Saturday, October 22, 2011

The Journey of 2011.................... More on CCU..........




Part 1

About halfway through her shift things with the CCU nurse improved. Not that she got friendly or anything but she did respond sooner when I pressed that darn button and there were no more jaded statements from her.

Maybe it was the fact, I had suggested the possibility the button wasn't functioning properly that made her decide I wasn't so bad. Or maybe she just got over being in a bad mood. Whatever it was, the care was better but not good enough I didn't wish I was still back in the surgical ward.

The aide that was assigned to this shift was not particularly friendly either. She was a young woman and had some mannerisms that suggested she might be uncomfortable whenever I saw her. I wasn't sure if she was uncomfortable with me, or her job but I made a point of trying to talk with her and to learn her name.

I have always been really bad with names and with the drugs my head wasn't particularly clear so it was a pretty big chore for me to concentrate let alone try to remember the names of all the new people I met. Still I figured working on remembering names would be a good mental work out and it might show this aide I was sincere in my attempts to be friendly.

As it turned out this young woman had an unusual name that actually made it a little bit easier for me to remember. When I had asked her what her name was, she had responded that no one ever got her name right which is something I can relate to so that only pushed me to be sure I did get it correct.

By the time I got done with my stint in the CCU this young woman turned into a warm friendly face clearly glad to see me each day and I was glad to see her too. There's nothing harder than being sick and feeling alone.

This hospital's method of scheduling meant there seemed to always be new faces as my care givers. In the case of this CCU nurse that was probably a good thing. I only had her as my nurse for two nights but this particular aide was assigned to me most evenings while I was in critical care.

It was actually with the help of this aide that I found out the light connected to the call button was indeed not always turning on. She showed me there was a corresponding light in my room that I could check to know for sure if anyone would know that I needed something. If the light didn't go on when I pressed the call button, the light in the hall wasn't on either so I just kept pressing that button until the light in my room turned on.

Armed with that information, I didn't do nearly as much waiting as I had. During the day I didn't need that call button nearly as much as it did at night though. My little episode with the pulmonary embolism not only changed my patient status but it meant I needed several different kinds of doctors monitoring me.

The day light hours brought a steady stream of those doctors by my room, each checking up on his or her particular specialty. I had gone from just being under the care of a surgeon, or his representatives, to under seven different specialties.

I never was able to keep track of all of them, let alone the changes in doctors that represented each but I can tell you I met the department head of each and everyone of them the day of the PE and from that point forward, not only did I see the department heads but a representative each and every day I was in the critical care unit.There was no way I went without getting what I needed during those times of the day.

To be continued.............

I'm still struggling since the colonoscopy but I have to say watching this video sure brought some relief to a boring miserable day. Scarlet is such a beautiful moving horse, it did my heart good just to be reminded of that although I must admit I had forgotten she had fallen on that day. Even the fall was "easy" looking and she ended up unhurt and pretty nearly unphased.

NOTE 2013: I didn't get back to posting this story until May of 2013. Here are the links to my explanation Plans why I resumed the posting and then the resummation of this story.

 Prelude to a Nightmare



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6 comments:

  1. Glad things improved with your care. Having worked paliative care (which will rip your heart out) I did try to keep some boundaries and distance, though I was never rude or abrupt .I just was maybe trying not to get to know people too well,Maybe that was the same thing with the aid? trying to keep a little distance to protect her heart. After all not everyone who goes into CCU has a good outcome. Regardless of why I am glad they treated you better and that your outcome was positive

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  2. It must do your heart good to look at these videos and know that you have a good breeding program- judging by the babies. The mares are pretty nice too.

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  3. Glad to hear they started treating you better and had an aide you could look forward to coming on duty.

    I like Scarlets trot, looks so floaty :)

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  4. It's nice that your care in the CCU got better.

    There's nothing like a video of one of your beautiful horses to perk you up. Hang in there.

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  5. I bet that is a tough rope to walk for the aides. Seeing people, probably at their worst and having to keep a smiling face and warm fuzzy bedside attitude? I know when we worked for the vet, there were times it was difficult to keep my own mouth shut and stay out of it. We all have our own ideas and burdens in life to carry. Health care careers, don't often let you drop your own to take on those belonging to others. At least you were able to sort out th call button light.

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