10:15pm. What a day. Starting from midnight, it’s been a loooooong day!
Continuing from when I “signed off” last night….I went to Katie’s room to check on her breathing; she was fine. Sound asleep, nice even breathing, no signs of her body going into distress, etc. Satisfied that she wasn’t in immediate danger, I went to bed but couldn’t really fall asleep. About 2AM my cell phone rang. I thought it was Katie needing something, but when I answered it, my friend Merrie was on there. She works at the visiting nurse agency we are using (that’s why I chose that agency), and she was the coordinator on call these two weeks, so it was really nice hearing a friendly voice say, “Hey, Susan…what’s up?” as she has done many times during our Civil Air Patrol times.
I told her about Katie’s rash and mentioned the horrible, horrible constipation she’s been experiencing since Monday. We talked for a few minutes, then she asked if I wanted the nurse on call to give me a call right away or wait til they open around 8. Knowing Katie was “fine”, I said it could wait til they opened. Between talking to someone who is a friend, and knowing Katie was breathing and sleeping ok, I was able to get a deep sleep for the 4 short hours til Katie called for her morning pain pill. Never realizing, of course, that the pain pill in question was the culprit. But still…….
Nurse Melanie called about 9AM or so; she was not scheduled to come over, so she had two patients before she could get over here. She wound up getting here in the afternoon. Perfect timing as it gave Katie a chance to take a shower, eat, and practice how not to scratch the huge red splotches invading her body.
11:45pm. Trying to write this without interruptions is sometimes next to impossible. Katie is now tucked in bed, her teeth brushed, pajamas on, pills popped, etc. She took a Benadryl and her new pain medicine before getting into bed. Maybe we can sleep soundly until 6am or so……
Back to today…..Nurse Melanie was wonderful. She looked at Katie’s rash, took the steri-strips off the “puncture wounds” from where one of the tubes had been in her chest, called the doctor to report what she found, and stayed here for a while until everyone had called back, Katie had new meds, and the prescription had been called in to the pharmacy.
In addition to the rash, was the horrible, painful fact of Katie’s pipes not working since Monday. The Percocet does an incredible job of stopping up people’s “workings”, but especially when it’s being taken 2 tables every four/five hours around the clock. Way too much for her “sensitive” body. Katie was introduced to the icky world of “I Need A Lot Of Milk of Magnesia” land. It’s absolutely essential that bowels don’t get stopped up and stayed stopped up, so something has to be done. Nurse Mel told me what to get, so I did…colace tablets, Milk of Magnesia, and benadryl---for her itchy rash.
She did NOT have a fun time sitting on her “throne” of Unhappy Bowels. That’s about as delicate as I can put it. Poor Katie. However, after being off the Perc. for a few hours, her kingdom decided it loved her again and “let all the bad, ‘stuffy’ hooligans go away.” Leaving only peaceful solitude in the depths of her tummy.
And, of course, since my life is never dull, both big burners on the stove decided to bite the dust. Both of them. At the same time. So, I had to call Sears to make an appointment
Katie, Alex, and I went for a walk with her today. She is doing so, so well.
I can barely keep my eyes open.
Hard to believe it is already after midnight. Was hoping I’d be able to post this entry on the same day I started it, but too many things come along.
Til later……
No comments:
Post a Comment