Saturday, September 26, 2009

A Hospital is For Rest. Right?

Well, Mother Nature has been promising rain all day, the sky covered in heavy gray clouds, and now finally, she's making good. Thunder is rumbling somewhere south of here and seems to be getting closer. The rain started to fall in tiny drops as I was leaving the hospital and now home, it is falling heavier.

I just got in from a visit with Mags who is still not feeling good. Her lungs are in bad shape. She is on oxygen and still getting breathing treatments with Albuterol. The most crucial part of her recovery, rest, is not available to her because of her roommate. Her roommate is an 84 year old woman who, apparently has dementia. The woman shouts and yells all day. Her kids (who are in their 50's and 60's) come to see her and they don't talk to her. They yell. Mom is as deaf as a rock even with her hearing aids, and everything must be screamed into her tiny little ears. So they yell back and forth to each other for all of the alloted 10 hours of visiting time. She howls all night. For the nurse to come. For my wife (who she is convinced, has a twin sister staying in the room with them) to help her in and out of her bed. (She's actually always in bed) She hallucinates and one of them she was sure as certain that her doctor called her and told her she had a brain tumor and apparently she called all her kids in the middle of the night to tell them this. She yells for her kids at one in the morning. Mags has not had more than one night of sleep. That one night was her first night when her roomie a pleasant little old lady of Czechoslavakian decent. Sadly she left. The room. Not like 'this World' or anything...

Anyways. The nurses have had to come in and tell her to be quiet several times per night because she is disturbing her roommate. She becomes beligerent and this goes on and on. I wondered aloud why they couldn't just give her a little sumpin' in her Taipoca to knock her ass out, but apparently that is not allowed.

Today, after yet another night of no sleep because of Mamma CuckoPants, Mags demanded her roommate be moved. They told her no, but we can move you. Mags was like "no freakin' way. I was here first and I have a window view. Besides I'm not the problem." So her nurse today (who was excellent by the way) told her problem patient was being moved. Never happened. Hopefully tomorrow.



1 comment:

Madam Z said...

Connor, I am sorry to hear that Mags is so sick! And for her to have to endure a roommate like that is beyond the pale. I hope they move the woman into a room with another deaf person, who will not mind all the screaming. And I certainly hope that your lovely wife gets well soon.