When you can't drive yourself anywhere, it is VERY hard to buy Christmas presents for your spouse. You can't sneak out and grab a quick thing for anyone. Heck, you can't even run out and grab a gallon of milk for your family....oh, wait, a quick milk run is what STARTED this whole thing (check out the first post if you don't remember).

Fortunately, my love was willing to drive me everywhere I needed to go recently even while she had to work, and get ready for 4 performances of A Christmas Carol.

Anyone who knows me, knows I am not a great passenger, and I am TERRIBLE at allowing others to do things for me, so this is a double whammy of a restriction. Sometimes you just need to swallow your pride and allow others to be in command. Otherwise you will sit around the house and go stir crazy.


Nov. 22 & 23 - What is it like in the CV-ICU?

So what is it like I the CV-ICU? Boooooooring! Once the cramps leave from staying in the same position for12 hours, the highlight of the day is being able to shift your position in bed without help.

IV's sticking in both arms, and an oxygen tube in your nose (this is called a cannula) make much else an impossibility. SO, what do you do? You watch one of the 10 TV channels, or you read, or you sleep....a lot.

What I MUST say here is THANK YOU! Thank you to all of the friends who stopped by and kept me sane. It was almost like my friends and family here in NC made a schedule and took slots. I always had someone to talk to or nap in front of. Yep, folks would be there just to watch me snore. And yet, even when I was asleep, I knew someone was there, keeping watch.

There is one other thing you get to do in the ICU...be monitored....Even though you are connected to a machine that constantly monitors blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration rate, and the % of oxygen carried by your blood, you see a nurse, over and over and over again.

By policy, someone comes in every hour, EVERY HOUR, and takes blood, or has a pill for you, or takes vitals. This is no joke. This time is critical to recovery & the staff needs to know how you are doing. To do this, they stop in constantly to run tests. No, a hospital is not a place to rest in that sense, sleep does not come for hours at a time.

You know what, while most find this an interruption and inconvenient, I will be honest, I was actually glad they did this. That constant care, and monitoring did so much to set my mind at ease that I was safe. Safe, this word had new meaning. I needed to see a nurse or doctor to get updates and comfort. I needed that for myself. Every time I got to give blood for testing, or stuck my arm our for a BP reading, or leaned up for 2 or 3 pills, I knew someone who could save my life was right there. I knew it was another opportunity to hear that I was improving, recovering.


Lesson learned:  That stereotype of hospital staff coming in JUST as you drop off to sleep is true.
It's like a waiter asking how dinner is JUST as you take a bite. You can be frustrated and worry about your rest, OR you can be so thankful that those folks are there 24x7 to make sure YOU are safe and sound. My two-cents? If you can see the value, and feel the love these professionals are showing you, you will recover so much faster. The hospital staff doesn't keep you up because they get paid to, or because they are told to. They do it because, for that day, they love you like family and will do whatever they have to in order to get you better.

Good night & god bless. Talk to you tomorrow.