February 4, 2024
David and I did some more walking around the halls this morning and noticed these 10 ft markers on the the baseboards. We guessed they had something to do with measuring how far someone walked, but I wanted to know for sure so we asked. Yes, they use the markers to know how far a patient is able to travel to mark progress. I always manage to find faces or hearts in ordinary things, so I caught a few of those on our walks. I am told it is a psychosis of sorts called Pareidolia and is nothing to really worry about. The simple definition is a psychological phenomenon in which the human brain perceives familiar patterns or shapes in random or vague stimuli, such as clouds, shadows, or patterns on a wall. It is the tendency of the brain to find meaning in meaningless or ambiguous stimuli. (internet definition I Googled and don’t remember how to cite for reference). I enjoy it whatever it is.
Sarah-Lauren drove to the big city and brought David’s mom to visit. While they visited, I ran over to the hotel to shower and grab a late lunch. While getting out of the shower, I caught something on the tile on the floor. I swear it was David’s face compete with beard.
David had dinner after I got back and we sat and watched some Food Network stuff on TV and got very sleepy and decided to just call it a night. Knowing we wouldn’t get much sleep anyway. I covered the always on lights and we settled in. David was in some pain and not feeling great. That was actually the very detailed explanation he gave me when I asked how he was feeling, “not great”. Around midnight, the tech came in for vitals. David’s temp was 100.4. This brought the nurse in with Tylenol. Vitals were checked again around 2 am and his temp had risen to 100.6. They didn’t want his temp rising to 101 and the order for the Tylenol was every 6 hours. So in came the ice packs. David had to have ice packs under both arms and behind both knees. He was so not happy with this situation and made it quite clear. He rolls with most things without complaint but after days in the hospital with barely enough sleep to keep him functioning this was about the last bit of what he could manage. Nonetheless, he embraced the suck and lay there in his uncomfortableness with me trying to distract him with positivity and chatter which basically made him more irritated. I finally shut up and he tired to doze off. Around 5 am, after rearranging the ice packs several times, the ice had pretty much melted, so I took them off. Nurse noted this little fact when she came in around 6 but they were just water packs by then. His temp had held steady for a few hours around 99.6, so I wasn’t in much trouble.
