I was able to make a doctor appointment for Monday afternoon for the problem I mentioned in my previous post. Four hours later I was admitted to Valley Hospital for testing. Although chest pains and difficulty breathing are common complaints from patients, they are taken seriously by doctors. They could be a sign of very serious heart disease, and the sooner they can determine the cause of the problem, the better chance the patient has to live. Take that and throw in the fact you have diabetes, and what do you get? A fast pass to the hospital.
In all, I was at the hospital for about 19 hours, undergoing blood tests, chest x-rays, stress tests, EKGs and echo-cardio grams. Fortunately, all came back good indicating no type of heart disease, but they did find a problem. They found bacteria in my blood and elevated white blood cell counts, both of which indicated an infection. From my paperwork today it said I have bronchitis and bronchial pneumonia. I don't know if those are the same thing or not, but it sure sounds nasty. Fortunately, I only have minor chest pain, it equals to an annoyance more than pain itself. I am on some pretty heavy duty antibiotics and will be off work for another week.
This was my first time ever being hospitalized, and hopefully that last. However, the staff at Valley hospital was very nice. I've heard nightmare stories about nurses and how they treat patients, but I truly have nothing bad to say about anyone. They were all courteous and caring, and took the time to know a little about you. They made for good company on what otherwise would have been a really long night. Most of the tests were done throughout the night Monday and into Tuesday morning. I'd get to sleep for about and hour or so, and someone else would come in to do something else. It all seemed like a very well oiled machine.
Some interesting points I've taken away with me from the experience:
1) riding up or down in an elevator while sitting in a wheelchair is really wierd
2) hospital food is not as bad as I've heard
3) those little hospital gowns they give you to wear are extremely complicated to put on
4) don't expect to come out of the hospital with all the hair on your body you arrived with
5) don't expect that missing hair to be taken stylishly
In all, I was at the hospital for about 19 hours, undergoing blood tests, chest x-rays, stress tests, EKGs and echo-cardio grams. Fortunately, all came back good indicating no type of heart disease, but they did find a problem. They found bacteria in my blood and elevated white blood cell counts, both of which indicated an infection. From my paperwork today it said I have bronchitis and bronchial pneumonia. I don't know if those are the same thing or not, but it sure sounds nasty. Fortunately, I only have minor chest pain, it equals to an annoyance more than pain itself. I am on some pretty heavy duty antibiotics and will be off work for another week.
This was my first time ever being hospitalized, and hopefully that last. However, the staff at Valley hospital was very nice. I've heard nightmare stories about nurses and how they treat patients, but I truly have nothing bad to say about anyone. They were all courteous and caring, and took the time to know a little about you. They made for good company on what otherwise would have been a really long night. Most of the tests were done throughout the night Monday and into Tuesday morning. I'd get to sleep for about and hour or so, and someone else would come in to do something else. It all seemed like a very well oiled machine.
Some interesting points I've taken away with me from the experience:
1) riding up or down in an elevator while sitting in a wheelchair is really wierd
2) hospital food is not as bad as I've heard
3) those little hospital gowns they give you to wear are extremely complicated to put on
4) don't expect to come out of the hospital with all the hair on your body you arrived with
5) don't expect that missing hair to be taken stylishly
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home