The second part of my stay in the hosptial

Second Post on My Trip to The Hospital

Like I said in the last post, we arrived at Memorial Hermann Sugar Land just before 1 PM. After I got checked in, I noticed that there was an F on my bracelet. I jokingly said to Suzanne “This means I am a female.” As it turns out, I was right. They had entered me into the system as a female. Suzanne told the registration agent this and she said she would get it changed. I was a female for several more hours.

Just after 3 PM, I was taken back to a room in the emergency room. Suzanne and I were left in this room with no interaction with any of the staff until right after 5 PM. So much for an emergency.

About 5PM things started happening. A nurse came in and assessed me. A nurse practitioner came in and got x-rays and an I.V. ordered. I was taken for an ultrasound of my legs. Then, my feet were x-rayed.

Shortly after that, a nurse started an I.V. with something called a vamp stick. A vamp stick is a very large-bore needle (about the size of the drainage pipe that runs under our street.)  This I.V. hurt like heck, but it got the job done.

The E.R. doctor came in and saw me. She decided I would be admitted. She evidently told the podiatrist that I had a small ulcer on my toe. He made his plans accordingly. I.V. antibiotics were ordered

Finally, just after 8 PM, I was taken to a room. It was too late for supper. Neither Suzanne nor I had eaten all day. I was given one of those Complete meals. You know, the thing you get in the grocery store that is just enough for a toddler to eat. Thing is, I was too sick to eat all of it. Just after I ate it, I was put N.P.O. N.P.O is Latin for don’t feed the Redneck.

Early the next morning, I was visited by Dr. Aly, my new infection doctor. Dr. Aly took one look at my toe and called the podiatrist Dr. Patel and told him that he needed to get there right away. Dr. Aly said I was septic.

Major antibiotics were ordered. There were eight hanging at one time. These were running into me via two I.V. lines. During the day, I got a major bout of dry mouth. I was supposed to be N.P.O., but I drank four pitchers of water in just a matter of a few minutes. I also had a sense of panic and discomfort. I did not know why.

Dr. Patel was tied up with several procedures at another hospital, but he started monitoring my case remotely. He had me sent for an MRI of my feet and had a few more X-rays done.

Just after 5 PM, Dr. Patel came to the room and saw my toe. He squeezed it and black ooze poured out of it. He started wiggling it around like a joystick. He was enjoying himself listening to the cool creaking noise it was making. I was told my toe was necrotic; that is, it had done died dead.

He scheduled me for surgery at 7:30 PM. This was 02 November 2012. The surgery got pushed back to 9:30 due to an emergency the anesthesiologist had to deal with.

They took me to the recovery room which also serves as Pre-Op. Suzanne was allowed to stay there to wait for me. While there, she witnessed a woman in hospital garb walking with a package of something sealed in plastic. The woman wiped her nose with her hand. Suzanne pointed out to my nurse that the woman had done this and should wash her hands. The woman picked up her package and headed into the operating room with it. Her snotty hands had infected the allegedly sterile package. My nurse went to wash her hands.

My anesthesiologist walked in and while he was talking to us he wiped his nose on the back of his hand. My wife pointed out that he should wash his hands. He proceeded to give her a lecture on how infections are spread. He did not wash his hands before examining me.

I was wheeled into the operating room just before 10 PM. Since the next day was our anniversary, we figured that I would be in the OR when our anniversary rang in. This would be the first time in the twenty-eight years we have been married that we weren’t together at the stroke of midnight.

When I began to come to, I saw Suzanne and I reached out for her. We made it back to my room, where the kids were waiting for us, just before midnight. We were together when our anniversary rang in.

On 03 November 2012, my nurse came in and he said he was starting an antibiotic called Zosyn. Very shortly after he started this, I began having that same panic feeling and dry mouth from the day before. I called him and told him to come right away. I asked him to stop the I.V. while we talked. He did, and very shortly the feeling went away. He looked up the important side effects about the drug and one of the danger signs was dry mouth and panic. I now know I am allergic to Zosyn and Bactrim as well as sweet potatoes.

While at the Memorial Hermann I had some pretty good nurses and P.C.A.s.  

One nurse was not so good. She practically climbed on top of me in the bed rather than walk around, a situation that did not endear her to my wife nor to me. When she went to start an I.V. on me, she pulled my arm down very low to the ground and then begin to try to hunt a vein. It honestly looked like she was trying to sew on my arm. After several minutes of mangling and re-sticking, she finally got the I.V. started. Later that day the I.V. blew out. My arm swelled up huge in size and it hurt like the dickens.

More on this soon

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