What's Up, Doc? in The Everyday (A Diary Of Sorts)

Here I am, at eight in the evening, in the hospital. This is not how I wanted to start out this week. Who DOES want to start out their week like that?

It's a long story. Let me start at the beginning...

As I've said before, I'm on kidney dialysis three times a week. I had a graft in my right arm through which my veins and arteries could be accessed for the procedure, but as these things usually do, it eventually stopped working correctly. Therefore, one had to be put in my other arm, that being the left one. Because I have very small veins, the new graft didn't work right from the start; my veins are too small to support a graft. Now,that graft, which was never removed from my arm, even though it didn't work,has become infected, and the only way to treat it is with antibiotics, given intravenously. Therefore, here I am. I don't know how long I'll be here; it may be a few days, maybe more. It depends on whether the surgeon who put the graft in in the first place thinks it has to be removed or not. Most likely, with my wonderful luck, he'll say it has to come out,which means a longer stay.

This does not make me at all happy. Sunday is the last day our minister, who is leaving for a new call in Michigan, will be with us, and we were planning on having a luncheon for him and his young family. I really wanted to be there. Now there's a strong possibility I won't be.

I'm really annoyed.

Though I really hate the idea of having to be here, and I wouldn't have had to be if the surgeon et al rehad not insisted that they put in a graft, because after all, the only other access port would be via a catheter, which is risky. They are very prone to infection, or so I am told. My catheter is just fine; I've had no problems with it so far. The graaft, however--the very one that doesn't and never did work--got infected. I told the surgeon and others that it would be a problem and I really didn't want it, and that it would only be a nightmare for everyone, and I was right. Did anyone listen to me? OF course not. I'm just a stupid patient. What do I know? Now I am getting the sick satisfaction of being able to say, "I told you so, I told you so!"

But that doesn't change the fact that I'm here, and that makes me rather annoyed.

At least I have internet access. It took a while for me to get it, but thanks to a very diligent nurse, who probably should have been doing other things rather than fiddling around with my iPad trying to get a connection for me, I am now connected. Thank you, Brandy.

This means I don't need the television, and since I have my own phone, I don't need to p ay for that either. With my internet connection, I can get all the television I want through Netflix and the various movies and television reruns of my favorite old shows, among them "The Dick Van Dyke Show," which I have been watching lately. I've just gotten through season 1. Who needs to pay for the hospital's cable access? It's never that good anyway.

And so far, everything is going smoothly. The nurses are very nice and very accommodating, sometimes above and beyond the call of duty, and I've had my dinner,which wasn't so great, but since I was hungry after not having had anything to eat all day, I managed to eat quite a bit of and almost actually enjoy it. Now it's a bit quiet here, and I am alone save for the guy in the next bed, who is a bit weird (he had a head injury.), but he's apparently harmless, and besides which, he's not supposed to get out of bed on his own, and so far, he's being obedient. Weird, maybe, but obedient.

I'm happy for now, despite where I am and the circumstances that brought me here, but I can't complain, because life is what it is. I'll be here fora few days being medicated, unless they decide they need to remove the graft, which means I'll be here for a few extra days, because they most likely can't remove the graft until the infection is gone. I'll be back, with more information as things progress.

And how was YOUR day?