I have a vague memory of hallway ceilings, and then I was shifted to a hospital bed. I remember being terrified because I was tipped and thought I was falling again. I think I may have screamed.
I remember lots of people in the room talking very fast, but not all of them there at once. Masks. Everyone had masks on. I remember being told I had been given so much saline I needed to be given blood. The doctors decided on two units of blood, but I have no recollection of actually getting it. I know it was done, but I was mostly not conscious during the procedure. It did not stabilize me.
At some point someone told me the steroids had induced diabetes in me. I believe I responded with a word I usually try not to say.
On the 10th they gave me another unit of blood, which was enough to stop the downturn. I got conscious enough to post on Facebook about my "vampire grape juice" which I vividly remember watching flow into me through the IV. I kept thinking of whoever donated the blood and thanking them in my mind.
By the 11th I was able to lift my hands again, which was my sign that I was getting better. I hadn't realized how incredibly weak I was until I was back in the hospital. I spent the 11th being helped by a student nurse, and for the rest of my stay I had a couple of other students practice on me. I gather I'm a "good" patient.
I learned how to use a walker, and had some seriously aggressive medicine pumped into me that reduced my bloating by... a lot. I lost more than 30 pounds of water weight while in the hospital. I'm told I produced 13 liters. So I was EXTREMELY bloated. I'm still really not able to grasp that number - 30 pounds. Of water. How the heck did I put it on in the first place???
I guess it has to do with the "hydrate hydrate hydrate" advice I was constantly getting. "You feel bad because you don't drink enough water!" so I drank more water. And when I started bloating I didn't stop drinking water because I felt bad. Oops. So aggressive medical action was required to get rid of all the water I drank and retained.
On the 11th, I did have a diabetes lesson, but I was still fairly dazed and confused, and I retained almost nothing from it. This was scary later when the hospitalist wanted to discharge me and I didn't know how to handle the diabetes side of things.
To be continued...
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