Cathy's Blog -- Monday, December 10, 2012

Hello to All!

We arrived about 8:00 AM Georgia time, I let Kerry out at the door, went and parked the car. By the time I arrived, he was heading to radiology check-in. The hospital admissions clerk had called radiology and told Kerry to go straight to radiology. The radiology clerk hadn't-a-clue why Kerry was sent to radiology first, but completed her part of the process and sent him back to hospital admissions--then back to radiology again. It was not long before he was called back to radiology pre-op.

While we were waiting for the procedure, the commode across the waiting room from us overflowed and
there was water all over the floor. The nurses put blankets on the floor to wipe up the mess. Maintenance arrived and used an industrial wet-vac and rotor-rooter to solve the problem. I have never seen a wet-vac that large before. I have never smelled a rose with that particular scent before either. :) When Kerry went to surgery, I headed to the cafeteria for breakfast.

Because of previous surgeries, scar tissue had formed. When the cath was inserted, the cath started to tunnel up instead of down. After unsuccessfully trying to turn the cath downward, it was pulled and another incision made. The second attempt was successful. Local anesthesia was used and he was not put to sleep and he watched it all on the monitor.

After the procedure, we were sent back to admissions (again) to wait for a room. We sat there from 11:00 AM (Nashville time) until 4:40 PM. Kerry sent me to ask the admissions lady if she knew if he was scheduled for a PLEX treatment.  She placed a call to Dialysis and was told he wasn't on the schedule for today.  Kerry sent me along with our tentative schedule to Dialysis.  Of course, he wasn't scheduled. The nurse related that his doctor had been known to forget to schedule a Dialysis workup. By the time I returned from Dialysis, we had been assigned a room, 6th floor Neurology, which is where he needs to be.

I went to the car, got our stuff and struggled back to admissions. I didn't bring a big enough transport suitcase. I turned over the suit case on the way in and dropped a shoulder bag. Some kind soul helped me get the suitcase up the ramp.

We arrived in our room just before 5:00 PM. Somehow, Kerry got lost in the shuffle. After waiting in the room until about 6:15 PM, a nurse walked by the room (he knew to be empty) spotted Kerry's shoes and said, "when did you get here?" He said, "We have been trying to find you!" They knew they (the floor) didn't have him, Dialysis didn't have him, and admissions didn't have him.  ??? Besides being lost in the shuffle, they had four other patients arriving at the same time.

A doctor came in and announced that Kerry would be scheduled for PLEX on the first shift. Not long after, another doctor came in. I asked what exactly had happened with schedul

..3336ing the PLEX. He confirmed someone had dropped the ball and we were the ones to suffer.  In case you can't tell, I am banging real hard on the keyboard.

When the nurse asked Kerry if he had ever smoked, he told him no, but I said, "I had thought about taking it up!" :) A whole day wasted and now we will be here until Saturday afternoon. On top of all of this, my organization skills are falling by the wayside, I can't seem to get things "fixed."On the bright side, I have a pull-out chair to sleep in and not the recliner. I use that term loosely.

Cathy