Hospital stay

I’m just getting settled in for what is my only night stay in the hospital. For getting close to two weeks now I’ve had a very sore throat making it very hard to swallow and sleep. Lack of sleep tends to have a way for making everything even worse than it is too. 

During this time I’ve been to the Emergency Room at the hospital twice to see the on call doctor. After testing for mono I was told both times it was a viral infection that should pass. They gave me a prescription for antibiotics but told me I should need to fill it because it was viral and they really wouldn’t do anything to help. The second time the doctor did give me some steroids that helped with the swelling a lot. That made things better for a while and I really did feel things were getting better so never filled the prescriptions. 

Yesterday was a horrible day. I didn’t sleep a bit the night before and now my voice was gone and the pain was making its way into my jaw. I tried to get an emergency visit with my family doctor but there was no way. So I went to a walk in clinic that I had heard good things about and he gave me antibiotics right away and told me to start. 

When I woke up this morning I was feeling a bit better and did sleep a little bit, but still not great. I was able to get into see my family doctor though and she right away called the ENT specialist on call and had me come over to the hospital to see him. This was due to a Peritonsillar abscess. The doctor told me I’d likely be here a few days while they fill me full of IV antibiotics steroids and pain meds. If that doesn’t work then surgery would be needed to fix things. 

I’ve had a couple embarrassing moments since I’ve been here so far. First is when they went to put in my IV. Needles don’t bother me, in fact I had just watched them pull 6 viles of blood out of my arms no problem. So when they asked if I minded in the student did her first IV on me I said sure. She has to learn sometime. She stuck it in my hand but wasn’t having good luck. I remember saying I’m starting to feel faint. Then the next thing I know there are a bunch of doctors around with cold cloths and one saying welcome back with us. Poor girl will never want to give an IV again. 

Next embarrassing thing was when I had to call the nurse to bring me a new Johnny shirt. This isn’t usually bad except that I had managed to let it fall in the toilet when I was changing my pants and getting it all soaked. Luckily everyone here is being very sweet. 

Not just everyone here but everyone. Not long after getting to my room my wonderful team had flowers delivered right to my room. The. They got mad at me when I told them the wifi here was so good I was going to get my laptop and do some work. The cool thing is I totally could have but they are more concerned with me getting rested and feeling better. I really do love my job and my team. Even a Pastor from our church got word I was here and came In and visited with me for a while. 

Tonight my throat was feeling so much better that I felt like I really wanted soil is food. In particular pizza. My mom who was visiting promptly left to go find us pizza. It tasted so good and felt so good in a stomach that was eating mostly liquid for days. 

The hospital chicken noodle soup wasn’t bad at all but the Luke warm dark caffeine water the call coffee left a little to be desired. I will have to find a way to get better coffee tomorrow. 

As I’m laying here getting ready to sleep in the hospital, for the first time in a long time, all I can think of is how blessed I am in my life. Surrounded by great friends and family with an amazing job with which I file my coworkers in the friends category I mentioned first. 

Thanks everyone.