DAY 17: Thursday, April 17, 2008
Today I decided to start doing some work for school. I decided to start with the 212 project that was due on Tax Day. Other than that, there was nothing new for the day.
DAY 18: Friday, April 18, 2008
Ditto to the last sentence above. Basically, the day started with me waking up at 6 AM when the nurse's aide comes by to get vitals, followed by me trying to sleep in the sunrise. The doctor then comes sometime before breakfast, makes me do some coughing, then says "nope, still leaking."
Listening to the Muse song Stockholm Syndrome kinda makes me think of my current situation. Of course, I'm not a hostage or prisoner (I think), only a hospital patient, but I'm still stranded in my room via the suction cable. Even when I'm unplugged and free to move around the hospital, I never actually ventured outside of my room. I just didn't really care I guess...I would rather be in my room. Some other people (like my last roommate) seemed grumpy while in the hospital and ready to get the hell outta here as soon as possible. I'm just chillin' on a tether, not really caring (although worrying about what to do about this semester in school), smile when someone walks into my room, and just like an overall "meh" after 2 weeks of just waiting and wondering if I'll ever get out of the hospital. Good thing is that the nurses here are nice, and I actually get to choose what I eat (as opposed to being in prison), so Stockholm Syndrome doesn't really describe my situation, but it kinda got me thinking about a connection.
DAY 19: Saturday, April 19, 2008
Still the same news regarding me, the chest tube, and the Pleur-evac. Still the same situation - tethered to the wall suction.
I guess doing sudokus from the newspaper everyday was good practice in doing sudokus. I took the 4-star sudoku today and did it in maybe 10-15 minutes while eating breakfast. I remember the first ones I did took me what seemed like forever.
Also, there was a visit from campus today. It was good to see people drop by for a visit. It was also good to clip my nails after 3 weeks, so now typing feels much better. Thanks guys.
DAY 20: Sunday, April 20, 2008 (a special annual holiday...)
Finally the doctor detected no air leak in the morning, so they unplugged me from suction for the day. It was exactly 1 week ago when they did the same thing, except they kinda jumped the gun, which resulted in a re-collapsed lung for me. This time, the nurses tell me that things seem to look and sound better. As a result, hopefully I can wake up tomorrow morning and get the green light to get the hell outta here.
I finished the MATLAB part of the 212 project today, as well as part of the user manual. Thanks everyone for the help.
Well, hopefully I will see everyone soon enough (and not in the hospital again), but I'm not going to count on anything at this point. It's been too long. Anyhoo, thanks again everyone for the help, support, etc.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Hospitalization (yeah, that's right...)
DAY 14: Monday, April 14, 2008
This morning I woke up hopeful of getting out. After a day off of suction on Sunday, they wheeled me down to radiology to get an x-ray. Unfortunately they found that without assistance from the suction, my right lung re-collapsed. So they hooked me up again, and I stay here for now.
DAY 15: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 (Tax Day)
Well, today was no different from Monday. Still on suction all day long. I managed to shoot out another round of emails to group members, advisors, professors, and TAs giving them yet another heads up of the failed attempt to get me outta here. I think I've spammed their inboxes quite a bit in the last 2 weeks now.
Sunrise every morning gets earlier as the days go by. Now it's around 6:15 AM that I see the sun peek out over the trees/horizon. For some reason, the blinds to my window are enclosed in glass from the inside, so I can't really see how to close them. No matter...I even told the nurses not to worry about the blinds on my window. I don't really mind it, except I usually have no choice but to stay awake after 6:30 AM, when the sunlight comes in full force and I can't even see my laptop screen on the brightest LCD setting (I think my window faces the east). Also, around midday it gets quite warm in my room (I'm too lazy to fix the thermostat), so when the aides come by at 2 PM to get vitals, my body temperature's always around 99.4 at that time (as opposed to 98.4-ish at 6 AM).
I'm really bummed that I'm missing the above-average weather outside. They tell me it's around 70 these days (and apparently quite sunny too!). I remember the day after being in the ER it was around 50 and cloudy outside, and I walked to Gannett that morning for the follow-up that sent me straight back to CMC for an unprecedented 16+ days.
DAY 16: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 (1 year after Virgina Tech)
Today I woke up hoping to be off suction again so I could maybe leave tomorrow. Guess I still had a small air leak when I cough, which is no good. As a result, today was the same as the previous two days - tethered to the wall suction all day.
I think the TV hanging on the wall has been on for a total of less than 1 hour in the past 16 days. I just don't watch TV for some reason. I also can't believe I'm still meeting new nurses, aides, nursing professors, and nursing students, but I think I've been here so long that it won't be much longer before I meet the entire crew here at CMC and TC3. The people who have met me before keep saying how they're surprised I'm still here (I am too). I still haven't showered (I do try and bathe with a basin of water and towels!), shaved, nor cut my fingernails in 16+ days, so I really hope I get out soon enough. Lastly, I think I had a record 700 cc of urine in one sitting (or standing, rather) today (that's 70% of the urinal's capacity). That was in the afternoon when I woke up after an after-lunch nap.
...and I really hope everyone's right when they say things with classes can be worked out for this semester, because at this point I'm kind of clueless as to where to start or what to do. After today, I've missed as many days of classes as there are days of class left in the semester.
Thanks again everyone for your continued help, support, encouragement, etc. I really appreciate it. There's nothing else like it when you're in a situation like this. I should probably listen to happier music while I'm here or something...I dunno.
This morning I woke up hopeful of getting out. After a day off of suction on Sunday, they wheeled me down to radiology to get an x-ray. Unfortunately they found that without assistance from the suction, my right lung re-collapsed. So they hooked me up again, and I stay here for now.
DAY 15: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 (Tax Day)
Well, today was no different from Monday. Still on suction all day long. I managed to shoot out another round of emails to group members, advisors, professors, and TAs giving them yet another heads up of the failed attempt to get me outta here. I think I've spammed their inboxes quite a bit in the last 2 weeks now.
Sunrise every morning gets earlier as the days go by. Now it's around 6:15 AM that I see the sun peek out over the trees/horizon. For some reason, the blinds to my window are enclosed in glass from the inside, so I can't really see how to close them. No matter...I even told the nurses not to worry about the blinds on my window. I don't really mind it, except I usually have no choice but to stay awake after 6:30 AM, when the sunlight comes in full force and I can't even see my laptop screen on the brightest LCD setting (I think my window faces the east). Also, around midday it gets quite warm in my room (I'm too lazy to fix the thermostat), so when the aides come by at 2 PM to get vitals, my body temperature's always around 99.4 at that time (as opposed to 98.4-ish at 6 AM).
I'm really bummed that I'm missing the above-average weather outside. They tell me it's around 70 these days (and apparently quite sunny too!). I remember the day after being in the ER it was around 50 and cloudy outside, and I walked to Gannett that morning for the follow-up that sent me straight back to CMC for an unprecedented 16+ days.
DAY 16: Wednesday, April 16, 2008 (1 year after Virgina Tech)
Today I woke up hoping to be off suction again so I could maybe leave tomorrow. Guess I still had a small air leak when I cough, which is no good. As a result, today was the same as the previous two days - tethered to the wall suction all day.
I think the TV hanging on the wall has been on for a total of less than 1 hour in the past 16 days. I just don't watch TV for some reason. I also can't believe I'm still meeting new nurses, aides, nursing professors, and nursing students, but I think I've been here so long that it won't be much longer before I meet the entire crew here at CMC and TC3. The people who have met me before keep saying how they're surprised I'm still here (I am too). I still haven't showered (I do try and bathe with a basin of water and towels!), shaved, nor cut my fingernails in 16+ days, so I really hope I get out soon enough. Lastly, I think I had a record 700 cc of urine in one sitting (or standing, rather) today (that's 70% of the urinal's capacity). That was in the afternoon when I woke up after an after-lunch nap.
...and I really hope everyone's right when they say things with classes can be worked out for this semester, because at this point I'm kind of clueless as to where to start or what to do. After today, I've missed as many days of classes as there are days of class left in the semester.
Thanks again everyone for your continued help, support, encouragement, etc. I really appreciate it. There's nothing else like it when you're in a situation like this. I should probably listen to happier music while I'm here or something...I dunno.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Hospitalization (hopefully the last post)
DAY 13: Sunday, April 13, 2008
This morning I awoke to find that the air leak from my right lung has stopped. Good news. The doctor then unplugged my tether to the wall (the suction) and said if all goes well I can peace out tomorrow (after course enrollment at 6:30 in the morning, of course). I got my IV pulled out today with no replacement IV, so no more morphine. I guess that's a good thing.
Today I realized that I haven't clipped my fingernails in 2+ weeks (I have no nail clippers here in the hospital), and typing on a keyboard feels somewhat awkward with such long fingernails.
The doctors, nurses, aides, student nurses, and staff in general here at Cayuga Medical Center have been great. Food was good too, except my appetite was somewhat shot for most of the time due to foreign objects inserted inside me.
Once again, thank you everyone for everything. Hopefully I will see you all soon enough.
This morning I awoke to find that the air leak from my right lung has stopped. Good news. The doctor then unplugged my tether to the wall (the suction) and said if all goes well I can peace out tomorrow (after course enrollment at 6:30 in the morning, of course). I got my IV pulled out today with no replacement IV, so no more morphine. I guess that's a good thing.
Today I realized that I haven't clipped my fingernails in 2+ weeks (I have no nail clippers here in the hospital), and typing on a keyboard feels somewhat awkward with such long fingernails.
The doctors, nurses, aides, student nurses, and staff in general here at Cayuga Medical Center have been great. Food was good too, except my appetite was somewhat shot for most of the time due to foreign objects inserted inside me.
Once again, thank you everyone for everything. Hopefully I will see you all soon enough.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Hospitalization (cont'd yet again)
DAY 10: Thursday, April 10, 2008
Well, today was just like any other day here in Room 343-2. Wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, try and wash up (I haven't take a shower since last Monday), eat lunch, take a nap, eat dinner, try and do some work/email/sudoku, go to bed. Except today I took a shit, which was rather painful cuz the pain medication causes constipation, but I managed I guess.
Since I don't have much to talk about, I'll talk about the view out of my window. Since I'm on the third floor, most of the surrounding treetops outside are approximately eye level. Straight ahead is a patch of woods, except there aren't many leaves right now. To the right is part of a parking lot, and to the left are about 3 picnic tables and part of Cayuga Lake. Since there are no high-rise buildings right outside my window, I feel comfortable peeing into my bottle while facing the window (away from the door).
DAY 11: Friday, April 11, 2008
Normal day again, except Tim Rooney (from RIT) popped in for a visit. He came in just as my dad called in the evening. Tim was in Ithaca for the evening with his family. We talked about college life, music concerts in the future, etc. It was quite chill, and good to see friends from home.
DAY 12: Saturday, April 12, 2008
I guess I haven't really gotten into pain meds and resulting constipation. I spent maybe 2 hours on the crapper in the morning trying to drop a deuce. I knew it was there, but it just wouldn't come out, so at lunchtime the nurse gave me a thing of milk of magnesia (that stuff tastes weird) and a stool softener (which I've been taking for 5 days and doesn't seem to help much). I proceeded to walk with my Pleur-evac to the toilet maybe 4 times in the afternoon. I must say it feels better, but that milk of magnesia really tastes weird (and has a weird texture too...)
JD popped in for a visit this afternoon just as the nurse was popping some pills for me. He drove home from Clarkson to Fairport for an interview today, and decided to drop by Ithaca while down here. It was nice...we talked about college in general, electric cars, and Aaron called in the middle proclaiming he was at the beach down in Cajun Country for geology class at Tulane. Lolerskates. Good to see/hear from them.
Well, at this point, I just wanted to thank everyone for their continued support, encouragement, news from campus, news from elsewhere, visits, offers to drive me home, etc. The doctor told me this morning that hopefully I can get outta here within the next few days. We shall see.
Well, today was just like any other day here in Room 343-2. Wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, try and wash up (I haven't take a shower since last Monday), eat lunch, take a nap, eat dinner, try and do some work/email/sudoku, go to bed. Except today I took a shit, which was rather painful cuz the pain medication causes constipation, but I managed I guess.
Since I don't have much to talk about, I'll talk about the view out of my window. Since I'm on the third floor, most of the surrounding treetops outside are approximately eye level. Straight ahead is a patch of woods, except there aren't many leaves right now. To the right is part of a parking lot, and to the left are about 3 picnic tables and part of Cayuga Lake. Since there are no high-rise buildings right outside my window, I feel comfortable peeing into my bottle while facing the window (away from the door).
DAY 11: Friday, April 11, 2008
Normal day again, except Tim Rooney (from RIT) popped in for a visit. He came in just as my dad called in the evening. Tim was in Ithaca for the evening with his family. We talked about college life, music concerts in the future, etc. It was quite chill, and good to see friends from home.
DAY 12: Saturday, April 12, 2008
I guess I haven't really gotten into pain meds and resulting constipation. I spent maybe 2 hours on the crapper in the morning trying to drop a deuce. I knew it was there, but it just wouldn't come out, so at lunchtime the nurse gave me a thing of milk of magnesia (that stuff tastes weird) and a stool softener (which I've been taking for 5 days and doesn't seem to help much). I proceeded to walk with my Pleur-evac to the toilet maybe 4 times in the afternoon. I must say it feels better, but that milk of magnesia really tastes weird (and has a weird texture too...)
JD popped in for a visit this afternoon just as the nurse was popping some pills for me. He drove home from Clarkson to Fairport for an interview today, and decided to drop by Ithaca while down here. It was nice...we talked about college in general, electric cars, and Aaron called in the middle proclaiming he was at the beach down in Cajun Country for geology class at Tulane. Lolerskates. Good to see/hear from them.
Well, at this point, I just wanted to thank everyone for their continued support, encouragement, news from campus, news from elsewhere, visits, offers to drive me home, etc. The doctor told me this morning that hopefully I can get outta here within the next few days. We shall see.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Hospitalization (still cont'd)
DAY 8: Tuesday, April 8, 2008
This morning I woke up and ate nothing, drank nothing. After sitting around short of breath for an hour or so due to being unplugged from wall suction in the waiting room for surgery, they drugged me for operation, and to tell the truth I remember nothing. Not even being wheeled into the operating room nor into the recovery room. Good thing is I didn't feel very nauseous afterwards - I understand that is a common unwanted aftereffect of general anesthesia. The surgery went well I suppose...the doctor, surgeon, and anesthesiast all seemed happy about how things went. I continued the day eating broth and jello, and drinking juice and water. They also moved the chest tube to a lower location along my side, and now it hurts a bit more. During the night I asked for 3 doses of Diaudid (morphine), and I still couldn't fall asleep for real until 1:30 AM after going to bed at 8:30 PM. I guess I was stressing out a bit over catching up with schoolwork once I get back, which I managed to resolve a bit by emailing professors.
DAY 9: Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Recovery day after surgery. I ate a fake breakfast of broth, jello, and juice again, but the doctor said that I could have real food so they trayed in a real breakfast at 10:30 AM. This resulted in me pushing back lunch and dinner by about 2 hours each. Plus, my appetite with the tube shoved in a uncomfortable location has been shot down a bit.
Today I got a new roommate. This guy appears to be a 28-year-old guy who just had surgery for his tonsils. He seemed a bit grumpy at first, but now he seems a bit more cheery. The nurses said he'll probably be discharged tomorrow. In other news, during these past 10 days of having foreign objects inserted into my right side and therefore hindering my right arm movement, I have gotten pretty used to eating, brushing my teeth, and putting on socks with my left hand, as well as urinating in a bottle (the nurses like to call it a "urinal"). I even try to write with my left hand when I fill out each day's menu, but it seems like the only thing successful with that is circling menu entrees with my left hand. In order to get my proper amount of time on my feet, I've been eating and using the computer while standing up. I feel sometimes standing up is more comfortable for some reason. I know sleeping in a semi-sitting position during the night kills my tailbone in the morning, but I need to semi-sit up because the drainage needs to flow down the tube.
It's kind of funny - now that I'm in my second week stranded in the hospital in the same room, I'm starting to have the same nurses and aides for the 3rd and 4th time so far during my stay. Some were surprised to see me still here yesterday and today after meeting me for the first time early last week. Oh well. At least the people here are nice, especially when they give me my dilaudid/morphine. Dilaudid is awesome.
This morning I woke up and ate nothing, drank nothing. After sitting around short of breath for an hour or so due to being unplugged from wall suction in the waiting room for surgery, they drugged me for operation, and to tell the truth I remember nothing. Not even being wheeled into the operating room nor into the recovery room. Good thing is I didn't feel very nauseous afterwards - I understand that is a common unwanted aftereffect of general anesthesia. The surgery went well I suppose...the doctor, surgeon, and anesthesiast all seemed happy about how things went. I continued the day eating broth and jello, and drinking juice and water. They also moved the chest tube to a lower location along my side, and now it hurts a bit more. During the night I asked for 3 doses of Diaudid (morphine), and I still couldn't fall asleep for real until 1:30 AM after going to bed at 8:30 PM. I guess I was stressing out a bit over catching up with schoolwork once I get back, which I managed to resolve a bit by emailing professors.
DAY 9: Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Recovery day after surgery. I ate a fake breakfast of broth, jello, and juice again, but the doctor said that I could have real food so they trayed in a real breakfast at 10:30 AM. This resulted in me pushing back lunch and dinner by about 2 hours each. Plus, my appetite with the tube shoved in a uncomfortable location has been shot down a bit.
Today I got a new roommate. This guy appears to be a 28-year-old guy who just had surgery for his tonsils. He seemed a bit grumpy at first, but now he seems a bit more cheery. The nurses said he'll probably be discharged tomorrow. In other news, during these past 10 days of having foreign objects inserted into my right side and therefore hindering my right arm movement, I have gotten pretty used to eating, brushing my teeth, and putting on socks with my left hand, as well as urinating in a bottle (the nurses like to call it a "urinal"). I even try to write with my left hand when I fill out each day's menu, but it seems like the only thing successful with that is circling menu entrees with my left hand. In order to get my proper amount of time on my feet, I've been eating and using the computer while standing up. I feel sometimes standing up is more comfortable for some reason. I know sleeping in a semi-sitting position during the night kills my tailbone in the morning, but I need to semi-sit up because the drainage needs to flow down the tube.
It's kind of funny - now that I'm in my second week stranded in the hospital in the same room, I'm starting to have the same nurses and aides for the 3rd and 4th time so far during my stay. Some were surprised to see me still here yesterday and today after meeting me for the first time early last week. Oh well. At least the people here are nice, especially when they give me my dilaudid/morphine. Dilaudid is awesome.
Monday, April 7, 2008
Hospitalization (cont'd again)
DAY 7: Monday, April 7, 2008
1 full week sitting in Cayuga Medical Center. Since the air leak in my chest cavity has not improved after putting the mega chest tube in 5 days ago, the doctor and surgeons have been talking with my parents about surgery. Turns out tomorrow morning they're gonna do surgery. Should take about an hour, and involves putting 3 holes in me to do 3 different things, including stapling my lung together after finding out the culprit location with a camera.
About halfway through the day, they stuck a roommate in my double-occupancy room, which was all to myself until now. Apparently he's a 64-year-old guy who just had surgery for enlarged prostate. After hanging around the room for the afternoon and watching TV while I was chillin' on the aftereffects of Percocet, they discharged him at dinnertime, so now I have the room to myself again. The nurse took out my IV, which was in my left arm since the day I got here (7 days ago). I started to get worried about that when small red bumps started appearing on my left arm from the tape used to hold the IV in place.
Well, at this point I would like to thank everyone for their care, support, visits, calls, donated food, getting my textbooks from my room (although I couldn't really concentrate on studying with the chest tube), etc. It really means a lot to me, and I appreciate it. You guys are the reason I keep on keepin' on.
1 full week sitting in Cayuga Medical Center. Since the air leak in my chest cavity has not improved after putting the mega chest tube in 5 days ago, the doctor and surgeons have been talking with my parents about surgery. Turns out tomorrow morning they're gonna do surgery. Should take about an hour, and involves putting 3 holes in me to do 3 different things, including stapling my lung together after finding out the culprit location with a camera.
About halfway through the day, they stuck a roommate in my double-occupancy room, which was all to myself until now. Apparently he's a 64-year-old guy who just had surgery for enlarged prostate. After hanging around the room for the afternoon and watching TV while I was chillin' on the aftereffects of Percocet, they discharged him at dinnertime, so now I have the room to myself again. The nurse took out my IV, which was in my left arm since the day I got here (7 days ago). I started to get worried about that when small red bumps started appearing on my left arm from the tape used to hold the IV in place.
Well, at this point I would like to thank everyone for their care, support, visits, calls, donated food, getting my textbooks from my room (although I couldn't really concentrate on studying with the chest tube), etc. It really means a lot to me, and I appreciate it. You guys are the reason I keep on keepin' on.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Hospitalization (cont'd)
DAY 4: Friday, April 4, 2008
This is the second day with the mega chest tube. Again, it hurt a crazy lot so they shot me with the IV anesthesia in the afternoon (after lunch) and at night before hittin' the hay. I finished a 4-star sudoku in the newspaper today after giving up and coming back to it later several times. I got a surprise visit from a bunch of people back on campus, and we joked around for an hour or so before the nurse said visiting hours are over. We think the patients next door didn't find our conversations very tasteful. I must say I really appreciate the visits, even from the people who couldn't make it due to not enough room in Brian's car. Thanks guys, it means a lot to me.
DAY 5: Saturday, April 5, 2008
Today my parents made it up here via car. Apparently they drove all through the night and made it here at around 11 AM. By this day there was still a little air leakage from the chest cavity as seen from Pleur-Evac. Today there was no need for the IV anesthesia - only Percocet pills at night. It seemed to knock me out equally though.
DAY 6: Sunday, April 6, 2008
Today for dinner I ate cottage cheese (or tried to). Taylor said since I never had it before, he thought I would like it, so I decided to give it a try. It wasn't that great - sorry Taylor and Mikki. I know you guys are avid cottage cheese fans. Today there was also no improvement in air leakage. The surgeon told me before she left for the weekend on Saturday that if by Monday the leakage still persists, then we'll have to talk about surgery. I guess we might have to talk about surgery tomorrow, as I don't feel any better during this past week. My mom went to Wal-Mart to buy some boxers because I've worn the same pair for literally 6 days straight (shudder). Well, hopefully I'll get back soon enough so I could take regular showers instead of washcloth+basin baths with no-rinse-needed soap/shampoo.
This is the second day with the mega chest tube. Again, it hurt a crazy lot so they shot me with the IV anesthesia in the afternoon (after lunch) and at night before hittin' the hay. I finished a 4-star sudoku in the newspaper today after giving up and coming back to it later several times. I got a surprise visit from a bunch of people back on campus, and we joked around for an hour or so before the nurse said visiting hours are over. We think the patients next door didn't find our conversations very tasteful. I must say I really appreciate the visits, even from the people who couldn't make it due to not enough room in Brian's car. Thanks guys, it means a lot to me.
DAY 5: Saturday, April 5, 2008
Today my parents made it up here via car. Apparently they drove all through the night and made it here at around 11 AM. By this day there was still a little air leakage from the chest cavity as seen from Pleur-Evac. Today there was no need for the IV anesthesia - only Percocet pills at night. It seemed to knock me out equally though.
DAY 6: Sunday, April 6, 2008
Today for dinner I ate cottage cheese (or tried to). Taylor said since I never had it before, he thought I would like it, so I decided to give it a try. It wasn't that great - sorry Taylor and Mikki. I know you guys are avid cottage cheese fans. Today there was also no improvement in air leakage. The surgeon told me before she left for the weekend on Saturday that if by Monday the leakage still persists, then we'll have to talk about surgery. I guess we might have to talk about surgery tomorrow, as I don't feel any better during this past week. My mom went to Wal-Mart to buy some boxers because I've worn the same pair for literally 6 days straight (shudder). Well, hopefully I'll get back soon enough so I could take regular showers instead of washcloth+basin baths with no-rinse-needed soap/shampoo.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Hospitalization
This is currently my first visit and stay at a hospital. Venue: Cayuga Medical Center. Reason: pneumothorax.
DAY 0: Monday, March 31, 2008
I got up on Monday, took a shower, did all the normal things that I would do in the morning (except hit up Muffinland for breakfast). I was still feeling shortness of breath and funkiness in my right chest area, so I figured I'd go to Gannett after turning in the dynamics lab report along the way. I got to Gannett probably around 9:45 AM, out of breath from walking maybe a quarter mile from my room.
They set me up with an appointment at 10:25 AM with a doctor, and he decided to send me downstairs to radiology to get a chest x-ray and blood work done to see what's wrong. After the chest x-ray, I sat around in the radiology lobby for maybe half an hour, waiting for word to begin blood work. However, word came in that the doctor called off the blood work and they told me to head upstairs to see the doctor again. At this point I figured they knew what was wrong.
The doctor told me that my right lung had completely collapsed, a sign of pneumothorax. Apparently pneumothorax is common in "tall thin males," which I precisely fit I suppose, and could happen spontaneously. And it did happen spontaneously - I remember it was Saturday at work in the Law School when I first felt short of breath, but I thought things would get better if I waited a bit, except things stayed the same by the time Monday rolled around.
Anyhoo, the doctor told me that he had already called an ambulance to take me to the ER, and to the ER I went, in an ambulance. It was strange looking at all the people in the lobby from a stretcher, and I guess it was strange for them to see a completely conscious guy in a stretcher being wheeled out. On the way out, the receptionists at Gannett said that my x-ray was famous, and they were surprised that I walked in to get checked out that morning.
Being in the ER was a completely new experience for me. There was a TV which I had no interest in watching, but other than that there was not much else to do. The surgeon came in to insert this small chest tube in the upper front of my right chest so that air surrounding the lung can be sucked out via a Heimlich valve, hopefully expanding the lung back to normal. So I waited an hour or two before they x-rayed me and found out that the valve wasn't working, so they hooked me up to suction to assist in pulling the air out. That took another few hours, during which Michelle paid a visit (I was completely surprised). After another x-ray at around dinnertime, they told me my lung should be ok but I'll still need the valve connected to me for the next few days. They told me that I could go home, except when I stood up I almost fainted, so they gave me a boxed lunch to eat (this was the first thing I had eaten all day long - at 6:30 PM). I then proceeded home via bus (and fainted on the bus but I woke up after a while) and went to bed after emailing about 32983403 people telling them I'm lame for the next few days.
DAY 1: Tuesday, April 1, 2008
I got up and walked to Gannett for a follow-up chest x-ray. After seeing that my right lung had re-collapsed overnight, they decided to send me back to the hospital as an admitted patient. I now have a patient room to myself (double-occupancy too, except I'm the only one in here for now). They now have me connected to wall suction 24 hours a day (except when I have to go drop a deuce - then they unplug me temporarily). The hospital food is ok, but after a while it seems like the same thing over and over again. This first day I spent just chillin' and sleeping. There are a lot of student nurses here in Cayuga Medical Center.
DAY 2: Wednesday, April 2, 2008
My second day as a resident in the hospital. They gave me the Ithaca Journal in the morning to help keep me occupied, seeing that I brought literally nothing with me because I did not foresee the need to come back to the hospital when I went for a follow-up at Gannett. I spent the day trying to read the newspaper, sleeping, and doing the sudoku in the paper...and I actually finished it (my first one - 3 stars, hehe). At around 7 or 8 PM, there was a surprise visit from Brian and Michelle, who drove down here to bring me some stuff and pay a visit. It was very nice (and surprising) to see them. Now I have a computer to check email and such (the hospital blocks Facebook for some reason) and my phone charger so I don't have to keep my phone turned off to conserve battery.
DAY 3: Thursday, April 3, 2008
As usual, I awoke at around 7 AM to get a chest x-ray done, except this time they wheeled me downstairs instead of using the portable x-ray machine in my room. After the x-ray came out, the surgeon came in and told me that they'll have to take out the thin chest tube that I've had for 3 days and replace it with a "real" chest tube - larger and more aggressive in sucking out air. This would involve a small operation in which they make an incision in my side and stick the tube in. This was not good for a few reasons - things were not getting better (namely, the lung re-collapsed the night before), and this tube fucking hurts to have inside you to say the least. I had the operation at around 10 AM, had lunch at normal lunch time (although my appetite was shot to death), and agonized until about 2:30 before the nurse decided the pain pills weren't working so they gave me some anesthesia through my IV. That knocked me out for the remainder of the afternoon until dinner came in on a tray. However, I guess the powerful anesthesia causes me to feel lightheaded and faint after sitting up for a while, so I ate dinner periodically sitting up and lying back down for the faintness to go away. I tried to do the sudoku in this morning's paper in the evening, but I kept feeling nauseous and dozing off. That kept up until around 9 PM, when I decided to actually brush my teeth and go to sleep, but not before the night nurse knocked me out with the anesthesia again. I think I woke up at 2:30 AM to take a leak. The tube really kills.
DAY 0: Monday, March 31, 2008
I got up on Monday, took a shower, did all the normal things that I would do in the morning (except hit up Muffinland for breakfast). I was still feeling shortness of breath and funkiness in my right chest area, so I figured I'd go to Gannett after turning in the dynamics lab report along the way. I got to Gannett probably around 9:45 AM, out of breath from walking maybe a quarter mile from my room.
They set me up with an appointment at 10:25 AM with a doctor, and he decided to send me downstairs to radiology to get a chest x-ray and blood work done to see what's wrong. After the chest x-ray, I sat around in the radiology lobby for maybe half an hour, waiting for word to begin blood work. However, word came in that the doctor called off the blood work and they told me to head upstairs to see the doctor again. At this point I figured they knew what was wrong.
The doctor told me that my right lung had completely collapsed, a sign of pneumothorax. Apparently pneumothorax is common in "tall thin males," which I precisely fit I suppose, and could happen spontaneously. And it did happen spontaneously - I remember it was Saturday at work in the Law School when I first felt short of breath, but I thought things would get better if I waited a bit, except things stayed the same by the time Monday rolled around.
Anyhoo, the doctor told me that he had already called an ambulance to take me to the ER, and to the ER I went, in an ambulance. It was strange looking at all the people in the lobby from a stretcher, and I guess it was strange for them to see a completely conscious guy in a stretcher being wheeled out. On the way out, the receptionists at Gannett said that my x-ray was famous, and they were surprised that I walked in to get checked out that morning.
Being in the ER was a completely new experience for me. There was a TV which I had no interest in watching, but other than that there was not much else to do. The surgeon came in to insert this small chest tube in the upper front of my right chest so that air surrounding the lung can be sucked out via a Heimlich valve, hopefully expanding the lung back to normal. So I waited an hour or two before they x-rayed me and found out that the valve wasn't working, so they hooked me up to suction to assist in pulling the air out. That took another few hours, during which Michelle paid a visit (I was completely surprised). After another x-ray at around dinnertime, they told me my lung should be ok but I'll still need the valve connected to me for the next few days. They told me that I could go home, except when I stood up I almost fainted, so they gave me a boxed lunch to eat (this was the first thing I had eaten all day long - at 6:30 PM). I then proceeded home via bus (and fainted on the bus but I woke up after a while) and went to bed after emailing about 32983403 people telling them I'm lame for the next few days.
DAY 1: Tuesday, April 1, 2008
I got up and walked to Gannett for a follow-up chest x-ray. After seeing that my right lung had re-collapsed overnight, they decided to send me back to the hospital as an admitted patient. I now have a patient room to myself (double-occupancy too, except I'm the only one in here for now). They now have me connected to wall suction 24 hours a day (except when I have to go drop a deuce - then they unplug me temporarily). The hospital food is ok, but after a while it seems like the same thing over and over again. This first day I spent just chillin' and sleeping. There are a lot of student nurses here in Cayuga Medical Center.
DAY 2: Wednesday, April 2, 2008
My second day as a resident in the hospital. They gave me the Ithaca Journal in the morning to help keep me occupied, seeing that I brought literally nothing with me because I did not foresee the need to come back to the hospital when I went for a follow-up at Gannett. I spent the day trying to read the newspaper, sleeping, and doing the sudoku in the paper...and I actually finished it (my first one - 3 stars, hehe). At around 7 or 8 PM, there was a surprise visit from Brian and Michelle, who drove down here to bring me some stuff and pay a visit. It was very nice (and surprising) to see them. Now I have a computer to check email and such (the hospital blocks Facebook for some reason) and my phone charger so I don't have to keep my phone turned off to conserve battery.
DAY 3: Thursday, April 3, 2008
As usual, I awoke at around 7 AM to get a chest x-ray done, except this time they wheeled me downstairs instead of using the portable x-ray machine in my room. After the x-ray came out, the surgeon came in and told me that they'll have to take out the thin chest tube that I've had for 3 days and replace it with a "real" chest tube - larger and more aggressive in sucking out air. This would involve a small operation in which they make an incision in my side and stick the tube in. This was not good for a few reasons - things were not getting better (namely, the lung re-collapsed the night before), and this tube fucking hurts to have inside you to say the least. I had the operation at around 10 AM, had lunch at normal lunch time (although my appetite was shot to death), and agonized until about 2:30 before the nurse decided the pain pills weren't working so they gave me some anesthesia through my IV. That knocked me out for the remainder of the afternoon until dinner came in on a tray. However, I guess the powerful anesthesia causes me to feel lightheaded and faint after sitting up for a while, so I ate dinner periodically sitting up and lying back down for the faintness to go away. I tried to do the sudoku in this morning's paper in the evening, but I kept feeling nauseous and dozing off. That kept up until around 9 PM, when I decided to actually brush my teeth and go to sleep, but not before the night nurse knocked me out with the anesthesia again. I think I woke up at 2:30 AM to take a leak. The tube really kills.
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