[My] Life in Wisconsin

Outside the Box...

Outside the Box...
 
Another day in the life...

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I woke up on the wrong side of the couch today.
Almost instinctively, the dog knew this, and gave me much less of her usual morning grief.

~The doctor at St. Marys Hospital  was not as intuitive as the dog...
Damn shame, eh?

But I will begin with Casey.
Know that today has been the worst day of her bout thus far...

Yesterday I had left the hospital about noon.

In the afternoon, one of her 'brilliant' nurses asked her if she had had a bowel movement.
Casey said 'no', and tried to explain that with dilauded being a class 2 narcotic this is not unusual for her.
The nurse 'harumphed' (or whatever the hell you wish to call it), left the room; returning within the hour with a suppository.

Casey told her simply that she didn't want it.

Nurse, (apparently the one in charge of a$$e$), told her it was not an optional thing.

WTH?
NOTE: Casey is sick, and does not have the fight within to argue at this point.

She gets the suppository.

Please keep in mind that this same little girl has been barfing since last tuesday, (and had diarrhea for the remainder of the week before she was admitted to the hospital).

Also know that just because she has been allowed to eat does NOT mean she can even finish one stupid pancake without throwing the damned thing up.

So now, tiny, sick, patient not only has a severe pancreatitis attack, and the dry heaves; she is fighting off these terrible spasms in her bum.

And more, and more, and more, of the unforgiving, unrelenting pain.

When I walked in to her room this morning I happened to catch the doctor there,(gee, he was early today)...

Choosing an opportune moment, (or not), I asked,
"Whose brainchild was it to give CaseyAnne a suppository yesterday afternoon?"
(To say he never saw this coming would be a definite understatement).

Or perhaps the nurse had a problem reading and/or comprehending...

I told him I have a 7 year old granddaughter who could even figure THAT out.

Diarrhea.
Vomiting.
NPO x 2 days.
(Doesn't leave a whole heck of a lot left to be evacuated, now does it)?
But yeah, it did piss me off.

After stating my concerns, in no uncertains terms, he said 'that was not the way it had been presented to him.'

Yes, he seemed more than a bit upset too.
(And yes, I did note his own b/p on the rise as I explained it all on an 8~year~old~level).

Although very professional, I did note just the tiniest neck constriction, the 'setting' of his jaw, and a few other subtle nuances.
Our bodies DO betray our words if only we know what to look for.

A few minutes after he had left the room, a different nurse had come in while I was talking to Casey.

I chose to ask that nurse point blank who was "on" yesterday afternoon; who had given Casey the suppository?
(Of course she had no idea).
But at least she offered to get the Charge Nurse to the room.

We then explained it all to Charge Nurse.
(How very unfortunate that she had to apologize for the idiocy of that other nurse).
Hmmm... Where's the damned accountability?

But I am thinking that perhaps the next time one questions whether or not a patient may be a bit, ahem, 'retentive', that the first order of business would be to actually look at the patients chart, to read it, to try to comprehend it; and if you still do not understand then to ask the patient?

And I DO understand that Casey is in the Oncology Dept of the hospital.
Yet again, other than her pancreas, she is a healthy 21 year old.
They need to remember that not all patients fall into the same neat little box.

Still, about that couch...
MINE...
... (The one with the wrong side, that is)...

I received no call back from Froedtert yesterday.
WTH? x 2...
Knowing that Casey has been calling there for a few months, and that my own call yesterday had gone unreturned, I called once more this morning.
And of course I got the good doctors voice mail.

I might have stated that today was Caseys worst day of the bout thus far, and that perhaps he might have a minute to even speak with her doctor at the hospital.
(Lord knows I have given him more than enough numbers to call)...
I may have ended with "you might at least have the common decency to tell us why we cannot even get a return call from you."

Casey called about an hour ago.

Froedtert would like to have a new abdominal CT run. (They are looking for any areas of possible calcification?).
Those results will be sent to Froedtert.
They would also like to do a repeat ERCP.
And to possibly have to redo her Sphincter of Oddi cuts.
They would do this abdominally instead of through her stomach, as it gives them a much better view of anything else that might be causing this all for her.



Pray please.

And no, that doctor from Froedtert did NOT call me.
Now, why do I find that so very very funny???

Other than all this, not too much other news.

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Punk with Mama Milly.
I really think they were dancing!

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Punks eye is healing, but kind of gross too.
Another little piece of wood worked its way out yesterday morning.
But that just tells me that it is working as it should too.

She does have sight in that left eye-
But who knows how many of me she sees too?
(Poor little dog)!

Dr. Spires (her vet), even called on Monday to find out how she was doing.
I told him I would bring her in for her recheck as time permitted with respect to Casey- He understood completely, and will see her any time then, in another week or so.

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Poor little "Stick Puppy"...

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My yard is a virtual mudbath; (and if it was a bit warmer out there I could really enjoy that)!
Yes, (knock on wood), it is finally warming up. And so my snowdrifts are slowly but steadily going down.
My dehumidifier seems to be working very well, and the basement no longer smells like an old musty cave.
(The fact that it still looks like an old cave is beside the point).

The front porch still needs clearing off.
(Not a priority anymore).

I'd better close for now. Maybe even get a little shuteye myself.
I nap, but it doesn't even seem like I sleep... wonder what's up with that?

Anyway, to use an old phrase from Red Skelton, "Good Night, and God Bless"

Love to all.
And many MANY heartfelt thanks to you who have visited, read, and offered your own thoughts, prayers, love, and support for us all.

XOXO
Anne

Posted to Y! 360 Tuesday March 11, 2008 - 07:14pm (CDT) 56