my stay

I checked in to Dublin Methodist hospital around 5:15 am on Tuesday, February 16th, 2021, and left around 2:30 pm on Saturday, February 20th, 2021.

While I was at the hospital, I ate very little. As I mentioned before, my throat was very sore because of the breathing tube that I had during surgery. I was very tired and very weak. For quite a while, all I could do was drink water. A LOT of it. However, this became a problem because, on Thursday afternoon, my catheter was removed. Every time that I needed to use the restroom, I had to page the nurse. I was hooked to several machines and needed to be helped. Not only did the nurses need to unhook the machines, but I also needed to use a walker to get to the bathroom and back. Getting out of and back into bed was almost unbearable. 

A problem that came up continually, was that the remote with the call button on it was not attached to the bed. The remote was attached to a long cord. Multiple times, the remote would fall between the bed and the mattress and because I was unable to extend my arms, I could not retrieve it. It may seem like a small issue, but when you are bed-ridden, in pain, and have to use the bathroom, it's a huge deal. At one point, I was yelling "I need help!" and crying because I was in so much pain. It took a VERY long time for anyone to hear me. I was crying out for over 10 minutes. This is not a complaint about the nurses. They are overworked and underappreciated. So, if you're a hospital bed designer, attach that fucking thing in some way!

Whenever I had to get out of my bed, my stomach incision literally felt like it would split open and I would break in half. Every cough was also extremely painful. The nurses told me to press a pillow against my stomach when I needed to cough so that it would hurt less. It didn't help much. I was told that I needed to walk more and sit in a regular chair to stretch my muscles from being in bed for days. I sat in a chair for a few minutes on Thursday and started to cry because it hurt so much. All I wanted to do was lay in my bed and sleep.

After not eating for so long, I was able to eat some sherbet. It was the most delicious thing in the world. 

I ran into several other problems while in the hospital. The day after my surgery, Wednesday the 17th, I was told that I would need another surgery on the 24th. The doctors ran into some issues with blood flow and needed to do a delayed inset. The doctor first told me this shortly after waking up from my surgery, so my memory of the conversation is spotty at best. However, every time the nurses came to check vitals, they also checked my breasts for a pulse. If you've ever heard the sound of a fetus' heartbeat, that's what it sounded like. They used a pencil doppler attached to a small speaker to listen to confirm blood flow.

Another time, the Doctor told me that I was very near needing a blood transfusion. The nurses began drawing blood a few times every hour to keep an eye on my levels. Then, my oxygen levels were very low and the nurses were afraid that I would develop pneumonia. I was given a nasal cannula and spirometer to help with those issues. I didn't end up needing the transfusion, but I was very close to the lowest levels they would allow.