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I am now being disconnected and transported down the hallway past cubicles each filled with patients coughing, sneezing, moaning and groaning, or sleeping. I should note that ALL this time I have worn my mask until they stuck oxygen tubing in my nose.
I eventually arrive at room 1508 after being wheeled through multiple hallways and elevators. This room is next to the nurse’s station. For those not familiar with hospitals, the room next to the nurse’s station is inevitability noisy. I am now being reconnected, checked in, and, hey, I have a TV!
Everyone here is wearing a mask and gloves (some even with face shields). Oh, I need to pee again! I cannot leave the bed unless there is someone in the room. How do I know? Because the bed will notify someone if I get out, it will notify the nurses and the rest of the hallway.
”Hungry?”
“Yes!” They bring me some pudding (chocolate), small diet Pepsi, and graham crackers (2 packages of two). I find MSNBC and watch for a while; and, although encouraged to get some rest, could not! I will say that my level of - not feeling safe has improved and panic lessened but, still you know - petri dish. Trying to move to my side, I once again disconnect the heart monitor. The beeper beeps! The nurse comes to reconnect.
I should also add the staff was very pleasant and seemed truly interested in my level of comfort.
Once connected, the tech wanted to know if I wanted the door open/closed, if I needed to use the restroom, etc. I now shared that I could NOT sleep with the IV because of the pain every time I moved and that, by now, my arm was aching. She said that she could remove it and then in the morning, before her shift ended, she would replace in a less painful location.
“YES, please!”
Finally, once removed. I rolled over, noting it was now 4 am, and I fell asleep without additional oxygen support, at least until they came to check vitals and reattach my heart monitor again.
There is a sense of uneasiness knowing that this is all taking place amid a pandemic and everyone entering the room is a reminder of that fact. Everyone, except one, is wearing a mask. The biggest breakdown when adhering to established protocols would be the doctors as they dropped by to do their thing. Wearing masks seems to be a habit they have yet to develop. I will note that they stayed 6 feet away. There was one nurse that had issues with the mask claiming problems with hot flashes, PMS and ensuring me they took her temperature daily before entering the building, still I put mine on!
In the morning when the tech arrived to take my blood pressure, check oxygen levels, and sugar levels ask, “Is you pulse normally 35 bpm?”
I inquire, “Is that bad?”
She replied, “Well, we just noticed that it dropped to 35/36 bpm during the night.”
Frankly, I was a bit confused, not knowing if I was supposed to be concerned or what this even meant.
Later, when finally FULLY awake, figured it was because they did not provide oxygen and without a CPAP I stop breathing while sleeping.
Actually, I never got oxygen.
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