NetSwamp

Take Rick, who doesn’t want to be in a hospital, add one bitch-nurse and you get instant asshole! I can’t seem to stop myself. I just pulled a ‘nasty’ on one of the good nurses and I shouldn’t have.

Last night, I asked the nurse assigned to my room a simple question; Can you give me something for gas? Her answer, “Best thing to do is get up and walk around”. Getting up and walking around is only hampered by pain, but it’s doable. She must not have heard of Gas-X or the hospital doesn’t stock it. Other responses she spewed last night lead me to believe she is just a piss-poor nurse (PPN). She’s very good at telling time: “It’s 2 hours until you can have more pain medication”. This nurse strikes me as one who wants to do just enough to get a paycheck. She doesn’t come across as one who cares about her patients.

My good nurse, Kristin’s response to the same question: “I’ll see what we have” was a way better response. I shouldn’t have added: “I’ve asked my wife to bring Gas-X to me”. Needless-to-say, Kristin said “They don’t like patients to bring-in meds without the doctors’ knowledge”. Kristin’s right! I understand why. I just made her a victim of my irritation with her colleague’s crappy attitude. I’m sorry!!

Kristin’s been very good. She’s working with me to try to keep the pain moderated. Example; The doctor stretched my med interval from every 4 to every 6 hours last night. The meds weren’t lasting the 4 hours, let alone 6. They have me on Dilaudid, 2 mg per dose. I asked Kristin if we could split the dose and do every 3 hours. She’s all for it! So we’re givin’ it a try.

She’s soooo good, she just brought me something for gas while I was writing this post. PPN’s like the one I’ve experienced here, become part of my irritation and intolerance while being held prisoner in the hospital. I’m trying not to share that irritation with the good ones.

Remember how you used to feel as a kid about being stuck indoors when you could be outside playing? How ’bout as an adult, feeling stuck indoors on a beautiful day (like today)? That’s how I feel right now!!

If it weren’t for the pain, being stuck here in the hospital would be unbearable.

It ‘s hard to sleep through belly pain. Diverticulosis can be painful and difficult to live with. The last couple of days has been no exception. Last night was really rough. There was more pain than usual during an attack. It was accompanied by a deep body trembling chill and a mild fever.

Here I am, incarcerated again in the hospital at 7:30pm. The “adventure” started at 8:30am this morning in the E.R. There were less than a dozen people their when we arrived. Not too bad a wait to get in. Once the doctor was convinced that the diverticuli hadn’t perforated he was generous with the pain meds. Finally – relief!! Sort-of, the meds didn’t seem to take at first. The first round was morphine and it didn’t work!! I’m not sure what was finally used this evening, but the pain is under control and I might be able to sleep tonight.

After the CAT scan, the doctor determined I needed to be admitted so they could dump massive-quantities of antibiotic through a “straw” into my body. He confirmed diverticulitis. It’s likely I’ll be here ’til Sunday. With my luck and hospitals, it’ll be just long enough for me to become nasty and obnoxious. I’m not a “good patient”. It’s also possible I’ll be here ’til Monday too. That sets the odds of reaching the obnoxious stage, better than average.

It’ll be a while before I sound up-beat about not having an attack for nearly a year, as both my Mom and Dad pointed-out.

This really sucks!