Thursday, April 02, 2009

Status Quo

A bit of a swan song evening – at least for a few weeks.

Martha and I went out to have dinner. I had three beers – normally not something I do. As it is, I’m a really light drinker, and even three is more than I’m used to. Plus I’m a lightweight; I admit it. I’m told I’m really funny when I’m taking pain medication; it is almost effortless to make me want to curl up in a ball and sleep. Alcohol has a similar effect on me.

Today, however, was a busy day. My daughter had an appointment with the Nurse Practitioner she sees to manage her ADHD. It’s really funny to know she takes the same medication that I do but at a somewhat higher dose. Considering that she is 5’2” and weighs in at approximately 125 lbs., this is significant. But it is what she needs to function; I suspect it probably has to do with her body’s base metabolic rate.

Yesterday I had the pre-surgery assessment done. It was all standard stuff; I was assessed by a nurse who asked me all of the history questions they have to ask, got a set of vital signs, and sent me to the Nurse Anesthetist who assessed my airway (“yup – you have a grade 4 airway.” And all I could think was, “No shit, Sherlock”) and told me that I could expect to work out the details on Monday with the Anesthesiologist and whomever he’ll have with him. I also had blood work done – they wanted to look at electrolytes and kidney function (BUN and Creatinine levels) just to make sure there would be no trouble. I was there for a little over an hour and a half, and it went quite smoothly. If there is an issue I’m sure I’ll be made aware of it tomorrow when I meet with the surgeon to sign consent forms.

Still no word on where I’m going after the surgery is done. I have a bad feeling that I will wind up in a skilled facility somewhere around Manchester that I won’t like. As I’ve said before, many of the facilities in the Manchester area that advertise having skilled nursing beds are a notch above disgraceful. So it will be interesting to see what turns up.

Otherwise, there really isn’t much to talk about. I’m waiting – simple as that. And there is no real excitement going on to talk about. I do know that all of the people I work with want me back. While I feel good about that, I know it’s not simply because of me; it is because of staffing problems that everyone is trying to solve. As soon as I’m able to contribute, I will do so. Not before.

I do not need to cause myself any more trouble than I’ve already had. And I won’t put myself in that position.

3 comments:

Deege said...

Glad everything finally worked out, in spite of the frustration. Hopefully the ease of the pre-op visit will carry on to post-op and rehab will be piece of cake is a great place.

Will keep you in my prayers for a successful surgery and speedy recovery.

Unknown said...

Thank you.

All I want is to get this over with. It's funny, too - how many people do you know that actually want to have surgery performed on them?

Deege said...

Um... good point. Have you thought about a psych consult while you're there? *smirks*

After as many months as you've been dealing with this injury, I can only imagine how anxious you are to get the surgery and rehab behind you. You must be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel and can't wait to get there.