May 9, 2006
Another pretty good night’s sleep. I’m on a roll now. Called the health food store and they had some organic zukes in, so I moseyed over and cleaned them out of it. As I neared the store, in Little Five Points, I passed a young man with a mohawk, a man in his twenties with dreadlocks who was tending the landscape of some business, a woman in tie-dyes. I like areas like this, except the man walking down the street calling out, “I’m Jewish” had me a little worried(because he was doing so repeatedly and loudly, I mean). I don’t usually think of such areas as having a huge Baptist Church on the corner, though. On the walk back, as I made my way through the concrete jungle where all the medical buildings are, I gave wide berth to a man standing on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette. Next to him was a sign that read, “No smoking on the UAB Hospital Campus.” I considered making a citizen’s arrest ;-)
As I walked through the hospital complex to Gary’s I noticed the new Starbuck’s has opened up. Medical staff were lined down the hall to get their fix. Upon arriving at Gary’s I saw mail had already come. There was his mail sent up from the math dept., and more cards. Thanks to the Heinrichs; Virginia Cook, who sent up an audio book of “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” by travel writer Bill Bryson (and Gary likes contemporary travel writing); and Donne, Phyllis, Carissa, and Justin Leigh, who told Gary again to hurry up and start talking and sent along an audio book, “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt,” and a DVD, “Napoleon Dynamite.”
Thanks also to Debra Talley for the card.
When I tried to find Gary’s nurse so she could suction him, from the next room came four women in scrubs rolling out a bed with the male patient in it. As they passed by me, they banged the bed into the nurses’ station’s desk. The man let out a scream, and horror at his suffering flashed through me. The staff pushing the bed didn’t look phased nor apologetic; the man continued to moan. If I find out beforehand that they are taking Gary for any procedure, I’m going to accompany him as far as possible. Gary said fortunately he didn’t have anything that would feel any pain, but to me that wasn’t the point. Sometimes I’m not sure about the staff here. In the ICU they were brushing Gary’s teeth every evening after his bath. He told me it had been a while and asked if he could have them brushed. I talked to the nurse, and she told me all I had to do was put the toothpaste on the brush and either I or Gary could brush them. For spitting he rinses his mouth from a cup of water I give him, then uses the same tube he uses to remove secretions from his mouth, like what they do at the dentist’s these days. I would think it would be hard not to give into the inclination to swallow any water, but he managed all right. He also told me they had forgotten to bathe him over the weekend – I have gotten the impression before that the weekend staff consists of more newbies. I told Gary he should let me know things like this. He said he hadn’t because he hates having them bathe him. I did, however, verify with him that they are changing his dressing on his bed sore twice a day.
I returned in the early afternoon and when the nurse came in to change the dressing on his sore she said it had been a crazy day. She turned him on his side toward me, and I couldn’t get the bed rail up, so I stood there blocking the side with my body because I could tell he was afraid of falling out of the bed, even thought the nurse reassured him he wouldn’t. She evidently thought I was going to be able to help, but I told her I couldn’t help her turn him over any more. She then thought she could mostly do it herself but then had to give up and went out for help. Meanwhile Gary is partway over and I’m hanging onto him using more effort than I should but I didn’t have much choice. Help finally came and I moved to the other side. This was the first time I had seen the staples in his back, running down his spine for maybe 8 inches from near the top of his back. They look exactly like staples! I hadn’t really thought they would. I could see where the wound had gapped at the bottom, causing the skin not to neatly close. They said they’d debride that later. I wonder if he’ll have a scar. I saw the bedsore too. It doesn’t look all that bad, and they say it is looking better each day. Soon after he got re-situated I made to leave and asked if he wanted anything. He wanted a blanket. I told the nurse, and she said she’d get one as soon as she finished filling out a chart. Ten minutes later, she was still filling it out, so I asked the person who had come in to give Gary his breathing treatment (they put medicine into his trache tube – it’s in gas form, very cold, and smokes a little. When Jo had seen the smoke coming out from around his trache hole during her visit, she pointed it out, wanting to make sure nothing was wrong. Gary had spelled out, “I’m cooking now.”). The breathing treatment person returned with something, and it wasn’t until she’d left that I realized it was a bottom sheet. I went out and told the nurse, who told someone else to get a blanket. This person came with a top sheet. I lifted the blanket already on Gary to illustrate what a blanket looked like. Finally we got our blanket, twenty minutes after it was requested. I left, the nurse still filling out her chart. I know those charts are important, but it seems to me she could have spared the minute to get Gary a blanket. Had I thought it was allowed, I would’ve gotten it myself. I’m afraid to bitch about it, because he seems to have the same nurse during the day, and I don’t want to make the situation worse.
The rest of today will be continued tomorrow ;-) The only medical news to report is he was on 28% oxygen all of today.
Another pretty good night’s sleep. I’m on a roll now. Called the health food store and they had some organic zukes in, so I moseyed over and cleaned them out of it. As I neared the store, in Little Five Points, I passed a young man with a mohawk, a man in his twenties with dreadlocks who was tending the landscape of some business, a woman in tie-dyes. I like areas like this, except the man walking down the street calling out, “I’m Jewish” had me a little worried(because he was doing so repeatedly and loudly, I mean). I don’t usually think of such areas as having a huge Baptist Church on the corner, though. On the walk back, as I made my way through the concrete jungle where all the medical buildings are, I gave wide berth to a man standing on the sidewalk smoking a cigarette. Next to him was a sign that read, “No smoking on the UAB Hospital Campus.” I considered making a citizen’s arrest ;-)
As I walked through the hospital complex to Gary’s I noticed the new Starbuck’s has opened up. Medical staff were lined down the hall to get their fix. Upon arriving at Gary’s I saw mail had already come. There was his mail sent up from the math dept., and more cards. Thanks to the Heinrichs; Virginia Cook, who sent up an audio book of “I’m a Stranger Here Myself” by travel writer Bill Bryson (and Gary likes contemporary travel writing); and Donne, Phyllis, Carissa, and Justin Leigh, who told Gary again to hurry up and start talking and sent along an audio book, “The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt,” and a DVD, “Napoleon Dynamite.”
Thanks also to Debra Talley for the card.
When I tried to find Gary’s nurse so she could suction him, from the next room came four women in scrubs rolling out a bed with the male patient in it. As they passed by me, they banged the bed into the nurses’ station’s desk. The man let out a scream, and horror at his suffering flashed through me. The staff pushing the bed didn’t look phased nor apologetic; the man continued to moan. If I find out beforehand that they are taking Gary for any procedure, I’m going to accompany him as far as possible. Gary said fortunately he didn’t have anything that would feel any pain, but to me that wasn’t the point. Sometimes I’m not sure about the staff here. In the ICU they were brushing Gary’s teeth every evening after his bath. He told me it had been a while and asked if he could have them brushed. I talked to the nurse, and she told me all I had to do was put the toothpaste on the brush and either I or Gary could brush them. For spitting he rinses his mouth from a cup of water I give him, then uses the same tube he uses to remove secretions from his mouth, like what they do at the dentist’s these days. I would think it would be hard not to give into the inclination to swallow any water, but he managed all right. He also told me they had forgotten to bathe him over the weekend – I have gotten the impression before that the weekend staff consists of more newbies. I told Gary he should let me know things like this. He said he hadn’t because he hates having them bathe him. I did, however, verify with him that they are changing his dressing on his bed sore twice a day.
I returned in the early afternoon and when the nurse came in to change the dressing on his sore she said it had been a crazy day. She turned him on his side toward me, and I couldn’t get the bed rail up, so I stood there blocking the side with my body because I could tell he was afraid of falling out of the bed, even thought the nurse reassured him he wouldn’t. She evidently thought I was going to be able to help, but I told her I couldn’t help her turn him over any more. She then thought she could mostly do it herself but then had to give up and went out for help. Meanwhile Gary is partway over and I’m hanging onto him using more effort than I should but I didn’t have much choice. Help finally came and I moved to the other side. This was the first time I had seen the staples in his back, running down his spine for maybe 8 inches from near the top of his back. They look exactly like staples! I hadn’t really thought they would. I could see where the wound had gapped at the bottom, causing the skin not to neatly close. They said they’d debride that later. I wonder if he’ll have a scar. I saw the bedsore too. It doesn’t look all that bad, and they say it is looking better each day. Soon after he got re-situated I made to leave and asked if he wanted anything. He wanted a blanket. I told the nurse, and she said she’d get one as soon as she finished filling out a chart. Ten minutes later, she was still filling it out, so I asked the person who had come in to give Gary his breathing treatment (they put medicine into his trache tube – it’s in gas form, very cold, and smokes a little. When Jo had seen the smoke coming out from around his trache hole during her visit, she pointed it out, wanting to make sure nothing was wrong. Gary had spelled out, “I’m cooking now.”). The breathing treatment person returned with something, and it wasn’t until she’d left that I realized it was a bottom sheet. I went out and told the nurse, who told someone else to get a blanket. This person came with a top sheet. I lifted the blanket already on Gary to illustrate what a blanket looked like. Finally we got our blanket, twenty minutes after it was requested. I left, the nurse still filling out her chart. I know those charts are important, but it seems to me she could have spared the minute to get Gary a blanket. Had I thought it was allowed, I would’ve gotten it myself. I’m afraid to bitch about it, because he seems to have the same nurse during the day, and I don’t want to make the situation worse.
The rest of today will be continued tomorrow ;-) The only medical news to report is he was on 28% oxygen all of today.
posted by Peg Daniels at 7:45 PM
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