I am back to normal - whatever that is for me. I hope to stay that way too.

Famous Last Words

I realize that when I have passed the halfway date, unless there is a miracle I'll be leaving here with lots of unfinished plans, goals and dreams.   So, like any good nut case, I decide to pick up my pace.  Which in this case had already added a few presentations to the Family Medicine Residents.  I also forgot that the last half is also the time people realize that I'll be leaving and "now" need to see me about something complex and urgent that has been intractable for years .....  

Over a week ago I started coughing and hacking up some good sputum (it wasn't green, so I'd live) and I got some of the usual cures, such as decongestant and a cough suppressant ..... By last Monday, the cold was winning, I chatted with my personal doctor and roommate Obel for some help.  He prescribed an oral antibiotic and by Thursday morning, I had gotten worse.  From Monday to Thursday, I kept shuffling stuff to a later date or just canceling.  (I hate quitting.)   

It was a few nursing colleagues who commanded that I get a chest X-ray. (I also hate it when other people are right.)   I went over to Obel's office and he listened to my lungs again and agreed the medication had not been enough.  I went strolling down to X-ray and got a complimentary picture.   I brought it back to Obel and he looked at it with his medical student ..... and she said, "Consolidation .....virus..."  No more words were said except,  "Rev, I am going to admit you now!"  And as the typical messianic patient, I responded, "Are you sure?  I have stuff to do, etc. ... etc..."   Unfazed by my superman pleadings, he continued, "The oral antibiotic isn't strong enough, I need to put you on IV antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, mask -- something!"   

I was in shock as I faced my mortality (Okay, yes that is a little over the top) and when I was walking to my flat, I realized that I had forgotten to ask the most important question:  no, it wasn't "Is beer served?" but "Can I get internet?"    I got some bed clothes for an overnight stay and then I remembered that doctors don't  like to give "bad news", so I threw in a couple more shirts and, of course Mom, clean underwear!   I sat with Obel as he ran out of ink writing orders on my admitting sheet. 

I took my stuff down to admitting where  I received a look of amazement that I was to be a patient.  Then came question, "How will you pay for this?"  In the old days volunteers got free care, but maybe the old days are gone?  "Does the hospital still pick up the tab for us volunteers?"  She wasn't sure, but a few conferences later I was a "courtesy admission".  I didn't want to show my hand in that I was hearing my sweet wife shouting in my ear ..... "Just pay for it, you cheap xxxxx ..... and you are supposed to be insured ..... or did you think you'd never need it."  (The last guess was closest!)   Anyhow, Mercy was still merciful. 

I waited some time as there was a scurry of phone calls and conferences.  I was to be admitted to ICU (Intensive Care) and thought, "Maybe I am not taking this seriously enough".   However, when Nurse Christobel (I was going to add that she was a previous student; however almost all the nurses who attended to me were previous students) greeted me, she said that the reason for the ICU was just that it was the one available bed, so I was just being "parked" there until my room was available.

Mercy is small and not that it's a rumour mill, but rumours do thrive here. What if one of my kind friends emails Anne to tell her I got admitted to ICU -- she'd be on the midnight flight down!  And there was no internet in the unit, so I walked to the hallway - with permission - and sent an email trying to calm her worry about me in ICU.

Well, the best part of the story just goes to show how wrong I was:  she wrote back, "I won't get on a plane ..... because I have Book Club in the morning!  (Otherwise I might.)   I have been preparing for the discussion tomorrow at Book Club as I have to introduce it".  Just when you think you know someone!  I could see she was taking her responsibilities to others more than family, as I had been guilty of so many times .....

I did get my room soon after that and it was a very nice room with a view... I fact, it is a real upgrade from my flat:  air-conditioning, recliner chair, tv, nice adjustable bed with reading light., private bath with a semi-working shower .....  Even my friend Peter Kuhnert would not call it "Spartan". 

I got really attentive  and professional care ..... And you can tell I have been around there.  My name tag had a dangling end that didn't need to be there, so I went out to the nurses' station and ask if she'd cut the long end off.  Well, she cut the whole name band off, saying, "Rev, we all know who you are."

I was also lucky that I didn't have a lack of energy as I had a lineup of visitors - students, friends, colleagues, etc.,  some curious, some disbelieving, most caring and well wishing .....  I appreciated it, but didn't really like being the centre of such concern. 

I could see myself getting better each day.  And this morning I was good enough to be discharged, as even Dr. Obel agreed.  I would have to make some visits as an out-patient and would be given a set of new oral medications.   

Yes, a pediatrician was my doctor!  Actually, Obel was an internist in Africa for four years ..... and as he was fond of saying (because it pissed me off), "You know, children and 'the elderly' have a lot in common."   I may be able to handle "old" but "elderly" was just pushing it a little.     It was different having your doctor as a roommate.  While I was hospitalized, he would call from the flat and say, "Can I bring you over anything when I come to see you?"  He brought my laptop over at my request.  And Dr. Maylene, his friend who visits on the weekend, made dinner for me one night.   He told me that I was to call him and he would walk me back to the flat .....   100 yards?  No I wasn't going to call him.   But as it turned out when I was set to go, one of the psychiatry residents, Stephon, showed up with oranges for vitamin C... and he carried my bag the 100 yards and up the two flights of stairs...

I have been trying to  complete some easy stuff... and cancel a few events to keep my days light so I can cope.  With the break in my time here, I am more and more aware of finishing and being home with Anne and my Northern family.   I am blessed to have such a caring family for this "elderly" and somewhat "crazy" man.

I wanted to add a descriptive before-and-after picture .....  but the red shirt one is before and the black shirt is my last nebulizer treatment before discharge.   I guess pictures do lie.   I was terrible coming in and feel good leaving.. 

I will work hard to keep this coming week normal ..... 
And the next blog on the 20-21 will be the last this year from Guyana.  I'll write an ending from Ayr in November.

Thanks for reading.
John