Hospitals and Some Reflections on My Week

My week has not been uneventful. My week has been full of surprises. For once, I feel like I really do have something interesting to blog about.

Monday evening I had a meeting out-of-town. When I arrived home I went through my normal bedtime routine and settled down to sleep in my trailer.

At approx. 12:15 a.m. I heard a knock on my door. It was the lady I stay with (who is living in the other trailer). When I opened the door I found her bent nearly double with pain. After a short conversation and a call to the 24 hour nurse hotline, I quickly threw on some clothes and drove her to the hospital's emergency room.

Emergency rooms are interesting places. At first, when you sign in, you are "evaluated" by a nurse. Then you wait for an emergency treatment room to become available (unless, I presume, you are experiencing an immediately life-threatening condition). Extreme abdominal pain and nausea (dry heaves) do not count as an immediately life-threatening condition.

We waited for an eternity (~30 minutes) to be taken to a treatment room. There my friend put on the obligatory hospital gown and had an IV installed in her arm. The nurse did give her some anti-nausea medication, but said that he had to wait to giver her pain medication until the doctor could see her.

Next we waited for another eternity (~45 minutes) until the doctor arrived. After his evaluation he ordered an ultrasound to try to see what was going on and also pain medication (which thankfully took effect very quickly after it was injected).

We waited ~30 minutes to be taken to get the ultrasound, and another hour for the results, which were negative. The doctor then ordered a CAT scan. By now it was 4:30 a.m. My friend began the CAT scan prep which includes drinking three "shakes" (yucky of course) over the course of 2 hours (enough time for it to "highlight" your entire system). Just over 2 hours later (after a few cat-naps between trying to drink the "shakes") she was taken in for her scan.

Sometime around 7:30 a.m. the doctor came in and announced, "The good news is, we know what your problem is." Then he proceeded to explain she had a bowel obstruction (a twist in her small intestine had blocked it). The treatment included no food or water along with a tube down the nose into the stomach to suction the digestive system contents back out and relieve the pressure which was causing the pain (and thus allowing the intestine to untwist itself). This was combined with hydration through the IV and antibiotics to prevent infections.

Happily, the treatment worked. Two and a half days later she walked out of the hospital feeling drained from her experience, but in apparent good health.

Naturally, this all happened at a very busy time for her house remodeling project. I spent my evenings painting and supervising the wonderful group of co-workers and friends who showed-up to help paint. I spent daytimes and nights in the hospital (hospital cots are luxurious when compared to trying to catch some sleep balanced across two emergency room plastic chairs). And last night I got to sleep in my own bed!