I Have Been In Hospital
I left the house with nothing except my insurance cards and ID. I pulled on a loose shirt as I walked out the door completely ignoring the need for a bra. We drove to the nearest ER perhaps a little faster than we should have. My heart was pounding, my chest hurt, and each shallow breath left me struggling for the next.
My distress was obvious. Within only a few minutes I had two doctors in attendance ordering oxygen, an IV to drip heart-slowing drugs into my arm, an X-ray of my chest, and a battery of blood tests. It was all happening so fast. About an hour later the drugs hadn't slowed my heart and there were no easy answers from blood tests or X-rays. The only relief was found in the oxygen. My breathing was a bit easier.
Have you ever been loaded into an ambulance? It seems my husband had signed all the waivers and I was on my way.
Upon arrival at the hospital I was taken to Rm 20 in ICU. That glassed in room was to be my home for the next seven days which passed in a blur of more drugs, tests and procedures and a monitor that waited patiently for me to fall asleep before screaming an alarm - usually false. The days were punctuated only by daily visits from the vampire which I remember all to well and visits from my husband and a few friends which I only half remember.
Day 8: I was in a regular ward. One last procedure and I could go home. My heart was in regular rhythm, there were no blockages. I had learned that I had a leaky valve and my heart was not pumping enough to clear out the fluids from my body. We would access all that in a couple of weeks.
Except I had to stay until they were sure there would be no side effects from the last procedure. Except they needed one last set of labs. Except I couldn't leave without a life vest. A life vest? Yes. The representative from the company would be there to fit me in just a little while.
Finally she arrived and with brief introductions out of the way she embarked on a lengthy explanation of the external defibrillator, how it works, how to care for it, even how to return it.
Finally she was done, I was fitted out with my new Life Vest, prescriptions in hand, and at last I was home. And home had never looked so good.
A day later the irony hit me. I had left home with no bra and returned with an electric brassiere that I would wear for the next two weeks, 24/7. The freedom of going braless had been traded for a medieval garment electrified for the life saving task of shocking my heart back into rhythm should it decide to revert to its syncopated jazzy beat.
I am anxious to see what the next step will be. Hopefully soon.
My distress was obvious. Within only a few minutes I had two doctors in attendance ordering oxygen, an IV to drip heart-slowing drugs into my arm, an X-ray of my chest, and a battery of blood tests. It was all happening so fast. About an hour later the drugs hadn't slowed my heart and there were no easy answers from blood tests or X-rays. The only relief was found in the oxygen. My breathing was a bit easier.
Have you ever been loaded into an ambulance? It seems my husband had signed all the waivers and I was on my way.
Upon arrival at the hospital I was taken to Rm 20 in ICU. That glassed in room was to be my home for the next seven days which passed in a blur of more drugs, tests and procedures and a monitor that waited patiently for me to fall asleep before screaming an alarm - usually false. The days were punctuated only by daily visits from the vampire which I remember all to well and visits from my husband and a few friends which I only half remember.
Day 8: I was in a regular ward. One last procedure and I could go home. My heart was in regular rhythm, there were no blockages. I had learned that I had a leaky valve and my heart was not pumping enough to clear out the fluids from my body. We would access all that in a couple of weeks.
Except I had to stay until they were sure there would be no side effects from the last procedure. Except they needed one last set of labs. Except I couldn't leave without a life vest. A life vest? Yes. The representative from the company would be there to fit me in just a little while.
Finally she arrived and with brief introductions out of the way she embarked on a lengthy explanation of the external defibrillator, how it works, how to care for it, even how to return it.
Finally she was done, I was fitted out with my new Life Vest, prescriptions in hand, and at last I was home. And home had never looked so good.
A day later the irony hit me. I had left home with no bra and returned with an electric brassiere that I would wear for the next two weeks, 24/7. The freedom of going braless had been traded for a medieval garment electrified for the life saving task of shocking my heart back into rhythm should it decide to revert to its syncopated jazzy beat.
I am anxious to see what the next step will be. Hopefully soon.
