Heart Condition Part XXI
7/17/12
With my dinner complete and Bonnie and the girls safely home for the evening, I became board very quickly. Continually lying in a hospital bed, in my own place of employment, was one of the worst situations that I could imagine. Yes, everyone was nice and friendly and I received top of the line care. My coworkers were light hearted and casual around me which is what I wanted them to be. There was no need in getting all uptight and edgy around me since that was not who they were and it was not my personality either. I knew that all of them were doing their jobs as instructed and that they expected me to comply with the rules, which I did for the most part.
This time of the evening was very difficult for me since it was my normal time to be working, running up and down these same halls poking people with needles and completing the tests that the doctor wanted on a timed basis. Instead I was stuck in a bed and waiting for my co-workers to come and perform these tests on me which in truth I am not a very good patient and sometimes do not comply with the same instructions I tend to give out.
It was time for my next round of vital signs which meant a visit from the nurse aide. As I lay in the bed I thought about my pain in my shoulder which was slightly less annoying than previously thought about. It still was a weird feeling and one that I really did not think about too much unless I thought about it but I did notice that it was better. The blood pressure cuff began its work and as soon as it did I found a thermometer inching towards me. I looked at it to ensure its color and then opened my mouth and allowed the aide to take my temperature. The cuff continued its climb but I noticed that it did not seem as tight as one previous measurements. I anxiously waited for the circulation to return to my fingers as the cuff relaxed its tight hold on my arm which also seemed like sooner than before. I had a thought come to my mind as the cuff released its grip I wonder if my pressure is lower? Just then the aide said that my pressure was lower than before which made me happy, but she then informed me that my heart rate was still really high.
Good news and bad news I guess I had to take it both ways, but it looked more and more likely that all I had going on was a case of high blood pressure since all of my tests had been unremarkable. It was approaching eight o’clock and I heard my doctor’s voice out in the hall so I knew it would not be too much longer before I received a visit from him. My doctor usually made his rounds about this time of the evening which not everyone liked since it was later in the evening and with many of his patient’s being elderly it kind of posed a problem with some of them and their families. But to me it did not matter all of my family had previous experiences with hospital settings and understood almost every sort of detail imaginable.
The doctor finally strolled in and greeted me in his usual manner. He did not seem to have a worried or concerned look on his face when he entered the room. He had my bedside chart with him and was looking at it carefully as he walked into the room. No scowl on his face and in a good mood, it seemed like his demeanor was confirming my diagnosis. We began to talk about how I was feeling and I told him I was ok except that now I had this pain in my shoulder, but I did not give him my theory about it yet. He then asked me again about how all of this began and I explained to him the story once again. My nurse came in with my entire chart and gave it to him; it had the latest EKG results and the current vital signs as well. He glanced over them quickly and then looked at me and asked me to lie back on the bed.
He poked and prodded for a few minutes to make sure that I had adequate blood flow to my hands and feet. He pressed on my foot to feel for pulses and said that they were fine. My abdomen was next as he began to thump his way around my liver, gallbladder and ribs. He then moved around to the other side of the bed and began the same process with my pancreas and spleen asking all the time if I hurt anywhere as he “thumped” my skin. I had no pain in my body with the exception of my left shoulder which it was relaxing as time went along.
He then asked me to relax a bit as he placed his stethoscope in his ears. He began to listen to my bowels and asked if I had any problems with them, and I promptly said no. He said they sounded fine and then moved up to my chest. He placed the stethoscope in the center of my heart and left it there for about a minute. He then moved it around to both sides of my lungs asking to breathe normally. He then asked me to sit up and I had no problems completing this action. I sat up and he immediately placed the stethoscope back on my chest and left it there again for a while. He then moved it around but asked me to take deep breaths this time. When he finished he said I could lie back down and then said that everything sounded ok.
He sat down next to the bed in the big chair that was in the room. E started telling me the official results of the CT scan which I already had been told but I listened contently as he was explaining the results to me. Nothing had shown in the scan and everything looked ok which took a worry off of his mind. All of my lab work was normal he stated and my EKG results were unremarkable also. He then said at this point that he did not know what was going on inside me but he was not willing to let me go home until some type of answer presented itself. I reluctantly agreed even though it was my desire to get out of that place but I knew that if I was released and any part of my family found out that I had something to do with it my head would be on a platter as John the Baptist’s was.
I asked him what the plan was for the remainder of the night. He said that it looked like my blood pressure was beginning to come down so some of the vital sign regulations would ease a bit. He also said that I would have at least two more EKGs during the evening and night to see if anything appeared and that I would have a blood draw at about three o’clock in the morning. I quickly did the math in my head and then said so my admitting diagnosis is stable angina in which he replied with a “yes”. I could accept that diagnosis which meant that they were concerned about my pains but really did not think it was heart related, yet. He asked me if I needed anything else and I said no and then thanked him for coming in to see me. He said that he would see me in the morning or if anything transpired before that he would pop his head in the door.
The nurse came into the room shortly after my doctor had left. She asked me if I needed anything and I in turn asked her if she had any orders to get rid of the oxygen situation and she stated no and that I had to leave that thing on. I gave a long hard sigh and said ok and began my pouting session. A few seconds later as she was washing her hands the phone rang. The double ring signaled that the call originated from an outside line which I knew it would be either mom or Bonnie. Bonnie’s voice was on the other end of the line after I said the typical greeting of “hello”. She asked me how I was doing and if the doctor had been in to see me yet. I stated that I was fine and that yes he had just left a few minutes before she called. After a few minutes of letting her know what the doctor said Bonnie said that the girls wanted to say goodnight to me, so the next few minutes was wonderful bliss as I got to hear the little girls say good night to me and that they loved me. Bonnie and I then said our own personal goodbyes and I hung up the phone.
The minutes seemed to drag on what felt like an eternity and I was dying to get up and do something. As far as I knew I was not on any bed restrictions so I decided to get up and take a short walk. It was approaching nine o’clock in the evening and I knew that some type of activity would be going on in the lab since the night tech would be getting there soon. So, I unhooked myself from the oxygen, actually I just left the cannula lying on the bed, unwrapped my blood pressure cuff and left it on the bed as well. I sat up on the side of the bed and located the pair of socks that Bonnie had brought up for me some time back. I put them on and stood up and headed for the door. I pulled my door open which drew the attention of everyone sitting at the nurse’s station. I looked at them and gave them a quick smile and looked both ways in the hall before stepping foot outside of my room.
I was quickly joined by one the aides who immediately grabbed my arm to make sure I was going to be ok while I was walking. I looked at her and asked why she was doing this and she replied to make sure I could stand properly. “Are you kidding me?” I asked her and she immediately let go of my arm. The nursing supervisor met me right by her desk which was close to the nurse’s station and promptly asked me where I was going. I clasped both of my hands behind my back and told her that I was board and I wanted to see what was happening in the lab. She gave me a disgruntled look but there was not much she could do since I had no restrictions on me. Yeah, she could have been ugly about things and made me carry an oxygen tank with me but I believed that she knew better to force the matter. I really was not trying to get people excited and I knew that they were just doing their jobs but I just wanted out of my room and that bed for a few minutes and a walk seemed like the best idea at the time.
Reluctantly the nursing supervisor allowed me to continue my journey down the hall after I had told her where I was going and how long I would be, I felt like I was on a leash. I thought to myself I don’t know why they are so worried I was hooked up to the heart monitor and if anything went wrong bells and whistles would sound and someone from the nursing staff would locate me in hurry. But in reality I did know why they were concerned because for all they knew I was ticking time bomb just waiting to explode with the cost of my life. How much I did not know that the damage had already been done and that if things did not change pretty soon that I would be a candidate for the morgue and with the condition that my heart was in that time was approaching rapidly.
My walk down to the lab was not a very quick one I was milking this opportunity for everything I could. The bed was hard and really not comfortable but for most hospital standards it was fine. I was totally annoyed that I was in the hospital and it seemed like nothing serious was going on inside my body, I had people scrambling all around me doing things for me when I could do them for myself and I was constantly watched even while I was on my little excursion down the hall I could feel the rays of eyes watching me. So, I took my time and looked at almost every painting that hung on the walls and even made a pass through the small waiting room across from the nurse’s break room. As I was coming out of the waiting area I looked both ways before coming back into the hallway and I noticed one of the aides looking in my direction. I waved and smiled and then turned to continue my walk of defiance of my room.
I turned to the left after looking both ways and continued my walk to the laboratory which took me by the back entrance of the hospital, dietary and the CT room which was the place where all of my fun began. I then made another left and entered into the short hallway that led to the lab. I then reached the lab and turned right and approached the lab door. I stood there for a moment looking through the window in the door debating if I really wanted to go in but that was quickly erased as my hand reached for the door handle. I pushed the door open and walked inside as the door closed behind me.
The look on the face of the night tech that had just arrived on shift was priceless. He was in shock to see me walk through the door and instead of saying hi or how are you feeling the first words out of his mouth were “do the nurses know you are down here?” This was a typical response from him and it would be so much better illustrated if you would know him; I laughed and said yes they knew where I was and I also said that he would not get into trouble for allowing me into the lab. Then we began to talk a bit about my health, conditions, etc before the tech who was working my shift came in and basically had the same shocked look on her face as the night tech did. A quick hug from her and then the ranting began and I knew my time was up from the “nice” department and I said it was time for me to go back to my room. She agreed and pointed her finger at the door and told me to go through it without hesitation.
I smiled and turned around and went back to the front door of the lab and opened it and then I took myself out of the lab and closed the door behind me. I then walked out of the laboratory lobby and turned left and headed back towards the CT room. I stopped at the “intersection” and then decided to make my way back to my room. So I turned right and began the walk back down the hallway. It did not take me too long to make it back down by the nurse’s break room in which I looked in to see if anyone was in there, which there was not so I continued my journey towards my room. As I was approaching the nurse’s station I was greeted with the nursing supervisor who was headed down to the emergency department to see about another admit. She just looked at me and rolled her eyes and passed me without saying anything.
I stopped at the nurse’s station to see what was transpiring but everyone was away doing something so I had no choice but to return to my room. I went into my room and then closed the door about half way and then walked over to the bed. I sat on the corner of the bed for a few minutes and took a sip of water from my plastic mug that was on my bedside table. I had no other option than to watch a little television, which this was Monday night so there was at least a football game on to watch.
I usually did not watch professional football but on this occasion I was out of options for entertainment and since I had not begun my writing career and did not have the opportunity to read a good book this was what was left. I pulled myself back into my bed and turned on the television. I positioned my bedside table close by and placed the call light on it. I did not bother to put back on my oxygen because I could breathe well enough without it. That would change in a few minutes when the aide came in to perform my vital signs. At the same time that she entered the room it triggered my mind to think about my pain which was still there but it was even less now than the last check. This would be the time that I could test my theory once again about the relationship of my pain to my blood pressure.
DLB
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