dbubley Update

She is doing much better.  So far they have not found a fistula.  It seems to be a very bad UTI and they are flushing her bladder and giving IV antibiotics.  I'm going to try to talk to the doctor tomorrow, I missed his call today.  She sounds like herself now.  I guess the entire time in the ER they were giving her a fair amount of morphene because she kept falling asleep even when sitting up.  Several doctors asked me if she usually dozed off like this and I said sometimes in front of her computer, but not when she's in the middle of a conversation. 

Stay tuned . . .

Overheard in ER Last Tuesday

dbubley was in an ER room for many, many hours and had several roommates.  Mostly this is not a fun place, but it had its moments. 

Hyper Man: My dialysis appointment is tomorrow.  Will I be out of here by then?
Nurse: Let's not worry about tomorrow, we need to get your heart rate down now.
Hyper Man: But I need my dialysis, I go every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Nurse: Sir, you are in a hospital, if you need dialysis you will receive it here.
Hyper Man: I need a phone, I have to call and cancel my ride, if I'm not going.  Can I get a phone?
Nurse gives him a phone.  He makes several calls, all the time ranting about being in the ER, how his friend thought he was faking when he passed out. and just a general feeling of being put out by EVERYTHING the medical staff asked him to do. 
Nurse finally takes the phone away and within minutes he's asking for it again.
Hyper Man: I still have a few calls to make.  Give me the phone.
Nurse: No, you are working yourself up with these calls.  No phone until your heart rates comes down.
The man let out the most whining sigh I've ever heard. 

Later there was a 62 yr old African American man having a stroke.  He'd had one about 10 years earlier.

Doctor: Sir, you need to be completely honest with me.  When was the last time you used cocaine?
Man: I was out of my blood thinning stuff.
Doctor: You mean your have not been taking your coumadin, the blood thinner?  For how long?
Man: couple days or a week
Doctor again asked him when he last used cocaine.
Man: when I was out of my thinning stuff, thought it would help.
Doctor: Sir, you can not take cocaine instead of your coumadin.
Man: okay

In between these questions they are asking him to smile and raise he arms and various other neurological tests,

Doctor: Sir, do you know what day it is?
Man: Jan. 6th
Doctor: Good, do you know what year it is?
Man: 2006
Doctor: Do you know who the president is?
Man: OBAMA!

Several of the medical team chuckled, as I did on the other side of the curtain.