This Post.
I don't know what to call this post. I think I'll call it "This Post". That works for me. I don't know why a post needs a name. I guess it just does. I'm going to fill in the title box now.
There, now I feel better. The younger baby girl came with me to the grocery store today. We bought a six pack of IBC Black Cherry Soda. We like the Root Beer and the Cream Soda from IBC, we have never tried the Black Cherry. I was carrying the six pack of IBC Black Cherry into the house. I was holding it by the carry handle so conveniently located at the top of the cardboard IBC six pack container. The handle broke. The six pack of IBC Black Cherry Soda landed upside down. All six bottles of IBC Black Cherry Soda broke. All six of the twelve ounce bottles deposited their contents of IBC Black Cherry Soda on the patio. It was sad, watching the IBC Black Cherry Soda run across the concrete, mixing with the light rain that was falling at the time. I stood there with the cardboard handle still in hand. It was all so very Hitchcockian.
****************************
May Day; Revisited.
So the doctors called me on Thursday. The first doctor called at around two-thirty in the afternoon. He said the first part of the operation went well. No complications. He said the second surgeon was working on her. The reconstruction team was on the job. The second doctor called me on my cell phone, well it's a TRAC FONE just for emergencies. Anyway, the second doctor called me a little bit after five on Thursday afternoon. I was down at The Dock for my regular shift. We are not supposed to use cell phones unless on a scheduled break but this was different. The Foreman knew I was waiting for these calls. I was back in the racks when the call came in. The second doctor said his part all went well too. No complications. He said she'd be in recovery for about four hours and he gave me the phone number for the recovery room. I called the recovery room on my lunch break, they said she was already moved to a regular room and doing well. The nurses in the area where they moved her said she was sleeping. I figured that was good and I'd talk to her in the morning.
Friday morning I take the younger baby girl to school. The older baby girl is still sleeping and my wife called at around eight-thirty. She sounded good. She said she was hungry. We talked for a few minutes. I ran up to Radio Shack and got the stuff I needed to hook up the stereo to the computer so we can play streaming audio and all that good stuff through the stereo. I had to pull some wire through the basement because the stereo and the computer are in different rooms. I got it all done before I went to work. Now when she comes home from the hospital she can listen to her favorite radio station. KBXR 102.3 Columbia Missouri. She really likes Simon Rose, this British guy who's on the air at BXR from two through seven (CST) on weekdays. My wife has always been a sucker for a British or a Scottish accent. She likes that Craig Ferguson guy too.
I put in my time down The Dock and got home about fifteen minutes before midnight. We start at three on Fridays. No sooner had I walked in the door and the phone rang. It was my wife. She was upset. We talked for almost an hour. Her hospital room has no windows. Now I'm not a doctor but I would think that kind of lock down situation has got to mess with a person. It can't be good for your soul if you can't even look out the window. I'm not complaining, they are taking good care of her. I just think every hospital room should have a window. She said they were concerned about the bleeding. She has these drains in her, two on each side. She said the doctors were concerned, the blood seemed to be draining faster than normal. At one in the morning they came into her room to give her a transfusion. We had to end our phone call at that time.
This morning she says that the bleeding slowed way down. It's all under control. We have spoken several times today. At one point she told me they took her off the morphine IV drip thing. She said they were giving her pills now. The next time we talked she asked me to call her doctor and tell him that she needed stronger pain killers for when she comes home. I only heard the first part. I thought she was saying that she needed stronger pain killers right now. I didn't hear the part about when she comes home. She was basing this request on the prescription they gave her almost two weeks ago when she had the biopsy done on her Sentinel Lymph Node. She was saying that now, after the bilateral mastectomy, now it hurts a lot worse so she would like to have stronger pain killers.
So I call the doctor and get his service. I tell the service that I just need a minute of the doctor's time. He calls back in like ten minutes and wants to know if the nurses are taking care of my wife and giving her the pain killers. I said yes, the nurses are taking real good care of her and that she just wanted some stronger medication and, oh boy. Did I screw that all up.
So the doctor starts telling me that my wife has to talk to the nurses and that he cant' be going to her room to give her a pill and,...... AAAAAHHHHH!......THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID..... I wanted to scream but I didn't. So he says he's going to her room to see her and see what he could do. I call her right back and let her know that he's coming down to her room to check things out. I guess he did that. I guess it's all good now.
I have to be honest here. I don't really care if some nurse thought I was complaining. I don't care if the doctor thinks I'm complaining. All I care about is my wife and what's best for her. I would be there if I could. We live pretty far from Pittsburgh and I have to work. We have kids and dogs and birds who all need to be taken care of. I don't need to be losing hours at my job and losing money from my paycheck at this point in time when my wife is not able to work because she has cancer and just had her breasts removed and will need chemotherapy and who knows what else by the time this is all said and done. If those people at the hospital in Pittsburgh can't understand that, if they can't understand that it's a little bit hard to be the concerned spouse and advocate for my wife while she goes through all of this on her own because I have to be here to hold the fort down and work so we can pay our bills. If those people can't cut us just a little bit of slack here then shame on them.
Hey Tommy. I have to run bro. I have to put some stuff in the dryer and go to the store to get some IBC Black Cherry Soda............Yeah buddy I know. Right about now I'm talkin' too much.
There, now I feel better. The younger baby girl came with me to the grocery store today. We bought a six pack of IBC Black Cherry Soda. We like the Root Beer and the Cream Soda from IBC, we have never tried the Black Cherry. I was carrying the six pack of IBC Black Cherry into the house. I was holding it by the carry handle so conveniently located at the top of the cardboard IBC six pack container. The handle broke. The six pack of IBC Black Cherry Soda landed upside down. All six bottles of IBC Black Cherry Soda broke. All six of the twelve ounce bottles deposited their contents of IBC Black Cherry Soda on the patio. It was sad, watching the IBC Black Cherry Soda run across the concrete, mixing with the light rain that was falling at the time. I stood there with the cardboard handle still in hand. It was all so very Hitchcockian.
****************************
May Day; Revisited.
So the doctors called me on Thursday. The first doctor called at around two-thirty in the afternoon. He said the first part of the operation went well. No complications. He said the second surgeon was working on her. The reconstruction team was on the job. The second doctor called me on my cell phone, well it's a TRAC FONE just for emergencies. Anyway, the second doctor called me a little bit after five on Thursday afternoon. I was down at The Dock for my regular shift. We are not supposed to use cell phones unless on a scheduled break but this was different. The Foreman knew I was waiting for these calls. I was back in the racks when the call came in. The second doctor said his part all went well too. No complications. He said she'd be in recovery for about four hours and he gave me the phone number for the recovery room. I called the recovery room on my lunch break, they said she was already moved to a regular room and doing well. The nurses in the area where they moved her said she was sleeping. I figured that was good and I'd talk to her in the morning.
Friday morning I take the younger baby girl to school. The older baby girl is still sleeping and my wife called at around eight-thirty. She sounded good. She said she was hungry. We talked for a few minutes. I ran up to Radio Shack and got the stuff I needed to hook up the stereo to the computer so we can play streaming audio and all that good stuff through the stereo. I had to pull some wire through the basement because the stereo and the computer are in different rooms. I got it all done before I went to work. Now when she comes home from the hospital she can listen to her favorite radio station. KBXR 102.3 Columbia Missouri. She really likes Simon Rose, this British guy who's on the air at BXR from two through seven (CST) on weekdays. My wife has always been a sucker for a British or a Scottish accent. She likes that Craig Ferguson guy too.
I put in my time down The Dock and got home about fifteen minutes before midnight. We start at three on Fridays. No sooner had I walked in the door and the phone rang. It was my wife. She was upset. We talked for almost an hour. Her hospital room has no windows. Now I'm not a doctor but I would think that kind of lock down situation has got to mess with a person. It can't be good for your soul if you can't even look out the window. I'm not complaining, they are taking good care of her. I just think every hospital room should have a window. She said they were concerned about the bleeding. She has these drains in her, two on each side. She said the doctors were concerned, the blood seemed to be draining faster than normal. At one in the morning they came into her room to give her a transfusion. We had to end our phone call at that time.
This morning she says that the bleeding slowed way down. It's all under control. We have spoken several times today. At one point she told me they took her off the morphine IV drip thing. She said they were giving her pills now. The next time we talked she asked me to call her doctor and tell him that she needed stronger pain killers for when she comes home. I only heard the first part. I thought she was saying that she needed stronger pain killers right now. I didn't hear the part about when she comes home. She was basing this request on the prescription they gave her almost two weeks ago when she had the biopsy done on her Sentinel Lymph Node. She was saying that now, after the bilateral mastectomy, now it hurts a lot worse so she would like to have stronger pain killers.
So I call the doctor and get his service. I tell the service that I just need a minute of the doctor's time. He calls back in like ten minutes and wants to know if the nurses are taking care of my wife and giving her the pain killers. I said yes, the nurses are taking real good care of her and that she just wanted some stronger medication and, oh boy. Did I screw that all up.
So the doctor starts telling me that my wife has to talk to the nurses and that he cant' be going to her room to give her a pill and,...... AAAAAHHHHH!......THAT'S NOT WHAT I SAID..... I wanted to scream but I didn't. So he says he's going to her room to see her and see what he could do. I call her right back and let her know that he's coming down to her room to check things out. I guess he did that. I guess it's all good now.
I have to be honest here. I don't really care if some nurse thought I was complaining. I don't care if the doctor thinks I'm complaining. All I care about is my wife and what's best for her. I would be there if I could. We live pretty far from Pittsburgh and I have to work. We have kids and dogs and birds who all need to be taken care of. I don't need to be losing hours at my job and losing money from my paycheck at this point in time when my wife is not able to work because she has cancer and just had her breasts removed and will need chemotherapy and who knows what else by the time this is all said and done. If those people at the hospital in Pittsburgh can't understand that, if they can't understand that it's a little bit hard to be the concerned spouse and advocate for my wife while she goes through all of this on her own because I have to be here to hold the fort down and work so we can pay our bills. If those people can't cut us just a little bit of slack here then shame on them.
Hey Tommy. I have to run bro. I have to put some stuff in the dryer and go to the store to get some IBC Black Cherry Soda............Yeah buddy I know. Right about now I'm talkin' too much.
posted by Squarehead at 4:25 PM
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