Happy New Year!

NOTE: I WAS SO INTENT ON GETTING THIS PUBLISHED THAT I DID SO WITHOUT EDITING- WOW, DID I MAKE THE TYPOS! SO, IF YOU READ THIS BEFORE & THOUGHT "WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO EILEEN'S BRAIN?" JUST READ THE REVISION BELOW AND BE COMFORTED.

My son says that I need to post. He is right- it is now one month to the day since my miraculous surgery, and I am still in a state of gratitude (and I hope a state of Grace) over the event itself. Everyone might not realize this: for me to even have this opportunity is a rarity. Yes, transplants are more common. But there are so many who need what I received and most will not receive a match. So that is my prayer of thanks every single day.

On to the lesser-known facts about LTACs. Translation: rehab for "long term acute care." Sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it? What it really is- a hospital dedicated to the needs of complex issues to do with recovery from complex procedures. I know, I have said this before. But it is a very difficult concept to realize in terms of feet-on-the-ground. During the regular businss week in the absence of a Holiday it is very well staffed and the people are skilled. There is also an excellent physician with deep pulmonary experience who is the physician in charge. He, however, has to interface with any number of doctors from all these other places like Methodist. This place gets people from all over. So several times there are real differences in opinions, hell, even in language! between what these docs have to agree on. My doctors at Methodist are supposed to be here daily. That was promised to us at the get-go. But everything was discussed in the scope of "regular time" whereas we had 2 vacation periods of 2 days followed by a 2-day weekend each time. That's 8 days out of 14 when things are not as usual and guess what? The good (smart)ones see it as an excellent time to just take a vacation because (duu-uuh) you get more consecutive days at a lower cost. Where does that leave the patient??? So- this is not a complaint. It is just the way it is. And I'm dealing with it. How did it translate into wrecking my NY Day? Steve & I went down stairs and sat during a ballgame- a change for me and a better seat for Steve. I fell asleep and they came after me- the posse- even though we told them where we would be. Thereafter it was downhill all the way. My tube feeding was set too high, so I built-up what can only be called an overabundance of crap in my gut and managed to sit on the bedsire commode for a couple of hours. Then I got nauseated- often a resu lt of intense cramps. The one thing the pulmonary doctors said was: DON'T VOMIT!!! I never had, not even in the whole last year- until today, when it came very very close. So trying to get phenergen, the remedy agreed upon & I heard my doctor verbally put it into orders-did not get recorded. I have to quit- I have hit the wall!