real hard for me." I did and just like that it was gone. He put a great big pressure bandage on the hole so I wouldn't spurt blood all over the place from the artery. That's more annoying than the tube was, but I have to keep it on for a few days.
It's been a long day...
