So the highlights of day 2 are as follows....
It has occured to me there is no such thing as being able to 'sleep in' in a hospital. Even during the night i'm woken up some three times, once for the steroid that is hopefully shrinking the tumor and twice for checks on my vitals. (i ended up throwing off the reading of a blood pressure check the second time most likely due to the fact i had just been lying down and then suddenly sat up. The nurse ended up having to get the electronic pressure cuff which instantly told us that i was indeed swell as far as blood pressure is concerned)
I ate the 3 doughnuts remaining that I had bought and that Dad had delivered for me yesterday after being woken up around 10am to take my meds (for my A.D.D and anxiety problem) but Effexor is a very strong drug and will tear up the stomach walls if something isn't there already, so after explaining that to the nurses who delivered my meds i ate a few zesta crackers, swallowed my pills (including a multivitamin that provide) and then left on my own decided to eat the doughnuts.
On another note, I am offered a pill that is a 'stool softener' which I have assured them I'm not having problems with. I did ask why I'm offered it and I was told that people on pain meds often have harder time with bowel movements so that's why it's offered. I mentioned i'm not actually on any pain meds...yet, and so have not taken any, but who knows, I may yet need it later such as after surgery. Pastor Clapper did mention that the hospital has some pretty awesome pain meds (and he would know, he's been hospitalized before too).
The steroid hasn't been giving me any more hot flashes, which makes me wonder if those were minor anxiety attack moments, but I did figure out the coolest place in my room in close to the window. I've sat in the chair nearest the window most of the time reading manga today, enjoying the air coming from a vent I have yet to figure out where exactly is in the cieling and the sunlight from outside. I wonder what it felt like out today? I was told it was supposed to be hot and muggy, but there aren't any terraces or patios to step outside that i know of so here I stay in the air conditioning (which isn't a bad thing, but I can't help but be curious. I'm an active person, as I've mentioned, so it's hard to stay in one place for long periods of time. *sighs*)
Mom stopped by and dropped off some more clothes, my tooth and hairbrush (not that i wasn't given a toothbrush, problem is several of the bristles came out when last I used it and so felt like I had hair in my mouth.) (also i should mention that room service called prior to Mom's arrival asking me if i wanted lunch, and i ended up ordering a ceasar chicken salad with croutons and romaine lettuce, no cheese or dressing, lemonade included. It tasted quite good too!)
Soon after Mom, Grandma Ade dropped in. Thanks so much Grandma for the giant book of crosswords. It'll be sure to keep my brain alert in the time to follow with my recovery and hospital stay. And thank you Grandma Sallie who stopped by a few moments after G-ma Ade did (wow, lots of people!) and had those new Keebler cookies with the mint center. They're very yummy! It was great to see so much family and feel the support.
Also, thanks again so much for the 'Charle' substitute (a very soft stuffed animal dog that's the same color as the real Charle, minus the pink bow that came with him. On the real Charle, a chain choker collar is far more common!) He's been with me ever since and is currently lying by my left elbow staring at the pole on the left corner by the foot of the bed. He's much smaller than the real Charle, but I don't think the real Charle would be allowed in the hospital.
Thanks also Mom for the shampoo and body wash. I haven't been able to shower since before i got my neck MRI and that was also before my small anxiety attacks that left me in a heavy sweat. Thanks a million as well for my deoderant. Don't want to kill nurses with 'pits that reek'.
Some time afterwards, after Mom left, Dr. Schnitkker (which is the correct spelling, Mom and I ended up looking him up on the Memorial hospital website. Guess what, he went to college in Canada! Or at least that's what Mom tells me is where the university he graduated from is, though Mom also thinks his name is German, considering the spelling, anyway those are just some little facts I thought I'd add) and after giving me the 'grip test' (in which I squeeze his index and middle finger as tightly as I can) and after jerking my right foot up to test resistance and then to test my strength in my knees and ankles, he said that i may have regained some strength in my foot, but not the same case for my hand. Before he was gonna leave he told me that my surgery is, according to present conditions, is to be Tuesday evening but he's hopping to push it a bit earlier than that. He then asked if I had any questions and I asked if it was at all possible for me to see the MRI scans of my neck and brain.
After pacing out of my room, walking to the right, then walked by in the other direction only to come back to my door, give me the 'come here' finger wiggle, and then walked off. I jumped out of the chair and followed, because he wasn't stopping, (and i couldn't help but feel a little excited in a way because no one was technically 'with me' as i was walking through the halls. I'm such a rebel, lol.) But i got to see the MRI images,which were really cool to see, because the images are taken in layers which means I got to see different parts of my brain, head, and neck - as well as the problem tumor. (I'll have to see if i can't sketch something in case anyone else is curious as to what it looks like, but basically it looks like a whitish mass in my spinal column). Dr. Snicker (it's still easier to call him that) pointed out how the bone had been eroded away at in the area of the tumor but how neat and clean my spinal column is above and below it, as well as how the column itself is shifted to the side where the tumor is taking up space and again how clean and straight the rest of the column is above and below the affected area.
I commented that I appreciated how calm and assured he was about the surgery to come (which includes cutting open the back of my neck, pulling the muscles of my neck apart, cracking the bone where the tumor is located within and then hopefully will be easily enough to remove the problem. There is a chance that my 4th nerve may have to be cut, but it's one of those nerves, so i've been told, that the neck can adapt without and eventually compensate for. Such as the body dosen't need an appendix technically because the Liver takes care of cleaning the body and the appendix cleans less than like 12% of the body) and ended up learning that this particular surgery had been done before, (in other words I am far from the first person to have this particular case) so i can assume that Dr. Snicker has done this procedure before too. It's still risky and dangerous, but he seems positive of his abilities and that certainly sets me at ease. The only thing he told me that he couldn't do was, prior to surgery, not tell me when i'm doing under the anathesia (i had mentioned if that was possible so i didn't have to worry to much or get overly nervous about the surgery because one way or another i am gonna be nervous, human instinct demands we fear for our lives when a very delicate area of the body is in technical danger). I suggested using a blow dart or instead of giving me Saline through my IV (which keeps the blood in my IV from clotting so it stays open and clean so that injections can get in easily) the drug so I didn't realize I was gonna go under. Unfortunatly there seems to be some rule that doctors can't trick their patients like that, so i guess when it's time I'll be asking God for courage and that the surgical team has steady hands and calm minds so that they can cleanly and easily get rid of the tumor. I've been told by Mom that it will seem like no time has passed when I wake up, that under major anathesia it'll feel like I had only just gone asleep only to suddenly wake up. Considering how many other hospital procedures Mom has been a part of I'm sure she knows what she's talking about.
My only request is that until I'm actually 'awake' again after the procedure and not so loopy on pain meds (I can only assume I'll be under the influence of some strong stuff) that i don't get visitors. I really don't like the idea of people coming in and staring at me in a 'not really there' state, this includes family. It's not like I've been unconscious for days after a horrible accident and everyone is waiting to see if I'll be all right and when it is I will wake up. (that and there's always the chance i might wake up with black-marker-mustache or eyebrows like a hairy kiwi when I wake up if someone is staring at me when i'm comatose)
I was asked by a nurse named Mary (for my own memory's purposes, she has short blond hair that has definitly had a perm, no glasses, about my height, is a mom and is into health foods and natural things, and also approved of my choice of salad for lunch as being healthy) if I was interested in taking a shower and she would change the sheets on my bed while I did that. Well, at some point when I wasn't looking she did leave a few rags and towels on the bed as well as clean sheets and a blankets on a counter in the corner of the room to my immediate right which is also below the sign that gives my room telephone number and a 'pain chart' with faces on it from smiling which means no pain (1) to a face in tears and a huge frown which is excruciating pain (10). Guess she never got around to finding out when I was gonna take the shower, but another nurse, Kosandra (she told me it's actaullty spelled KoSandra, which I think is a really cool spelling) did eventually come in to take my vitals again then, after i asked, wrapped my left arm in saran wrap (to protect the catheter/IV) and warned me before wrapping my arm that she and saran wrap were mortal enemies in the way she seemed to have trouble with it and sticking the way it shouldn't when she's using it, etc.
One way or another, though, I did get that shower, only to realize that from the crack under the shower door that water had leaked out all the way into the room and even puddled near the counter i mentioned in the previous paragraph. Guess I'll have to put a towel at the bottom of the door next time I shower. Other than that little problem, it felt great to shower, good water pressure.
Later on Kari visited me and we had quite a chat and gab time. Thanks for visiting me, and offering to bring Pugsley in to visit me. He may be small enough to smuggle in, but it may draw attention if your bag starts wiggling and moving! And as far as your offer to bring in this game you mentioned 'Othello', I think you called it, sounds like fun!
Well, the rest of the day was mostly reading, room service calling if I'd like to order dinner (had beef stew, french fries, choco milk,and raspberry sherbet (bonnie doon)--- opinion? Pretty good actually!) and then typing these blog posts, and during which getting my vitals checked once and an offer for another stool softener. I can expect that my next steroid pill will be soon, it being nearly midnight (i get the steroid every 6 hours i believe I've mentioned), but like I've said before, without physical activity such as I normally partake in, my body just isn't that tired so I don't feel sleepy.
So I close day 2, typing these posts listening to Tenth Avenue North, 22 Miles, Barlow Girl, Amy Grant, and Decyfer Down in the background on Adelli. (I pronounce it Ad-uh-lie in case you're wondering)
Hope I can get some sleep. I don't know if it's paranoia or something else, but I feel a bit sore near the base of my neck, in the area the tumor is located (I do want to add that on Friday when Dr. Gratham, the radiologist who told me about the MRI results and then said to go to the hospital, when he told me about the tumor in my neck, i can distinctly remember a sudden wave of heat hit me and centered in on the area where the tumor is, almost as if God was sending me some sort of message telling me where it was exactly)
Night ya'll!
Sarah
