February 2, 2024
After surgery-afternoon/evening
Where did we leave off? Oh yes…me having to pee. So, the recovery nurse called to let me know the room number and what I heard was “5 South 81”. I said can you repeat that please? And sure enough, she said 5 South 81. Clearly confused, I asked “and that is the room number?”. She said yes. So, I said OK and went to the car for his well-organized hospital bag before heading over to Area 51 to find his 5 South 81 hanger location. I have always loved hospital gift shops for some reason, so I ducked into one of the two they have here. Some of them have really cute things. I found a cute little bear and headed to find a sign that could direct me. It was at this time that I thought “now was it 3 South or 5 South” and where is South because no hospital directory I was looking at references that sort of Ponce De Leon navigation. The signs just said “levels” There are also tons of buildings, and some are connected, and they are labeled with numbers. So, I stopped at information and asked if she knew. She called someone who said he was still showing in surgery, so she suggested I call the number back that called me. I did and the nurse that answered and laughed at my fumble and told me yes it was 5 South 81. She said that means the 5th level, so I asked how to get there, and she said to ask the info person nearest to where I was. I go back to “Gladys” and tell her what they said. She told me it meant 5th Floor Room 581 but really it is 81. By this time, I am thoroughly confused but at least I was near the bank of elevators that I needed to use. There are so many elevators here. I did find out that “south” is actually Building 2. I get off the elevator and the signs were not clear on which way to go. I walked to the first nurses’ station and asked for directional assistance and a nurse indicated behind her and says “back on that other hall”. I go back to the “other hall” and was told it was down a side corridor. This was getting weird. This nurse actually took me there and it opened up into a whole other maze of hallways. It had been about an hour since the recovery nurse said they were moving him. Found the room finally and opened the door and surprise! He wasn’t in the room yet. So, I waited and waited and like the first day of class, wondered was I in the right place. I noticed Dr. N’s name on the board so that was a pretty good possibility. Realizing in my haste, I neglected to take some time to be grateful the day’s events, I used the time as I waited to just enumerate some gratitude. They finally rolled him in, and he was alert and talking and looked really good. They transferred him to the new bed and the nurses and techs set to work being nursey. We finally all got settled, and after a few hours, it was shift change, so the apple cart got tossed around like it does every day at 7 and 7 all across the medical nation, I guess. I love to hear them giving report and then jabbering on about this patient or that and who will give you trouble and who is pretty quiet. David was in some pain but nothing that wasn’t managed by pressing the pump which he could do every 8 minutes. It is connected to a respiratory monitor in his nose so when his breathing is slower, he doesn’t get as much so as not to drop his heart rate any further. Hospital stuff is just interesting. Much like airports, I am fascinated by the inner operations of huge places like that. David caught a few zzzs and I was able to run out to the car to grab my night bag and then down to the Panera here in the hospital to grab a sandwich. We got situated after that and discovered the lights would not totally turn off and after consulting with the nurse who also flipped all of the switches in every combination, was told “something must be wrong with them”. Nonetheless, we settled in to sleep with the sun on.
