It has been almost two weeks but I am happy to announce that the wife is finally out of the hospital!
I got there relatively early this morning. The plan was to wait to see if the doctor showed up, find out if she would be released today, then depending on the answer either take her out of there or go work on unboxing more things at the house and trying to put them away.
The morning passed and still no word from the doctor. The hospital chaplain came by for a visit. He was pleasant but not overly helpful. Then our Pastor and his wife came by for a visit. They were much more effective in raising the wife’s spirits. Finally the therapy dog came by. I got more time with him than the wife as she was in the middle of getting antibiotics hooked up to her IV and a phone call when he arrived. A very nice border collie (I think?) named Chet.
Lunch time rolled around so while the wife dined on hospital food as I was to go out to forage for my own grub. She didn’t like what the hospital put before her (chicken, rice and green beans) so she wanted me to get something for her wherever I went. I went to a local burger joint and grabbed shtuff for both of us, then headed back to the hospital.
She didn’t like her burger either. I’m wondering if all the antibiotics and drugs have affected her taste buds. She hasn’t liked much of anything since she got into the ICU.
The nurses came in after lunch to check the wife’s vitals and we asked about her being discharged. The nurses said they’d fined out. A little while later they came back to say she was being discharged today and would be going to the long-term care facility. Huzzah! The hospital is forty (40) minutes away from our home while the long term care facility is only ten (10) minutes away.
We had to wait another two hours for them to get moving on her discharge. Another half hour after that and we hit a snag. Her nurse came in and said the doctor wanted to give the wife a final dose of antibiotics in her IV. It would take about half an hour. < heavy sigh >
We got that over with and the nurse came in and said there was one last bag of antibiotics to be given to the wife but this one should only take about twenty minutes or so to complete. They also said they’d call Transport and make sure they had a wheelchair ready when the IV finished. < heavy sigh (again) >
More waiting. And then … it was done! We could get out of there. About five minutes after that they had the wheelchair and we were on our way out the door.
Why does it take so long for hospitals to discharge people? I think every time I’ve been in a situation where some one gets released from eh hospital it usually takes five hours to get the person out of he building. I’d think they’d want people going out so they could give rooms to all the people waiting for one.
We had to go by the house on the way to the long term care center so we stopped and brought each of the dogs to the car so the wife could pet them and let them know she wasn’t dead yet. Sirocco ad Magdalena were happy to see her, but Major Tom gave her the most cursory of sniffs then turned around and got out of the car. I think he was expecting a walk, not a meet and greet with the wife.
We got to the long term facility and got the wife settled in. I came home, fed the dogs, made myself dinner and just as I was eating the wife called. I’d forgotten to take her CPAP machine in with us to the facility. A quick ride in the car and I dropped the CPAP off in her room. When I got home I got another call. Somehow the mask that fits over her nose and mouth didn’t make it into the center when I dropped off the CPAP machine. Another trip to the long term care facility and she had her mask for the CPAP machine.
It’s been a long day and not overly productive to my mind but at least the wife is out of the hospital. That is worth celebrating with chocolate. Hmmm. Today is World Chocolate Day ….
If you’d like to support my efforts, why not buy me a chocolate chip cookie through my Ko-Fi page? https://ko-fi.com/jhusum