Subject: RE: BS: Curmudgeon in hospital again
From:
Bat Goddess
Date: 21 Feb 13 - 09:05 AM
Mary, he fell early Monday morning, after 12:30 (when he was okay) but before 2 a.m when I found him on the floor. He said he was trying to find a chair to sit in -- which he NEVER does in the middle of the night. He had taken half an Ambien sometime probably around 1 a.m. -- I think that caused his disorientation. I have no idea how his wheelchair ended up where it was (in the hall) or why his flashlights were a) in the bed (couch) and b) on the floor on the other side of the room. He landed flat on his back, which is how I found him -- feet towards the couch and head towards his commode.
When the EMTs got there we (meaning Tom, too) debated just giving him a lift assist into bed or going to the ER. The EMTs didn't think he had any spinal or neck injury (later verified by X-rays and scans), but he wanted the pain checked out, even though it was probably pulled muscles or bruising. (Which is what the hospital found.)
The enzyme that CAN be indicative of a heart attack was elevated when he got to the ER, so Wentworth-Douglass wanted him admitted for observation -- for at least the enzyme cycle.
I visited him again when he was in a room. He was bored, thought the mashed potato of his meatloaf supper was disgusting, etc. But coughing was incredibly painful for him (and he has to clear his throat more often than someone who hasn't had throat surgery) so, I think, he tried to avoid coughing. (Which probably caused the fluid in his lungs.) I talked to him on the phone at 9 p.m. and he was sounding really good and in much better humor.
Somewhere around midnight he was found without the oxygen tube in his nose, he was blue and unresponsive. They transferred him to the ICU and got him stabilized and on a ventilator.
He was awake when I got there on Tuesday morning, but couldn't talk, of course, because of the ventilator. He's been pretty much sedated ever since -- he needs a lot of rest.
I just talked to Cathryn his day nurse. I am NOT going to expose either the hospital and especially not Tom's room in the ICU with my chest cold, even with a mask. She agrees completely. I'm going to spend the day mostly sleeping. I hope I can get someone to bring me a bottle of Rite-Aid Expectorant. Vicks on my chest has been working, too. I'll keep in touch with his nurses, and they will call me if anything happens I need to know about. He's in very good hands.
They got a bunch of crap out of his lungs and will try again to remove the ventilator today. Tom was evidently awake at some point and asked where I was -- Cathryn told him I was home sleeping. I told her to explain to him, too, that I'm not jepardizing his health by coming there coughing like this.
The absolute hardest thing about this is, because he's on a ventilator and can't talk, AND is mostly sedated, unlike other hospital stays, I can't talk to him on the phone.
Linn
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sj
