Is This How It Ends?

 

 

Continued from previous post…

That first night at EIRMC, things seemed to go as smoothly as one can go given the circumstances.

The next day was a shift change. I was assigned a new day shift nurse as well as a new night shift nurse.  My night nurse came in around 7pm to introduce herself and take vitals.

But then I didn’t see her for several hours.

Around 10:30pm, I started hemorrhaging and throwing clots again. I called the nurses station and requested my nurse come to my room. She seemed a little irritated that I would do such a thing. But as she was in the process of scolding me for interrupting her night, she stopped dead in her tracks. Frozen in place. 

“What’s the matter?” I asked

“I… I don’t know what to do” she responds

“Okay. Let’s start with the basics. How about checking my vitals to be sure I’m still alive and not in any medical trouble here”

So while she’s getting my blood pressure, I suggested she call her charge nurse and the doctors that are listed in my chart to get some guidance. 

She left the room. And I patiently waited… 

And waited…

And waited…

I was still laying in the pool of my own blood. And 2 hours had passed by. Still no sign of the nurse. 

I honestly thought this would be the night that I died.  This was the ONLY time that I have ever felt this.  I was alone, laying in a pool of blood, and my nurse was nowhere to be found.

And I began to pray. Earnestly.  Now, I’ve not lived a perfect life. In fact, I’ve done quite a few things that don’t exactly match up with the things that I have been taught.  But at this moment, I felt the need to have a conversation with the Lord. 

I’ve been advised I shouldn’t share the details of what occurred next, so what I will say instead is that I know for fact that my Father in Heaven loves me very much. There is no denying the feeling that came over me. While I continue to conquer hurdle after hurdle, I am at complete peace with whatever happens next.

After disappearing for 2 and a half hours, my nurse finally reappeared. Instead of contacting her charge nurse or any of my listed doctors, she had gone downstairs to the emergency room to find an emergency room doctor. 

The next morning one of the hospitalists (a doctor that only works the floors at the hospital) stopped in to see me. I relayed my concern over what had transpired during the night.  

I had my first appointment that morning at the Cancer Center. I had no idea what to expect.  More on that in my next post.

When I returned from my appointment, the Nursing Floor Director paid me a visit. He is in charge of everyone that works his floor, and hierarchy wise is above the charge nurses.  He wanted to know exactly what took place during the night. 

Once again, I explained what happened. He was very kind and said he was going to look into the situation. It turns out the nurse had been ‘borrowed’ from another floor and I was told not to worry because she would not be taking care of me any more.  I was really impressed with how quickly he handled the situation and that it was handled professionally.

Until next time…