Where did we leave off...I was in the hospital in Ohio, with a chest tube, my lung had collapsed a total of 4 times. Joy had arrived. It was Saturday afternoon.
Saturday was pretty uneventful. I was clamped again. I had a portable machine so Joy and I would wander in and out of the hospital. It was nice to have company.
Sunday more drama. The nurses changed the dressing on my side in the early afternoon. Joy watched them...when they left she shared with me that a sterile technique was not used. They took the dirty dressing off and applied the sterile dressing with the same dirty gloves. In the late evening I woke up screaming.."There's blood all over me." Joy woke up turned on the light, it was not blood, it was sweat. I had a fever, 103.7. Joy got the nurse to come in, she said she would page the Dr. for new orders. We waited. Joy put cool compresses on my head so my brain would not cook. We waited, 1 hour...Joy visited the nurse again. "Still waiting for orders." I was enjoying my delirium speaking to a few guys that were in my room that only I could see. We waited...2 hours, Joy knew my medications, there was an order for vicodin...which contains tylenol but the nurse would not give that to me as I was on I.V. pain medication. Two and a half hours later Joy was at the nurses station hollaring...she was going to the pharmacy on the corner and getting something for the fever if something was not done immediately. The orders came through for a chest x-ray, blood draw, IV antibiotic, and tylenol for the fever. Was that so effin hard??
I know if Joy wasn't with me that night I would have died. No one checked on me when my fever had spiked, I was confused and doubt I would have even known to put on the call light.
Monday I woke up feeling better. We made arrangements to go home. Called Hertz again. Our plan was to take their little portable machine and drive home. We were okay with that, no matter the outcome we would be heading for home. I was still clamped, the set back of the fever and all they had not really addressed the chest tube but my lung was still inflated. Things were looking at least promising. Monday passed with no events at all.
Tuesday we wanted to leave. The surgeon had come in, we waited, they were going to remove the tube that day. They waited, it was getting later and later. We had to pick up the car before they closed at 5. We waited. Finally around 3:30, the Dr. came in to pull the tube. Joy watched the procedure. The Dr. took the tube and just yanked it out. As he did...Joy told me later actual strings of infection (pus) were attached. Joy made it across town via cab at about 4:45p.m. and we were on the road to Omaha by 5:45p.m.
The drive back was torture, to say the least. I was sick and exhausted. Joy was exhausted and hates to drive at night, and it was pouring rain. We took turns. Sometimes an hour at a time we were making our way across. We finally had to stop and sleep. I pulled into a rest area fell asleep at the wheel, Joy conked out. I woke up frantic about 3 hours later. "Pull your seat all the way forward," I screamed at Joy. She looked at me scared, but surprisingly did what I asked, then said "Now what." I answered..."wait, I'm waiting for them to tell me." Joy said...ok I've had enough. We sat in silence for just a minute or so. I started the car and I drove. Not a lot was said. I made it about 20 miles, Joy took over as we entered Iowa. She was more comfortable, it was late, there was hardly any traffic, and the rain had stopped. She drove into Omaha.
The trip took us a total of 18 hours. It was something I would never want to relive again.
I saw my family physician that day, my blood work was terrible, I still had infection raging through my body, my platelet count was six times the norm. Chest x-ray showed there was fluid pooling in my chest cavity. I was sent to a hospital here in Omaha. There they drained over 400 cc's of fluid from my lung. The procedure entailed another incision, tube being inserted, oh I just didn't want to do this, again. It was full of MRSA. An infection that is resistant to most antibiotics.
That is where I will end the saga. I still live in pain daily from the things that have happened to me. I live with the psychological fear that this may happen to me again, when I'm alone on the road. I still have MRSA, another thing I will live with forever. I still have stolen dead peoples bones in my neck. But life goes on. I am waiting for a settlement for all my medical happenings. I have filed a suit against the Dr. in Ohio, I'm hoping to use this money to finally get off the road and have a more peaceful existence.
If you have read this whole saga...congradulations!! I will buy you a beer anytime, anyplace as...Life is a Highway...and I may be passing through.
My posts from now on will take a perverted, humorous tone that is more who I am.
