Friday Bob and I were having dinner at a local café when he suddenly entered the Twilight Zone. He didn’t respond well to the conversation and just didn’t comprehend when I teased him. When I asked him if he was OK, he said he was fine. Toward the end of dinner he was using his fork to scoop up “nothing”; there was nothing there. When we left, I again asked him if he was OK and he said he was. As I drove toward home, he said he felt weird. I replied, No Shit, describe what you mean, but he couldn’t put it into words. When we got home, I told him I thought he’d had a TIA and we should go to the ER; and I was going to call Aunt Sis and see what she thought. Aunt Sis is a retired RN. She confirmed my thoughts, and told me to give him a whole aspirin, and take him to the ER. Bob took the aspirin and wasn’t happy about going to the ER; but since Aunt Sis confirm that he should, off we went.
Our local hospital, Inland Valley, has a great ER. They took good care of Bob and did the necessary test to confirm that yes he had had a TIA. Of course, none of this was speedy and we had been there 5 ½ hours by that time. They said they’d like to transfer him to the regular hospital for overnight observation and perform a Doppler test on his carotid arteries in the morning. I left him at 1AM, and went home to take care of the dogs and myself. Thank heavens we’d fed the dogs before we went to dinner. I fed them again at 1:30AM, so they wouldn’t be waking me up at 4AM, when I usually feed them. I slept in until 6:30, so I got about 4 hours. It took me most of the morning to get organized and make all the phone calls I needed to make: Aunt Sis, Carrie, Sharon, Ramona, Tom. I also fed the dogs again, they thought they’d gone to heaven.
I was getting ready to leave for the hospital when Bob’s friend MaryJean called, wanting to know why he hadn’t come to the Watercolor Class. I told her what had happened and that I was going to stop by and pay the instructor, because Bob had reserved the space and wouldn’t be there. MaryJean was horrified and said, No, that wasn’t necessary, and she would add Bob to her prayers.
When I got to the hospital, Bob had eaten his breakfast, and seemed back to normal. About 11:30, a technician wheeled in an ultrasound machine and performed the test on his neck. His lunch was on the way, so I went to the hospital’s cafeteria and had my lunch. After lunch we chatted and read, we both finished the books we’d brought with us to the ER the night before. We were scheduled to attend the Annual Christmas Ball that night, so I called the other couples at our table to let them know why we’d be AWOL. At 4PM, I took my leave to go home and feed the dogs and myself.
When I got back Bob was cranky and irascible, not his normal demeanor. He wasn’t happy with the dinner they’d brought him. He’d yelled at the nurse that he wasn’t going to eat or take any meds, until they gave him the results to his test. When I told him that I thought he was being foolish, he yelled that he was tired of being lied to. And he had no intention of eating or taking any more meds. Furthermore, I could just go home and he’d walk home when they released him. I told him he was being foolish. About that time the charge nurse came in and said the radiologist had faxed the report on his test, but his writing wasn’t legible, and they were in the process of phoning for clarification. Once they had that, the doctor on duty, could decide on his release. Bob said, See there it worked. I told him that timing is everything and his tantrum had had nothing to do with getting the test results. I told him he didn’t have to stay in the hospital, he was not a prisoner. We could leave at any time, or he could wait to see what happened with the test. He was further abusive, so I vacated to the area of the room where his roommate had left around 3:30, and had a good cry.
Shortly after that, a nurse came in and said they given the results of his test to the doctor, and he would be released. I think they were glad to be rid of him. We drove home in silence, and now, where having a pretty silent morning. Silence can be a blessing.
Our local hospital, Inland Valley, has a great ER. They took good care of Bob and did the necessary test to confirm that yes he had had a TIA. Of course, none of this was speedy and we had been there 5 ½ hours by that time. They said they’d like to transfer him to the regular hospital for overnight observation and perform a Doppler test on his carotid arteries in the morning. I left him at 1AM, and went home to take care of the dogs and myself. Thank heavens we’d fed the dogs before we went to dinner. I fed them again at 1:30AM, so they wouldn’t be waking me up at 4AM, when I usually feed them. I slept in until 6:30, so I got about 4 hours. It took me most of the morning to get organized and make all the phone calls I needed to make: Aunt Sis, Carrie, Sharon, Ramona, Tom. I also fed the dogs again, they thought they’d gone to heaven.
I was getting ready to leave for the hospital when Bob’s friend MaryJean called, wanting to know why he hadn’t come to the Watercolor Class. I told her what had happened and that I was going to stop by and pay the instructor, because Bob had reserved the space and wouldn’t be there. MaryJean was horrified and said, No, that wasn’t necessary, and she would add Bob to her prayers.
When I got to the hospital, Bob had eaten his breakfast, and seemed back to normal. About 11:30, a technician wheeled in an ultrasound machine and performed the test on his neck. His lunch was on the way, so I went to the hospital’s cafeteria and had my lunch. After lunch we chatted and read, we both finished the books we’d brought with us to the ER the night before. We were scheduled to attend the Annual Christmas Ball that night, so I called the other couples at our table to let them know why we’d be AWOL. At 4PM, I took my leave to go home and feed the dogs and myself.
When I got back Bob was cranky and irascible, not his normal demeanor. He wasn’t happy with the dinner they’d brought him. He’d yelled at the nurse that he wasn’t going to eat or take any meds, until they gave him the results to his test. When I told him that I thought he was being foolish, he yelled that he was tired of being lied to. And he had no intention of eating or taking any more meds. Furthermore, I could just go home and he’d walk home when they released him. I told him he was being foolish. About that time the charge nurse came in and said the radiologist had faxed the report on his test, but his writing wasn’t legible, and they were in the process of phoning for clarification. Once they had that, the doctor on duty, could decide on his release. Bob said, See there it worked. I told him that timing is everything and his tantrum had had nothing to do with getting the test results. I told him he didn’t have to stay in the hospital, he was not a prisoner. We could leave at any time, or he could wait to see what happened with the test. He was further abusive, so I vacated to the area of the room where his roommate had left around 3:30, and had a good cry.
Shortly after that, a nurse came in and said they given the results of his test to the doctor, and he would be released. I think they were glad to be rid of him. We drove home in silence, and now, where having a pretty silent morning. Silence can be a blessing.
No comments:
Post a Comment