re-sending--Steve's Baaaaack!

[Guest guest]

Hey Steve!

I'm so glad to see that you pulled through and are back at home.

Make friends with " The Throne " as it will be a constant companion for

awhile. I was sorry to hear that you had a cold when you first

started using your Bi-Pap machine because when you aren't stuffed-up,

they help you sleep like a baby. I am envious that you were able to

use one in the hospital. I have severe sleep apnea and took my CPAP

with me, but the NG tube that Dr. E. put in prevented me from being

able to use it. The moment Dr. E. took out my NG tube and left the

room, I slipped on my CPAP and feel asleep within moments. It was

the first time in 3 days since my surgery that I actually slept. You

will get used to yours and love the refreshed feeling when you wake.

Hopefully, when you loose your excess weight, you'll no longer have

sleep apnea and need the machine.

Inova Fairfax Hospital in many ways leaves a lot to be desired. Glad

to see you made it through in spite of poor nursing care. Also, I

can't imagine the pain that you went through with those potasium

injections. *shuddering*

Welcome back, rest well, and enjoy the ride!

Dorian

Open BPD/DS 02/06/01

Dr. Elariny

United Healthcare Options PPO

Approved in less than 24 hours

-67 pounds at last count

Now enjoying guilt-free eating

of whatever my heart desires.

> Mail not getting through, so am re-sending. --Steve

>

> Many thanks to DW, Isabelle and DD, Virginia, for getting this info

> to you all. I had no idea until I read the note below that the

sleep

> apnea was affecting my blood oxygen levels in recovery. I was put

on

> a biPAP machine (bi-level Positive Air Pressure) with oxygen and

> humidity added. Because of this, and in spite of Dr. Elariny's

true

> wishes, I was sent to the Intermediary Care Center (IMC) instead of

> the surgical floor where Audra was. Two male and one female night

> nurses at the IMC were awesome and helped me no end. I was walking

by

> day 2, and recall having asked one latina nurse who emerged from

> swinging doors at the end of my track down the hall, " ?Quisera

> bailar? " (wanna dance?).

>

> But, the day staff that attended me was a different story:

organized

> mayhem, and a wonder that patients were not made much worse for it

as

> a result. I could not wait to get off that unit, and I finally got

a

> private room " on the 9th floor where the bathroom plumbing was

> gold, " I was told (it was--it was also a cancer ward). So, Friday

> afternoon through discharge late Saturday afternoon, I had relative

> calm in my life. But, the hospitalization was not a good

experience.

> I was to be discharged in late morning, and just as things were

> winding up, the nurse's aide took my vitals, and my temp was

100.7ºF.

> So, I could not leave! I worked my incentive spirometer to the max

> and walked the halls of the 9th floor back and forth so that I

could

> get out of jail, and finally was sprung at around 4:30PM.

>

> At home, an on-duty rep of a medical device supply house brought

over

> a biPAP for me and set it up. I could not use it last night,

> however, because I kept coughing from a throat tickle. Turns out

> that I have picked up a head cold somewhere, and now I have a hard

> time sorting out post-op symptoms from the head cold ones.

Mizzable,

> I am! But, alive.

>

> Now, for a few notes: I was totally unprepared for all the pain

that

> I endured. The first day post-op, I had extreme " incisional pain "

> that defied my pain meds. Even sipping a teaspoonfull of liquid

was

> thoroughly painful. By the second day, that had moderated somewhat,

> but my stomach had awakened, and seemed to be spewing acid into my

> esophagus. I went to my private stash of Prilosec and Isabelle got

> me some Tums, but they didn't help much for hours and hours. Also,

> everything that I managed to get down came back up, again and

again.

> One sip of cranberry juice, and five repeat performances, as it

were.

> My potassium was low, and Dr. E. ordered I.V. potassium, and when

> injected, it made my arm bones feel on fire--some of the most

intense

> pain that I have felt, ever. I yelled my objections and refused to

> take any more (four doses were ordered, and I was barely through

the

> first). The mayhem team called Dr. E. and he insisted that I take

> the potassium, and suggested that maybe giving me Lidocaine first

> would ease the pain, but the message was delivered to me with a

> negative twist (like, " you really don't want to do that, do you? " ).

> Finally, the solution that worked was to decrease the

administration

> rate, so that the pain was bearable.

>

> Saturday morning at 5:30 AM, the northwest passage through my gut

was

> re-discovered: the stomach, and small intestines, and the colon

were

> all awake, and as I sat down on the throne with its golden

fixtures,

> I heard the gurgling in my gut that heralded the completed circuit!

> Poop at last, poop at last... And, since then there has been

nothing

> but liquid poop--in all the earth tone shades. But, then again, I

> am ingesting nothing but liquids, so what else should I expect?

>

> I am indeed thankful that despite several significant discomforts,

I

> experienced no major complications. So, no complaints. But, I was

> not one of you who glibly went from the hospital relating that they

> hardly knew that anything had been done to them inside. Believe

me,

> I KNEW IT! And, I am uncomfortable and cantankerous right now, but

I

> expect to get back to my old curmudgeonly self in about a week.

[Guest guest]

At 2:23 PM +0000 5/7/01, dorian_dean@... wrote:

>Hey Steve!

>

>...

>

>Inova Fairfax Hospital in many ways leaves a lot to be desired. Glad

>to see you made it through in spite of poor nursing care. Also, I

>can't imagine the pain that you went through with those potasium

>injections. *shuddering*

>

>Welcome back, rest well, and enjoy the ride!

>

Thanks, Dorian. Glad that you are doing well.

I am waiting to get a re-prescribing of a different bi-PAP machine

with humidifier added. The nursing care was not all poor. Most was

awesome. But, the daytime care in the Intermediary Care unit was

enough to kill an uninformed and pliant patient.

--Steve

--

[Guest guest]

At 2:23 PM +0000 5/7/01, dorian_dean@... wrote:

>Hey Steve!

>

>...

>

>Inova Fairfax Hospital in many ways leaves a lot to be desired. Glad

>to see you made it through in spite of poor nursing care. Also, I

>can't imagine the pain that you went through with those potasium

>injections. *shuddering*

>

>Welcome back, rest well, and enjoy the ride!

>

Thanks, Dorian. Glad that you are doing well.

I am waiting to get a re-prescribing of a different bi-PAP machine

with humidifier added. The nursing care was not all poor. Most was

awesome. But, the daytime care in the Intermediary Care unit was

enough to kill an uninformed and pliant patient.

--Steve

--

[Guest guest]

At 2:23 PM +0000 5/7/01, dorian_dean@... wrote:

>Hey Steve!

>

>...

>

>Inova Fairfax Hospital in many ways leaves a lot to be desired. Glad

>to see you made it through in spite of poor nursing care. Also, I

>can't imagine the pain that you went through with those potasium

>injections. *shuddering*

>

>Welcome back, rest well, and enjoy the ride!

>

Thanks, Dorian. Glad that you are doing well.

I am waiting to get a re-prescribing of a different bi-PAP machine

with humidifier added. The nursing care was not all poor. Most was

awesome. But, the daytime care in the Intermediary Care unit was

enough to kill an uninformed and pliant patient.

--Steve

--