Quarantine Journals - Friend in the hospital

If yesterday was stressful for all the wrong reasons, today was ready to bring some perspective. My friend, Meggan, had posted about being nervous going into her infusion appointment today. It was the first time she was leaving the house in over a month.  She texted me pretty stressed out because she saw a van pull up with the name of the nursing home that has a massive Covid outbreak on it. And then shortly after she texted me again that she had gone into anaphylactic shock and an ambulance was taking her to the hospital.

She was kind enough to give frequent updates, and when she arrived at the hospital the woman there laughed at her asking why she had come in if they had already given her an EpiPen and Benadryl. They left her sitting in the ER with absolutely no equipment or hooked up to anything, and she started to feel really bad. She said she was going to yell for the staff, and I told her she absolutely needed to. When they came back in, they discovered that her blood pressure was superlow, and her heart rate was through the roof, and both of them just kept swinging from one extreme to the other. They got her hooked up to equipment, and then shortly there after they sent her for an echo. The echo came back severely abnormal.  

They decided to admit her to the hospital because they were afraid she was having a heart attack. They did an ultrasound, hooked up to an EKG, and did a variety of other cardio related tests. They told her that they couldn't take her back to her room until they tested for Covid, but the test for Cove it just ended up being a chest x-ray. Once it finished it, they took her up to her room.  they told her she could remove her N95 mask there, but she said no thanks.

The patient in the room next to her was coughing and wheezing the entire time, and then that evening she noticed that the staff had started coming in and out wearing full PPE. So we are assuming that the gentleman there has Covid. And the nurse, who is working with both of them, keeps coming in with the same protective gear on.

As we were coming into the evening, she texted me that her battery was getting low. She asked if I wanted the hospital information and I told her absolutely yes, so she sent me her room number, hospital name, and a password to call and get updates on how she's doing. Then she went to the bathroom and when she came back there was paperwork on the table… A consent form for a blood transfusion. She had no idea why it was there, and her battery was on 1%, so as soon as she sent that her phone died.

I couldn't take it. It was bad enough that she had to be up there by herself, couldn't stand the idea of her being completely disconnected from everyone. So, I called the hospital and ask them if they had any charge cords in the gift shop. The woman there said at the gift shop hadn't been open in months because they haven't really been having patients.  So I asked her if there any nearby retail stores that she thought would have one and would deliver. She said that she was pretty sure H-E-B covered them, and she thought that they delivered. So I called HEB and talk to a very sweet woman there who explained that their delivery service is through an app called Favor. I asked her to confirm that they had the chargers in stock, and when she said that they did, I went ahead and created an account with Favor and put in an order for a charger. I explained the situation and that it would be delivered to the security desk at the hospital, and a gentleman named Ken was quick enough to pick it up.

I explain to Ken and told him he could grab two or three of them and we were just donate them to the nurses station. It took them about half an hour to get the store and grab the chargers, and then he went straight to the hospital. When he got there, he called me, and asked for my friends information again. He told me that the woman at the desk they are sent that there wasn't a Meggan Leal in room three or four. He said that her name was in the system but under a different room number. I told them that I just talk to her 20 minutes ago and I was pretty sure that was still her room number because she hadn't mentioned moving. But the lady assured him that Meggan Leal was in the ICU, and she said she would take them to her there. I hung up the phone. Richard was sitting nearby, and we both just sat there and stared at each other in silence. Eventually, I said "I'm gonna call." And he agreed yes, you should call. So I doubt the hospital number again entered in Meggan's room number. It rang, and rang, and rang, and rang, and finally… Meggan answered.  I thought I was going to cry, it was so good to hear her voice and know that she wasn't in the ICU. I explain the situation to her, and her nurse happen to be in the room. Meagan explain to the nurse about the blood transfusion paperwork and the mixup downstairs, and so they redid all of her bracelets, double checked all of her medications, and made sure that her allergies were written on everything. She said that she would try to figure out the chargers.

An hour later, I still hadn't heard from Meggan, so I called the hospital again and explain the situation. The woman upfront contacted security, who made sure that Meggan's correct room number was on the chargers, but said they couldn't take them because they couldn't leave their station. So they said whenever the nurse could come by to grab them, Meggan would have them.  About 30 minutes later, Meggan was online. I felt a huge relief just knowing that I was able to contact her. She was able to call home and FaceTime with the girls before they went to bed, and then she said they all cried.

Honestly don't know what else happen today. This kind of ended up in golfing the majority of it. If I wasn't talking to Megan, then I was gardening and trying to quell my anxiety. I spent a lot of time moving plants into bigger jars and thinning seedlings.  Once Oliver went to bed, I got out the surgery and started making beanbags for Penny's "virtual" field day tomorrow. I didn't think it would take that long, but I looked up and it was 130 by the time I sewed the last one shut.  I'm hoping we can make her field day exciting for her. 

Debbie

did text me a sleepy emoji earlier today, and I see that she is bored and impatient that we haven't let the kids into the car yet. But I told her what had been going on here today, and she was very understanding and supportive. I also had to send Richard over to the pharmacy to get me some cream for the discomfort that I've been experiencing thanks to our new biking hobby. So that was kind of another anxiety fest to layer on top of everything else. But the cream is helping, so that's a relief both literally and figuratively.

I think Meagan finally went to sleep, and I'm hoping that she can get some rest. Here's hoping for good news in the morning and a discharge shortly there after.

I'm trying to get ready for bed myself, but I'm having a ton of chest pain all the way through the left side and into my back. It's been going on for the last several hours, and it's really preventing me from winding down.