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shannon_aI was exhausted when I got home on Saturday. And then, just to mock me, as bed time approached, I was too wound up to sleep. Reading and Melatonin finally helped. (I've occasionally been taking Melatonin for the last few years, as needed, and I've been amazed at how effective it's been, which was not the case when I tried taking it when I was younger.)
So, Sunday I decided that I needed to take it easy for my own health.
I mean, I wanted to be able to visit Kimberly twice a day, to help her feel loved and cared for. That's what I did when she was at a more local hospital more than a decade ago. But getting out to Summit was different, not quite an hour round trip. So, I was really burning myself out, either going out there twice or else once but finding something to do in the middle of the day.
And so I changed that on Sunday.
I had a leisurely morning, then ate lunch at home, which I haven't done in days.
Then I went out to see Kimberly, got in a bit after 1 and stayed until 4.30 or so. Because I could still give Kimberly time and attention without having to run back and forth constantly.
Kimberly was asleep when i got there, but soon woken up by a nurse who needed to give her a shot.
After we talked for a while, a few of Kimberly's friends showed up, first A., then L. So, we all talked and wiled away the afternoon.
Kimberly was eating real food for the first time yesterday. Breakfast apparently went well, but lunch less so. She quickly got nauseous and wasn't feeling well afterward.
Unfortunately, Kimberly's pain level from her surgery was kicking up too. By 3.20 or so, she called for anti-nausea and pain-control meds. And then called again at 3.45 and again at 4.00. Though the operator answered every time, no one showed up. This was all around the hospital's shift change, but leaving a patient sick and in pain for 40 minutes or more is utterly unacceptable.
A nurse finally showed up at a few minutes after 4, and Kimberly was relieved, until she learned that Nurse J. was there to take her vitals.
However, once J. learned what was going on, she was clearly furious. She got Kimberly her meds and told her that she was going to be reporting this problem.
As I've written elsewhere, Summit has real problems with understaffing and overworking its patient floors.
About 30 minutes after that, Kimberly was fading, and so A., L, and I took our leave one by one.
I got groceries, got Taco Bell, and got home. After lunch I napped, which wasn't intentional. But then I spent the rest of the night reading, doing odd things around the house, and writing up six pages of disclosure information for our house sale.
And by the time I went to sleep, right on time and with no trouble, I was feeling a bit more relaxed than I have in days.
Today, I'm back to work, and getting some good stuff done for RPGnet.
And tonight I'll of course go see Kimberly, after work.
And hopefully she's going to be released tomorrow, provided that her nephrologist agrees with her surgeon that all looks well.
So, Sunday I decided that I needed to take it easy for my own health.
I mean, I wanted to be able to visit Kimberly twice a day, to help her feel loved and cared for. That's what I did when she was at a more local hospital more than a decade ago. But getting out to Summit was different, not quite an hour round trip. So, I was really burning myself out, either going out there twice or else once but finding something to do in the middle of the day.
And so I changed that on Sunday.
I had a leisurely morning, then ate lunch at home, which I haven't done in days.
Then I went out to see Kimberly, got in a bit after 1 and stayed until 4.30 or so. Because I could still give Kimberly time and attention without having to run back and forth constantly.
Kimberly was asleep when i got there, but soon woken up by a nurse who needed to give her a shot.
After we talked for a while, a few of Kimberly's friends showed up, first A., then L. So, we all talked and wiled away the afternoon.
Kimberly was eating real food for the first time yesterday. Breakfast apparently went well, but lunch less so. She quickly got nauseous and wasn't feeling well afterward.
Unfortunately, Kimberly's pain level from her surgery was kicking up too. By 3.20 or so, she called for anti-nausea and pain-control meds. And then called again at 3.45 and again at 4.00. Though the operator answered every time, no one showed up. This was all around the hospital's shift change, but leaving a patient sick and in pain for 40 minutes or more is utterly unacceptable.
A nurse finally showed up at a few minutes after 4, and Kimberly was relieved, until she learned that Nurse J. was there to take her vitals.
However, once J. learned what was going on, she was clearly furious. She got Kimberly her meds and told her that she was going to be reporting this problem.
As I've written elsewhere, Summit has real problems with understaffing and overworking its patient floors.
About 30 minutes after that, Kimberly was fading, and so A., L, and I took our leave one by one.
I got groceries, got Taco Bell, and got home. After lunch I napped, which wasn't intentional. But then I spent the rest of the night reading, doing odd things around the house, and writing up six pages of disclosure information for our house sale.
And by the time I went to sleep, right on time and with no trouble, I was feeling a bit more relaxed than I have in days.
Today, I'm back to work, and getting some good stuff done for RPGnet.
And tonight I'll of course go see Kimberly, after work.
And hopefully she's going to be released tomorrow, provided that her nephrologist agrees with her surgeon that all looks well.