Another Sleepless Night

Thank goodness the last dose of IV steroids is done. I don't know if I could stand many more nights on 3 1/2 hrs sleep. I got some good news today, well potentially good news. I may get to go home today. I got an xray early this morning and am waiting for the doctors to look at it and decide if the chest tube can come out. The fluid has quit draining any significant amount so maybe the tube can go! One less hose to carry around. I still have the wound vac for the fluid leak. It's slowly healing, but last night the wound vac dressing had a blowout and apparently the nurses here don't dress these things very often. The new dressing lasted about two hours and it was leaking again. I ended up trying to patch it myself to no avail, so I just went to bed looking like I had peed my pants =D

After talking with my dr. this morning, it's looking like I will be here till around the first of November instead of mid October like originally planned. It's just minor setbacks. Doc just wants to keep a close eye on the fluid situation to make sure it doesn't come back, AGAIN! I can live with an extra couple weeks.

The second xray looked good so the doc decided I could go home. I finally got out of the hospital about 8pm tonight. I had to wait and take my nightime meds at the hospital because the company that makes the home ivs won't be able to make them up until early in the morning. I'm just glad to be out of the joint. I have another pill to take now in addition to the 25+ I already take everyday. I'm now on high blood pressure meds because of being on such a high dose of prednisone. It will be temporary, just until the steroids are tapered down. What's another pill at this point? Let's just hope the fluid doesn't come back and I can stay on track to go home in November! God Is Great! I am a blessed woman. I will stay as long as it takes. I'm just loving life and Love To All!

Getting out of The Joint

I am definately getting out of the hospital today. It'll be this afernoon before they get the paperwork done, fgures! Some good news is I'll get to sleep in peace and I haven't had a pain pill in over 12hrs. It seems like I always get a room across from the nursing station. Last night it wasn't the nurses making noise, it was the person in the next to me, well it was the family that was in the room with him. I don't think they had ever been in a hospital setting or they would know to BE QUIET. It wasn't late so my sleep wasn't disturbed, but other patients may have been asleep. They were laughing and talking loud like it was a family reunion.

More good news, I may get to go home by mid October. It isn't for certain, in case something else happns ;). I have faith in God and so far everything has run smooth. I'm still taking it one day at a time. Love To All!

Taking My Breath Away..........

I have never been a person that couldn't handle stress, but when I can't get my breath it is panic mode for me. This is only the 2nd time it has happened and the doctors and nurses did a great job taking care of me. It started out this afternoon when I just started feeling short of breath and stuffed up feeling. My heart was racing pretty fast and I felt "on edge". My O2 sats was in the mid 80's and they usually run in the upper 80's to low 90's. I didn't say anything at the time just thinking it was the caffeine I had at lunch. After a couple hours and me getting up to walk across the room, I wasn't feeling any better and requested a breathing treatment. Afterward, my phone rang in the room and I was already sob and then I realized I had to pee so I cut the person off on the phone and basically threw the phone down and sprinted to the toilet, only I didn't make it in time and proceeded to start "right" before I sat down. Great! gotta clean that up. Well, then my pulmonary artery decides to spasm and when it spasms it clamps shut, shutting off the O2 to my lungs and I start heaving for air and turning blue. This is when the panic decides to start creeping into the scenario. I pulled the emergency help cord beside the toilet and when the person asked if I needed help all I could manage was "help me". That was all it took for people to come running into the room. There I was, sitting on the toilet turning blue, heaving my chest, and puffing for oxygen and not in a sexy sort of way, lol. They quickly turned up the O2 I was already receiving and I asked for a fan and it arrived. My O2 had fallen into the upper 60's to low 70's, not good. Somewhere in the chaos I managed to let them know to let the person on the phone know I hadn't died and to take a message and hang up the phone. It took about twenty minutes, two breathing treatments, and some calming meditation to get me calmed back down. That was enough excitement for one day. I was tired, had a headache, and just wanted to go to sleep. I survived another one. Whew! That was NOT fun! I can think of a million other ways to get attention in here and that ain't one of them!

My World Today

Well I have managed to stay out of the hospital for two months now, but my luck ran out Wednesday, the 5th. It's no surprise. I don't even fight my doctor on the subject anymore. When I was healthier and working I would refuse to come into the hospital. I would take IV's at home and take them to work with me, no problem. Now, I'm just thankful to be able to get dressed everyday without losing my breath.

I remember when I was younger and in the hospital I would get so angry and hostile with the staff in the hospital when I was inpatient, the number one reason being sleep disturbance. Now that I am older and have spent much more time in the hospital the past 8 months than I used to spend in as many YEARS, it has become quite comical to me. I know us CFers have all experienced it to some degree at some point, but last nite was the nite that would never end. I went to bed at 12, which is my normal time even at home. At 1:30 am I had an iv antibiotic given to me, no problem, didn't have to be disturbed too much. Then at 2:30 I was awaken to do a breathing treatment. Come on, I'm breathing fine without it. If I take a breathing treatment in the middle of the night then I start coughing and can't go back to sleep! Then at 3 am the nurse returns and starts another iv antibiotic. To top that one off, the nurse also had to draw blood to check the levels on one of my meds. At some time in between all of the other in and outsI know someone came in and checked my vitals. Lets see, around 5 the resident doc stuck his head in the door to get a report for the big dog (doctor) that comes around later with the whole team of little ducklings (interns) following behind him, lol. I did get served breakfast early today. I didn't even know when they brought it in, it was on my tray when I got up at 7:30 am.
{{Yawn}} I think I'll try to get a nap before everyone starts working their way back down the hall again.