Tuesday, July 10, 2012

The Daily Grind

Many might think that a prolonged hospital stay is about as much fun as stepping on a rusty nail that may require a tetanus shot. Having been hospitalized for 9.5 days, I can assure you the truth is a whole lot rosier.

The days definitely start on the early side. A kindly, totally non-descript middle aged lady trundles her blood test trolley into my room daily at roughly 4:50 am. What a job! Don't even contemplate going back to sleep as the overnight night nurse comes in at about 5:15 to take the last set of vital signs.

The activity kind of peters out at this point so this gave me time to get out of my Google Reader deficit. You see, while I was recovering, my unread google reader items went as high as 5500. Glad to report my deficit is down to 743.

Gustatorially speaking, the high point arrives with the serving of breakfast. As Virginia will attest, there is nothing quite like hospital toast. Add some eggs and delicious cereal and you've got heaven on a plate.

Not a day passes without a chest x-ray. This sounds easy enough but it is tricky. One needs to be transported to the radiology department. I am wheeled into the designated parking area for transport. I then wait for an orderly to take me to radiology. This takes heaps of time as molasses travels light years faster than the dinosaur era elevators at the hospital. Once I get to radiology I am placed in a cue of patients waiting for their respective x-rays. This looks just like a taxi stand. Once the x-ray is done, rinse and repeat.

As one might imagine, the day is peppered by various health professionals popping in. In my case this runs the gamut from immunologists, surgeon, thoracic personnel, physiotherapists and personal masseuse.

I go for frequent walks, do breathing exercises, engage in lively discussions with any and all visitors and obsess about blog posting. The day gets around to 9 pm faster than 2 shakes of a dog's tail. I have wind things down as Blood Test Lady' s arrival is around the corner.

6 comments:

  1. Love your posts Jay...really a highlight in my day...keep 'em coming!

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  2. CHERYL SOKOLOFF NOVACKJuly 10, 2012 at 8:06 PM

    Great post. Nothing more to say.

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  3. For.the record, it's day 16, not that I'm keeping track.... and when was there a massage? I miss all the good stuff!

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  4. Yes, it is day 16, and yes, you are allowed to keep track.

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  5. Toujours très agréable à lire Jay tu devrais écrire un livre avec humour sur ton historique de transplant.

    Micheline

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