From the Hospital Trenches

As I drove down to Denver this morning to visit Beth, I felt acutely aware and grateful for things I don't think about enough; good health, moving freely without pain, seeing the glorious fall colors against the sky. Amazing how a situation like the one Beth is in really focuses the mind.

Beth now has three titanium plates permanently inside her: clavicle, ankle, arm. The docs (along with their obligatory trail of residents, nurses, and nursing students) came in to round on her while I was there and answered some questions. She still has the epidural for pain but they will be taking that out in the next couple of days because they don't want to risk infection at the site. She controls that herself with a button; in addition, they have weaned her off the other IV pain drip and transitioned her to Percoset pills to manage the pain in her extremities. (Apparently the epidural manages pain in the central body area.) Once she is released, they will need to have figured out the proper pain-management cocktail for home, so this is the beginning of that next phase. They made her cough and watched the fluid they are collecting from her chest tube at the same time. Today is the first day they haven't seen bubbles in it, which is what they're looking for. Yay! That means the puncture is starting to close up. They asked her about pain in her legs and pelvis but she couldn't really answer--she's still pretty numb. They talked about the possibility of getting her to stand in the next day or two. Beth, the model patient, perked right up and said, "Do you want me to try now?" Negative--they thought maybe she might need the assistance of some experts with that!

They also talked about the sacral fracture and whether or not that will require surgery--they can't tell until they see how much pain she is in when she actually stands. Seems like if we can put a man on the moon and invent the Internet that someone should be able to determine if she requires another surgery or not on that. Just sayin'.

In terms of the longer horizon: they think she will be in the SICU for another few days, and then out on the hospital floor for several more. It will depend on how quickly she heals: the chest tube has to be removed before discharge. So she has a ways to go yet.

The nutritionist came in and asked Beth about her appetite (zero) and if there were anything on the menu she was tempted by. Beth asked what was organic and was told none of it. Hmmm. Matt and I immediately started talking about options to bring from home, like homemade broth, organic yogurt, etc. He is on it and plans to start tomorrow with some healthy options for her. She did eat a few small spoonfuls of Yoplait but it was definitely work to stay with it.

Her friend Alan was working in the area, so he stopped by to say hi, which was great. I shared with Beth some of the messages I've received -- keep them coming, they really feed her -- and gave her some kisses on her forehead I had stored up from other friends (and their pets). There seem to be the beginnings of an altar on her table, and I collected up some of the small objects people have brought and put them on a ceramic tray. Feel free to add to it if you wish. As I left, again feeling intensely grateful for my working arms and legs and lungs and everything else, Matt was getting Beth to do her breathing exercises, which are exhausting for her but essential, and cheering her on: "You're doing great, lovey... one more!"