9:00 PM Time in the hospital is so strange. It drags or it gets eaten up. Whatever it begins to feel weird.
A lot has happened.
Jim has been moved out of the ICU and to a room. We must have done something right because we are ensconced in a wonderful front room with a wall of windows overlooking Washington Circle - with a view of the area and gulls swooping close b y. To me being bathed in natural light is so enriching and spirit lifting, This is good.
Today Jim is improving. There are issues ofcourse - pain and getting up and starting to eat again etc, etc, etc. Tomorrow he will be up again and walking. That is going to be a challenge.
Yesterday Granny Sue, said I sounded tired, I am. And so very grateful for our family who have been here almost the whole time. Such a gift. And we have met some lovely people. Talk about stories - touching and heartbreaking stories are shared in hospital waiting rooms. As well as comfort b ietween strangers that is w'arm and caring.
12:15 PM Happy to say an hours good sleep brought Jim to a better place. The Urology team came back and decided hat he will be moved to the ward later today. That is a step forward. Not only that - it will be much quieter there and he should rest better. They will also start having him out of the bed and walking - that will be a challenge.
We are on the 5th floor which gives us a pretty good view of the area. This morning when the snow was flying around and covering the streets it looked like an "ash can school" painting. Those are fresh in my eyes as we just saw a few last week at the Phillips.
6:00 am Robin and I walked out into the snow and walked over to the hopsitaTHe ICU nurse had agreed she would let me in tol. "take a peek" before the 8:30 am opening time . I appreciated it. We have to come in through the ER and the Security t that point cldars us in.
I like these early morning glimpses of the world of the hospital. Takes me back a bit to memories of when I was a student nurse on duty at night.
10:00 am I wish I could remember more of what I knew in those dark ages days of medicine. Jim's blood pressure is running high - they are using drugs with names I never heard of - and in my day you had to clear with a doctor before administering a medication. Today it seems to me the nurses are let loose with syringes and lots of discretion. I would have loved that myself - its just new to me.
Jim did not sleep all night - watching out for himself. He does that well but this is really tiring him out. As the new nurse told him, "you are supposed to be resting and sleeping so we can get you past the acute phase." Jim agreed. I could see he was appreciating this guy and his logand the way he spoke to him with respect and understanding The upshot is that Jim let them give him a shot of a short acting sedative so he can rest. Now I am watching out
while he is asleep.
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3 comments:
you sound tired, Ellouise. I hope you are resting too. wouldn't do for you to be sick now.
I didn't know you'd been a nurse. My favorite book when I was a kid was Sue Barton, Student Nurse. I so wanted to be her! Unfortunately I cannot even look at a shot.
Your posts are like being there with you two. i'm dtill holding you both in my prayers.
Thanks so much for being such a good communicator. Please keep it up. Keep strong and keep the faith. We are praying for you all.
Love,
Donna Adams
Try to rest while he's rest. You need to keep your strength up for the both of you. He sounds like he's making progress but he does need to rest so the body can heal. It's hard to let someone else be in control. Every day will be better. Walking is going to be hard but it gets easier. I only made it to the door my first try. Hang in there and I'm praying for both of you.
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