Short Fuse - Long Day

Living in the midst of a long-term family illness is always a challenge.  Every daily detail, whether significant or not, must be planned and scheduled around the issues to do with the medical situation.  Many of you also experience this, or have in the past.

Yesterday Murphy's Law (everything that can go wrong, will go wrong) was working just fine, thank you very much.  IV supplies were in short supply, thanks to another nurse who used the last of the a) syringes, b) saline bottles, c) heparin, d) dispensing picks, e) take your pick.  And, of course, she did not tell us.  So, surprise!  As we prepare to do his infusion.

This necessitated another call to the IV infusion pharmacy alerting them to add "whatever" to the order they were delivering later in the day.  Then the UPS driver arrived, unexpectedly (he was the due the day before, so we were grateful he came, but still) with wound vac supplies.

Then the PICC line to his heart, that delivers the high-powered antibiotics to fight the infection in his bone marrow, "migrated" - that is, moved an inch or two and now here we are today, facing a long day in the hospital ER.  While it will be a non-emergency visit, it is Saturday and that means any regular appointments are not possible and we must wait, for however long the powers-that-be decide to let him lay in the lobby on a gurney, until someone can do an ex-ray of the placement of the line to determine whether it must be removed and a new one placed in his other arm.

He is definitely running out of body parts to puncture.

Called the medical transport people yesterday to schedule this unanticipated ride to the hospital via gurney, only to be informed that they had no vehicle available at the time we were requesting.  They could come two hours later, and warned us that we will likely have to wait two hours from the time he is finished at the hospital, before they can pick him up.  Oh, goody.

And on and on it goes.......  and where it stops, only God knows.  But He does know.  That is all that keeps us going.

I am not the energizer bunny, much as I try to imitate one.  And K. has been battling various medical emergencies for over 25 years.  I have tried to be there with him through each one.  This time, I have a front-row seat for each and every day for the past three months, and for the next three also, as we have been informed that it will be at least that long.  That was the news for this week.

I have often said, "The years may fly by, but the days can be very long."  Today may seem interminable, but it is not.  It will end, and God will still be God, and we will still be depending upon Him.

Checklist for K.
His health insurance and ID cards
His water bottle
An extra sheet to help with gurney transfer
Small blanket - hospitals are COLD
Call ahead to assure they are expecting a gurney arrival
Confirm PICC line nurse available
Assure Wound Vac battery viability for length of stay
Call medi-transport to confirm vehicle available

Checklist for me:
Water bottle
Crossword puzzle book & pencil
Reading material
Cell phone
Snack bars
Ibuprofen (those hospital waiting room chairs kill my back)

Okay - we are "good to go" - may the force be with us!  :)  Actually the only true force in the universe - Our Heavenly Father - is with us.  Thankfully!

Until next time - hope your "to do list" is more fun than ours.  :)
...Marsha