Going Home: Chapter 21

It was 6:00 A.M. again and like clock work Doogie Houser stopped by to check in on me. He is glad that my breathing problem had cleared up (he was probably tired of me complaining), after a cursor exam, he told me that I was doing fine and left. Breakfast came and in spite of all the hospital food jokes that you have heard, the food was pretty good, let’s admit it, any time that I don't have to cook the meal it is a good meal. Helen teased me because she was still only aloud to eat clear broth. Looking at her I felt really sad, because when I was brought in here on Tuesday she had already been here a couple of days. I was jealous because she could sit up and walk around a little bit while I was confined to bed. But now it was Friday and I can eat normal food, get in and out of bed and walk around. My IV is gone, so is the annoying catheter and I was going home to day, and she will be staying here longer.
A little later her surgeon stopped by and the conversation is not a good one. He had already taken out about half of her intestines, and her problem what ever it was did not improved much, he wanted to wait until her husband got there to talk about her options.
Soon after that the training doctor and his med-students came by, and the peep at Traci show got its last audience, again the doctor unsnapped my hospital gown looked at my wonder breast then put the two parts of the gown back resting on my shoulder without snapping it closed. I was beginning to wonder if snapping a hospital gown was beyond his ability.
I was starting to get board, I had finished the Koons’s book and I start another book called “Victoria’s Daughters” by Jerrold M. Packard. Talk about an eclectic taste, this book is non-fiction, it tells the story of Queen Victoria’s five daughters, five very different women who married five very different men and live and sometime rule in many different counties. This book caught my attention when I noticed it among a group of “new” books that the library had just bought.
I had recently watched a five volume BBC series (donated to the library) about King Edward VII, who if you don’t know was Queen Victoria’s eldest son. In the series you watch the story of King Edward VII from his birth to his death you also see a little of the stories of his eight siblings. This made me curious about them, so when I saw a book about his sisters I grabbed it.
I was happily reading until I stupidly gave myself the headache from hell, of course this was after my morphine dip was gone. How do you give yourself a headache? I’ll tell you. You know when you get that weird pain, kind of like a pulling feeling in your neck, and you find yourself rolling your head and twisting your neck every which way, hoping-begging that it will crack or pop and the pulling feeling will go away. If you are like me you can crack one side of you neck but never the other (this also applies to backs) but you try any way. So there I was rolling my head when the right side lets out a loud POP!!! Wow! I thought, the right side of my neck never pops I felt instant relief from the pulling feeling.
I felt great, I pick up my book and start to amerce myself in 19th century Victorian England, when slowly, starting at the base of my neck, the pain started to enter my head. Each minute bringing pain more intense that the last, up until now my head was the only part of my body that didn’t hurt, now the headache ellipse all the other pain in my body. I pushed the nurse call button and Nurse Patton came in, I told her that I had a horrible headache and if I could have anything for it. She said she would try. A few minutes later she brought me some pills that she says should help. They didn't.
Nurse Patton stopped by a little bit later to check in on me my head still ached. So she suggested plan B, aroma therapy. Now I am not much for new age type stuff, I never used the meditation tapes or books that the hospital gave me. Anytime I start to meditate I get board within seconds I either A; start creating a story in my mind or B; pick up a book and read someone else’s creation. I can never open my mind to just nothing, there is just too mush interesting stuff going on.
I don’t own a therapeutic pyramid or crystal, so I am not that interested in aroma therapy, not to mention that the hospital room is all ready filled with funky smells. But I was in pain, so I told Nurse Patton to go ahead, that was after she reassured me the doctors told her she could use the therapy if she though it would help a patient. So, she opens a small bottle, pours something onto a cloth and sets it on the counter next to me, it smelled like lavender. Much to my surprise the lavender smell wondering though the room made me feel better. At first it worked, my headache became less intense, but after awhile the smell started to bother me so I ask Nurse Patton to take the cloth away. The smell lingered just slightly for a few hours.
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After lunch Dr. Agarsi stopped by, his attire surprised me, instead of wearing his normal white coat over white shirt with dark a tie and pants. He was wearing chinos and a gauze type open collar shirt. That’s when I figure that the reason he was annoyed at me wanting to stay an extra day was that I may have delayed his vacation. After he examined me he told me that it was time to take out my drains. I was surprised, everyone kept telling me that I was a good healer but I didn’t expect to be lucky enough to leave the hospital without the drains.
So the good doctor put on a pair of gloves and started to remove one of my drains. I don’t remember exactly what he did, but after disconnecting the bulb part from the tube part, he then gently pulled the tube out of my body. It felt really weird, like a snake crawling under my skin. Dr. Agarsi pulled until the tube came out of my body; he then put a Band-Aid over the small incision. That was when the trouble started, up to this point I have been watching the tube being pulled out of my body so I hadn’t been looking at the doctor, when I did I am startled.
Dr. Agarsi’s eyes were teary and his nose was running, he kept blinking and sniffling. When I looked at him he looked back at me and stated that he didn't know what was making his system react so strange. I knew that it was the last of the lavender aroma therapy stuff, I shrugged my shoulders and gave him a look that said 'me neither' but I didn’t say a word. He started working on the next tube, he took that one out, and told me that he can’t wipe his face because then he would have to wash his hands and change his gloves and the procedure to remove the tubes will then take much longer. So, he took out the last tube, removed his gloves then cleaned his eyes and nose. He told me that I was doing really well and to call his office to make an appointment for the next week so he could do a follow up, then he left. I felt really bad for him.
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Mark showed up a little after that, he helped me get dressed, then I called the nurses station and told them that I was ready to go home, then we sat and wait…and wait…and wait. Finally Nurse Patton came and filled out the release forms, I said goodbye the Helen, and with Mark at my side a Hospital volunteer wheeled me out of the hospital and to my car. We are going home.