Well, we've made it through another day. Hopefully, we'll make it through another evening, as well. After an extremely rough morning, Bethany had a pretty good afternoon, and a not-so-good evening. After the morning, Bethany began to feel quite well; so well, in fact, that she was able to check her FB status and work on her laptop for about 20 minutes. The doctors asked that she attempt to walk 4 times today, as well as eat 3 meals.
In the early afternoon, the Infectious Disease doctor arrived. I was getting ready to go home for a nap, when he said that he thought Bethany should be able to go home tomorrow. What? Apparently, he hadn't witnessed Bethany for the past 24 hours. Apparently, his less than 5 minute assessment, along with her looking rather chipper, was enough for him to say, "Adios, Bethany." His plan is, insurance willing, that he send her home tomorrow, with an IV pic line, and some additional antibiotics. Hmmm. Sounds awfully familiar, if you ask me.
Haven't we walked this path at least 6x prior? I mean, this is Bethany's third major surgery, and each time she has had to return to the hospital, having been discharged prematurely. I mean, shouldn't she at least be off the IV Dilatid for at least 24 hours? Shouldn't she at least be able to hold food down? Shouldn't she at least be able to walk around the floor without collapsing? Shouldn't she at least be able to sit up or sit in a chair for longer than 5 minutes without feeling as though her head was going to explode? Hmmmm.....
After the doctor left the room, Joe and I discussed the aforementioned and our discontent at the plan. First of all, if the insurance company doesn't approve the IV pic antibiotics, then she will merely be sent home with some oral antibiotics. Again, frustration. I don't want to sound all negative, it's just that Bethany has been done this exact same road numerous times before, and what part of 'discharging prematurely leads to another hospital stay within a week,' doesn't the hospital understand?
So, I went home, cleaned house, picked up Jonathan from school, grocery shopped, took Jonathan to the basketball game, ate dinner and headed back to the hospital. In the mean time, Bethany had attempted to sit up and had to immediately lay back down. She became nauseus, dizzy and developed an extreme headache. So, she didn't actually get up to walk. She did, however, manage to swallow a few spoonfuls of rice and a banana. YES!!!
When I returned, she told me that she didn't feel well at all, she couldn't get out of bed, and that her pain level was at an 8 out of 10. She definitely knows how to handle her pain. After about 2 hours, we saw the nurse and she just gave Bethany an Ambien to help her sleep. She had slept a lot this afternoon, and she is definitely going to need a sleeping aid. She is currently in tears and fearful of what the evening may hold. Another sleepless night? More hallucinations? I told her to just relax and enter a heavenly dreamland.
Joe mentioned that the insurance company is going to cover for her to have IV pic line, with IV antibiotics for 6 weeks at home. Woo-Hoo! That's great news because I didn't think that merely oral antibiotics would do.
Again, thank you everyone, for your kind words of prayers and encouragement to Bethany and to our family during this time, for the cards and meals delivered to Joy and Jonathan, and the words of advice. We truly appreciate each and every one of you.
Love, Shari and Bethany
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