The C Word – A New Battle Day 17 - Remarkably Unremarkable Day

It is Saturday - - not that it means a whole lot when all you do is sit around all day.  For most people it would be their “day off” from work.  I used to think that one would get more visitors on Saturdays or Sundays - - but that has not proven the case at all for us. Often it seems quieter than during the week.  A weekend visitor has been rare for us.  And sometimes that makes the day just drag by so slowly.  You see, George relies on me for everything from personal care to “entertainment”.  His latest thing is to have me read to him as he says it is hard for him to read.  Today I read a bunch of stories from the Readers Digest he had me purchase for him earlier this week.  However, this is a catch 22 situation.  For he finds my voice soothing - - and then he falls asleep.  Sometimes if I stop reading he wakes up and I continue on.  For me, while I find the fact that I am soothing to him – I am boring to myself.  I’m more of a “silent reader” and a speed reader.  When I read books I don’t read every printed word on the page.  I skim through words, getting the gist of a story without feeling the need for every detail.  Guess that’s the difference between George and me.  He is detail oriented – I am definitely not a detail oriented person (at least most of the time). 

I had animal problems this morning.  I woke at 5AM (after about 6 hours of sleep which normally is enough for me), but was still so very tired.  I couldn’t get my Axx out of bed!  LOL!  I stayed in bed until 6:30 but never really went back to sleep.  I’ll likely be sleep deprived for a long time to come… catching naps as I can. 

Both Dr. B and Dr. M were here earlier in the day.  Both are targeting Monday morning discharges.  They have to give the discharge staff all kinds of information in order for everything to fall into place for discharge.  The PIKK line will remain in as that is how George needs to receive IV antibiotics for about another 8-10 days.  Feeding tube pump or contraption needs to be ordered up as do the bottles of nutrients for that.  Dr. M will put in the order for Vancomycin but says the type of antibiotic (pill, capsule or liquid) will depend on the insurance company plan.  Not sure if I have to do some running around ahead of discharge or not. 

Tomorrow morning will be the last blood draw and last CT scan for this hospital visit.  Dr. B wants it in order to determine if the drain can be removed before going home.  Wants to double check that no other abscesses have popped up. 

George is looking forward to coming home.  He says that last night was horrible.  Had a hard time sleeping because of all the noise outside in the hallways.  And people turning on lights and forgetting to turn them off.  And furniture being dragged around.  And he could hear all the alarms going off all night long as peoples IV’s kept beeping for whatever reason they do so (occlusion, air in line, out of meds, etc.)  He says it was a long, long night.  He’s been napping on and off all day to make up for it.  He started using his CPAP unit again (he hasn’t used it for nearly 2 weeks) so he is in bed with all kinds of air coming out of his mouth - - but he’s asleep.  And rest is good for him.