Saturday, March 21, 2020

Kidney Saga part 46

On the 12th I was doing pretty well, despite some oddness.

I had my first gushing bloody nose that I recall, with blood just dripping down my face. My blood pressure was consistently high, so it wasn't really all that much of a surprise to the nurses, but I was shocked by it.

I had more lessons in using a walker, and more student nurses. But best of all, to me, was the news that my kidney functions were getting better. My blood sugar was slowly easing back into normal ranges, although it was still high.

Sadly, I had a downturn on the 13th, and the doctors came in and talked very very fast to each other in a patter that I barely followed and changed my treatment. Apparently my platelets were decreasing and I was getting sicker. Everything was happening very fast, but I agreed to the decision to go to the older, nastier solution to fixing my kidneys.

In the meantime, I was watching the news on my phone and feeling increasingly terrified for everyone outside the hospital. I felt fairly safe, in the hands of multiple nurses. But I kept reading about my friends going into social isolation and trying to deal with our new reality, and it slowly became a weird nightmare of surreal proportions.

When I went into the hospital on Monday, some of the nurses talked about how the clocks were wrong - they literally hadn't realized Daylight Saving Time had happened. By Friday, most of the nurses had learned about WHO declaring a pandemic and were beginning to get a little concerned about what is about to happen.


At some point, when the nurses left my door open, I figured out that there were a number of cancer patients on the floor. At one point I heard someone screaming in pain, I think it was a man. I wanted to help him, but there was nothing I could do.

On the 14th my blood sugar levels finally reached normal, and I started to be able to think again. It was nice. I also found that I really really like fresh pineapple chunks, which surprised me. I kept requesting them with every meal.

To be continued...

Full Kidney Saga --- Kidney Wish List --- GoFundMe

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