Night Nurses Take Note

Night nurses should not be chatty. And they should have night-vision goggles.

Our nurse last night was very kind, but lacked confidence and had to check and double-check everything time and time again. She had the light on in Johnny’s room MOST of the night and every time something needed to be done, she would start and then go find someone to confirm that she was doing it right. All the while talking, talking, talking.

Needless to say, there was no sleeping through the night last night.

The anesthesiologist arrived first this morning (6:15) and took the epidural out. Not so bad, at first. Then our favorite Chief Surgical Resident, Dr. Yancey, arrived and checked Johnny’s incision and belly. Things all looked really good there. Dr. House came in a little later (7:45) and reminded us that Johnny would be having the nuclear scan to check the pump. He told us how pleased he was with Johnny’s progress and that things were going very well.

After Dr. House left the room, everything seemed to go backwards.

With the epidural out, Johnny’s pain level went through the roof and the PCA pump just wasn’t covering it. His electrolytes were a bit out of whack and when they started infusing the Potassium, it burned the be-jeebies out of his arm. We had to stop the infusion because he literally could not take the pain.

The trip to nuclear medicine was a failure, as well. The technologist wasn’t familiar with accessing the HAI pump and was very forthcoming and honest saying that she needed to call Dr. House because her 10 minute in-service didn’t give her enough confidence to tackle the initial access. I totally respect someone that knows their own limitations and isn’t willing to let their ego get in the way of someone else’s safety. So, we are rescheduled tomorrow at 7:30 when Dr. House can be present.

Once back in the room from that ordeal, Johnny was stressed out and not feeling well at all. He was pale and in pain and I hated every second of it. I couldn’t do anything to make him all better. Ginger and I sat in his dark room for the majority of the day, keeping things quiet so he could just sleep as much as possible.

Finally, at about 2 p.m. he started to come around a little. Toradol was added to his pain regimen and that made a big difference. He finally felt good enough to take a little walk around the unit and did great, walking the whole way on his own strength.

After his walk, he got washed up and sat in his chair for a little while. Instead of heading right back to bed, he chose to take another lap around the unit. I was so proud! Of course, then he was totally spent and got right back in bed.

The evening was so much better than the morning -- thank the Good Lord.

At 7 pm our favorite nurse, Laura, came in to say good-bye and to tell us that she wouldn’t be back until Saturday. We love Laura. She is just the right combination of all the skills and personality that make the perfect nurse. We most likely will be on another unit by Saturday, so that made us sad. We had talked to her earlier in the evening about our trouble during the night before, and before she left she told us that she had taken care of that.

Our new nurse came in just after 7 to introduce herself. This is what I said to her, “Nice to meet you, Melissa. Let me be perfectly honest with you. Last night was terrible. Our nurse talked the whole night and had the lights on more than they were off. Johnny got absolutely no sleep and we just can’t have that tonight. I want to be upfront with you and tell you this because I need it to be very quiet tonight and the lights need to stay off.”

She said, “Thank goodness because I’m not a talker and I do my best work in the dark.”

I like Melissa.

Tonight I headed back to the hotel a little earlier (no real sleep since Tuesday) and have snuggled in to bed. I’m watching Survivor (I hope my kids are, too -- it is our show) and will probably fall asleep in about 10 minutes.

Tomorrow starts early with a second attempt at checking the HAI pump.

By the way, during evening rounds we found out that Johnny is Dr. House’s VERY FIRST pump implant here in Indianapolis. He did hundreds at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, but Johnny is his poster boy! No wonder the nuclear med tech was so freaked out. I am arranging to have the pump rep present in South Bend for his first filling of chemo. I am not taking any chances that someone at MHO hasn’t filled a pump before. I know Dr. Ansari said he could handle it, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the staff can. I’m not naïve enough to think that it will be Dr. Ansari filling the pump every time. I think I will just grab the bull by the horns on this one and make the arrangements myself.

OK, I have to go to sleep now. Thanks for your continued prayers, as always.