Hospital Excursion, Day 2

DObservations of the day, brought to you by Meredith Hospital, some 40ish miles south by southeast of Casa De Fries.

*Yes, I said day 2. I was in too much pain yesterday to even think about it.

*In the interest of full partial disclosure, I spent over 7 hours in the semi-local ER on Sunday, trying to convince them that, legitimately, Vicodin 5/325 was barely taking the edge off the severity of the pain, I thought the Myronectomy site was infected, and nearly cried when I realized I'd been sent home with a script for only ten Percocet pills...which do not work as well as Vicodin for me. Initial blood work showed there was the possibility of infection. To help support and provide pain relief, they clamped a half-cast splint over the most painfully swollen part of my hand and wrapped me up like a mummy. I was sent home with orders to see my surgeon on Monday.

*Which, of course, I knew was one of his OR days. I must have sounded pitiful enough and the words "ER visit due to severe pain [which I still have], and they told me to get an appointment with Dr. M today" were enough to convince them to squeeze me in between surgeries.

*I won't tell you how much I cried on the way down here. Or while in the waiting room. Or in the exam room.

*Dr. M asked what I'd done since Tuesday to cause such swelling. He thought it was most probably cellulitis, and I had the options of coming back daily to be checked out...or being admitted to the local hospital. You know which I chose.

*Wisely, as it turned out. There was nasty goop leaking out this morning. Back to the OR! That makes this my fourth surgical procedure this year.

*Betadine makes my thumb look like it's been playing in a dark pumpkin.

*Hot flashes that decry their name by lasting for nearly half an hour are not fun when experienced in post-anesthesia care. But surprising the PAC nurses was fun.

*I know Hubby was worried about me and was thus cracking jokes about me to cover for it. In another five years, I'll probably think it was sweet. I was cranky after I got back to my room.

*I have a room in the baby wing! This means I also have a private room. Hubby fell in love with the recliner in here. He wants one for Father's Day.

*The food is surprisingly palatable.

*I've needed much less pain medicine post-op than I needed pre-op.

*I've determined that people fall into three camps when it comes to ice: More Ice Than Drink, Happy Medium, and Away From Me You Frozen Cubes. Hubby and I dwell in different parts of the spectrum of the third group. My mother is on the high end of the first. And, apparently, so is my nurse tonight. She brought me some pills, and I asked for more ginger ale to swallow them with. When I tried to suck on the straw in order to do that very thing, I had the worst time getting enough liquid to swallow. It was like trying to swallow pills with a thick slushy. So much ice. So little ginger ale. I was afraid I wasn't going to get them down.

*All of the machines here are so musical! The IV chirps like a teeny, tiny baby cricket. The BP chimes a very pretty chord. It's so fun. It might be due to the ward I'm on, but I don't care. I love it.

*The Fries do not like this separation from Mommy. And I'll be here until Friday. Ish.

*Dr. M says there was definitely cellulitis in there, which was responding to treatment. The oozy yuck was definitely staph of some kind, and he's bringing in an infectious disease specialist. Dr. M. Ali...the same infectious disease specialist called in to consult on my nasty pneumonia three and a half years ago.