Not what I wanted to do today

[mdlbear]

Just asI did last Friday, I stayed home this morning so Colleen could go to a doctor's appointment at 11:30. There wasn't any question about it; the last couple of days she's been in too much pain to drive, between back, legs, and now what appears to be a badly infected finger.

It seems that the antibiotics she's been taking for the last two weeks don't seem to have gotten rid of the infection in her leg (though it's certainly looking better than it was before), and it may have spread.

Net result is that she's in the hospital for a day or three, mainlining antibiotics. She was in pretty good spirits when I left at 5:00, and reasonably comfortable. By that time they'd x-rayed her hand, taken an EKG, and started a drip of something in the penicillin family.

Getting there was a bit of a hassle: the doctor called the Kaiser hospital in Santa Clara to schedule her in, then sent us down to the lab for blood work, and from there to home to get packed and wait for a call. We very sensibly stopped at Colleen's favorite deli for sandwitches along the way. About 1:30 Santa Clara called to say that they weren't likely to have a bed available until after midnight. They in turn called down to Santa Theresa, determined that they had a bed, and told us to go in via Emergency.

Of course, by the time we got there (around 2:15), nobody had heard anything at all about Colleen. It wasn't until 4:30 or so that she finally got a bed in Emergency. The gods alone know when she'll get a regular bed. I made sure that she'd be able to get something to eat, and she sent me home to take the Y.D. out to dinner. Plus a list of books to bring tomorrow.

A 2 hour wait for a non-emergency patient to get a bed in emergency isn't too bad, considering, but I'm grumpy about the miscommunication.

At least we're getting this taken care of before going up to Seattle next weekend. If we'd let it go into next week Colleen would almost certainly have had to cancel. This way, it's almost certain she'll be out a couple of days before her flight on Friday. And if we'd waited until we got back, well, let's just not go there.

The house feels very damned lonely with just me and the Y.D. (upstairs on her computer).

(9:38) She's been fed and is in a room now; I'll see her in the morning. Room 352 333 West, Kaiser San Jose (formerly called Santa Theresa). The main number appears to be 408 972 3000. Visiting hours are 11am to 8pm.

Comments

[lapislaz.livejournal.com]

When you go to see her, please tell her that Barney and I are thinking good thoughts for her. Hopefully we will see you both in September, assuming you're coming down to ConChord?

[mdlbear]

Will do.

I'm Toastmaster at this year's ConChord -- I'd better be there. Or else I'm toast. Or something. Yeah, we'll both be there. Minus the kids; Emmy will be in school, and Kat will be up in Canada.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Sympathies to you and Colleen.

[mdlbear]

Thanks!

She seems to be doing OK at the moment; we appear to have caught it before things got out of hand.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's very good to hear.

[hms42]

Speedy recovery to Colleen.

[mdlbear]

Thanks!

[hsifyppah.livejournal.com]

Yikes, good catch! Here's hoping for a short & pleasant stay followed by a grand improvement in health & happiness.

[mdlbear]

Thanks! We've had closer calls; this one could have been a lot worse.

Hopefully they'll be able to help with the joint and muscle pain and the swelling as well as the infection itself, but any improvement will be welcome.

[lisa-marli.livejournal.com]

*gentle hugs* to Colleen. I know that's all she'll want at this point.
Tell her, I'm sending her healing energy, to relax and let it in.
May it help her recover quickly so you both can go on that trip!
Rest is best for her, so I won't bug her unless she wants me to.

[mdlbear]

Thanks -- I'll let her know, and we'll see what kind of shape she's in this morning.

(edit -- just heard from her. She's bored, annoyed, and somewhat in pain because they won't give her aspirin.)

[tetralizard.livejournal.com]

wow - Anything I can do to help out family wise? I can always drag YD around with me to all my stuff I have to do to keep her busy if needed. And or, help out with that special project of cleaning the room. (I'm very good with that one) I really don't game so sidetracking to that would be hard for me to do. Let me know.. YD has my number

[mdlbear]

Many thanks!

Emmy will certainly need help with her room. I'll be up in Portland from Tuesday morning until Sunday night; Colleen may need some help, and certainly company.

[deborah_c]

The house feels very damned lonely

I know what you mean. Since separating from my ex, weekends when I don't have the children have felt like an aching void.

Last week was one of those; we had some things to do as a family on Saturday morning and afternoon, and then I came home and felt that I just wanted to sit and cry for most of the rest of the weekend.

[mdlbear]

Interesting to think about...

I can handle a few days to a week without Colleen pretty well -- I'm usually busy enough to not miss her too much. Not sure how well I'd do long term. It's the sort of very mild depression that I sometimes get on cloudy days.

I know it hits Colleen much harder; she's very gregarious. I've always been something of a loner. But it feels strange.

[joecoustic.livejournal.com]

Healing thoughts to her and *hugs* to all of you!!

[mdlbear]

Thanks!

[harmonyheifer.livejournal.com]

The sepsis was exacerbating her arthritis. Once they get the infections treated she should experience a lot less pain and stiffness. Viral or bacterial infections always trigger that kind of exaggerated immune response in people with certain types of arthritis, which makes sense because arthritis itself is nothing more than an exaggerated immune response to begin with.

I am very relieved that the doctors caught the sepsis when they did, and I am very glad to hear that IV antibiotics are part of her treatment plan. Knowing Colleen, she is probably handling all this with her usual mixture of slightly annoyed but also amused acceptance mixed with great concern for the welfare of everyone else.

And having spent many years as a single parent, I know how silent a house can be a night, and that solitary feeling that for good or ill, the parenting buck stops with you for that moment in time. It has got to be one of the loneliest sensations in the universe.

Give Colleen my love, and let her know I will be lighting a candle for her, along with a petition to the Goddess for a smooth recovery. I am sending both of you virtual hugs too, just for good measure. This kind of thing is hard, so do whatever you can to make it easier on each other, and on yourselves. One huge blessing is Colleen's ability to lose herself in a good book. That one habit makes being a patient a lot more tolerable.

[mdlbear]

Many thanks!!

I hope you're right about the arthritis; it sounds right, anyway, and the timing matches.

[kayshapero]

Tell Colleen I'm praying for her. And be warned hospitals are lousy at communicating with patients and relatives, too. I recall as a child sitting on the porch with my Dad when Mom was scheduled for a lumpectomy at a certain time, length of operation dependent on what they found, and we didn't hear for several hours. Turned out most of that time was due to their rescheduling the operation and not telling US. Mom was fine, Dad was a nervous wreck. Subsequent personal experience suggests this happens a lot... and it doesn't matter what the nurse said she'd tell your mate out in the waiting room, she won't.

[mdlbear]

One has to be pretty aggressive about getting information. We've had practice.