Doc Talk

After I finished my blog and hung out a while longer, I was out of patience. I had been waiting for 14 hours to find out what was going on and still had heard nothing despite my constant asking for a doctor to see me.

So I put on my big girl panties and went to get some info. I stood in Jerid's room and listened to the rounds. About 10 doctors were standing around talking about Jerid's case. Just like in Grey's Anatomy, one lucky resident got to present the case and the head guy made them answer questions. (Just for the record, I knew more of the answers than they did... can I have a white coat?) Once they finished they all walked away towards the next room. Oh no you didn't. I told the nurse that I wanted to talk to a doctor... NOW. So this little curly head kid comes up and says he's a doctor.
"Are you in charge?", I asked.
"No."
"Who is?"
"Him." He said pointing to the guy who did all the talking earlier.
"I want him over here now"

Once he came over I told him that I had been waiting 14 hours for someone to talk to me, I was hungry, tired and worried about my husband. I told him I wanted to know what happened, what is happening now, and what is going to happen.

He must have seen the psychotic, mentally unstable look in my eye, because he started spilling the beans.

On top of the airways being closed up so much, he now has Pneumonia. He was stable and receiving lots of yummy medications to relax him. He had a very rough night with all the trauma, and his body needed to rest. So he will stay on the ventilator until he can breathe on his own easier. They put a tube up his nose and down his throat into his belly so he can get some much needed nutrition. Once they're sure that he's nice and stable, they will attempt to get him into the O.R. to work on the whole airway issue.

I went in to see him and he was fairly awake. He wanted to know what the doctor said and was using his pen and paper to ask me questions. They were pretty reasonable thoughts until he asked me what kind of bike I was riding. I confirmed that he really was asking that. So at least we know the drugs are working

With that, I went home. I took myself a yummy little pill and slept from 2:30 to 5:30. Ahhhh....

Right after I woke up, the doctor called me. Everything was fine, but they needed my consent. On the latest x-ray that they did of Jerid's lungs, they found a small pneumothorax. (a pocket of air in the cavity outside the lung) Though it was very small, it could potentially be dangerous. Because of being intibated, the pneumothorax could get larger and the lung wouldn't have any room to inflate and therefore collapse. So they put a chest tube in to release the air.

After giving my consent I went and took a much needed shower. And brushed my teeth which by this time were covered with what felt like fur. I got back in the car and headed back to the hospital.

As soon as I got into ICU, I ran into the doctor. He seemed very eager to stop his conversation with another doctor and give me his full attention. (I think he's scared of me :) The tube went in fine and everything else is looking good. Jerid will be sedated throughout the night and most of the day tomorrow so that he can rest. I looked in on him, and sure enough, he was out of it.

The plan is to let him have a quiet night and day tomorrow and get him into the O.R. on Thursday. So if you don't hear anything tomorrow, it's because all is well. No news is good news.

Meanwhile, Rick and Rose and little Annie are on there way here. They should arrive around 2:00am. Though this is so far not a life or death situation, Jerid is critically ill. Good or bad, he needs his family here. And I'm really looking forward to their arrival. I can't wait to see my baby. The last time I talked to Rose on the phone, Annie was in the back seat reading a book. Out loud. I could hear her jabbering away.

I'll be hanging out here at the hospital until 11:00ish and then head back home for hopefully a good night's rest.

Thanks for all the calls and comments and prayers and especially for Adrienne's chant. I wonder what she was wearing when she was chanting that????

Love to you all.