Nicole's Hospital Adventure, Part 2
Today I woke up at 5:30 am to make sure that I got the day off so I could be with Nicole for most of the day. Then I went back to bed. At 8:45 I got up and headed over to the hospital. About 10:45 the surgeon who was going to perform the surgery came in to talk to us. He said that the MRICP was negative, the stone had passed. However, the gall bladder was full of stones and needed to come out. He had already scheduled the surgery sometime between 5 & 5:30.
After he left, we called my mom (she knows the most about medicine) and told her what he had said. After talking to her, we started calling Nicole's family and letting them know. While Nicole was talking to her family, I went into the lobby to try to find if there was any way for her to get on my insurance before she had the surgery. I checked to see if she could be placed on my insurance as a domestic partner, but that has to be recognized by the state and that would take weeks to months before that could happen. Later, Mom left a message saying that we are ineligible for domestic partnership. In California, in order to be opposite sex domestic partners, one of them must be over the age of 62. Obviously neither one of us meets that requirement. The only way to do it would be marriage. And even a quickie wedding would not be fast enough. So Nicole has no insurance.
After calling for the insurance, I called back to mom to let her know what's going on. I also called Katie back to tell her. Then I went back up to the room, where we discussed her options. After another round of calls to the various members of our families, she finally decided to go through with the operation.
By that point I was hungry, it was 2-ish and I hadn't eaten all day, so I went for lunch. While I was gone, I stopped by Nicole's aunt's house to try and let her know what is going on. She hasn't spoken to Nicole since before Christmas last year and is, quite frankly, an utter bitch. She either wasn't home, or just didn't answer the door, so I left a note telling her what was going on, along with the number to Nicole's hospital room and cell number. We still haven't heard from her yet.
I got back to the hospital about 3:30, Mom showed at 4-ish. At 4:30, Nicole was taken from the room and we headed over to surgery. By 4:45 we were at surgery. The surgery was performed in the new wing of St. Joseph's, and to get there from Nicole's room was like going through a maze. The surgeon came out at 5:45 and told Mom and I that the surgery was over, she didn't bleed a drop, everything was fine, she was already in the recovery room and he didn't see a reason that she could get on the plane Monday for our week-long trip to Disney World. While Nicole was recovering, Mom and I went to dinner, and then made phone calls to let everyone know what was going on. By the time we got up to Nicole's room, the nurse was leaving after taking the first of 4 hourly vitals, Blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, and respiration. Mom left at 7:30 pm. Shortly after Mom left, Nicole called for a painkiller and received a shot of morphine. When I left after her vitals at 8 pm, she was struggling to stay awake. Nicole just called as I was typing this, letting me know she feels a lot better and will be going to sleep as soon as the nurse brings her a new band-aid (one of them is starting to leak), gives her something for the pain again, and turns out the light.
Tomorrow, Katie is going over to the hospital as soon as she drops her husband off at work to pick up Nicole and any paperwork, dietary instructions, wound instructions and anything else the nurses and/or surgeon need to give Nicole. After they get to the apartment, Katie will make sure Nicole is comfortable and is sleeping. I'm going to work tomorrow, I haven't been in two days, and I need to go. I wasn't able to get yesterday as a paid day off, but I did so today. And I'm off this weekend, which will help. Unfortunately, we won't be able to go to Ren Faire on Saturday like we had planed and Nicole's Girly Day will be postponed until Saturday, but oh well, Nicole needs to rest so she can go to Disney World on Monday.
After he left, we called my mom (she knows the most about medicine) and told her what he had said. After talking to her, we started calling Nicole's family and letting them know. While Nicole was talking to her family, I went into the lobby to try to find if there was any way for her to get on my insurance before she had the surgery. I checked to see if she could be placed on my insurance as a domestic partner, but that has to be recognized by the state and that would take weeks to months before that could happen. Later, Mom left a message saying that we are ineligible for domestic partnership. In California, in order to be opposite sex domestic partners, one of them must be over the age of 62. Obviously neither one of us meets that requirement. The only way to do it would be marriage. And even a quickie wedding would not be fast enough. So Nicole has no insurance.
After calling for the insurance, I called back to mom to let her know what's going on. I also called Katie back to tell her. Then I went back up to the room, where we discussed her options. After another round of calls to the various members of our families, she finally decided to go through with the operation.
By that point I was hungry, it was 2-ish and I hadn't eaten all day, so I went for lunch. While I was gone, I stopped by Nicole's aunt's house to try and let her know what is going on. She hasn't spoken to Nicole since before Christmas last year and is, quite frankly, an utter bitch. She either wasn't home, or just didn't answer the door, so I left a note telling her what was going on, along with the number to Nicole's hospital room and cell number. We still haven't heard from her yet.
I got back to the hospital about 3:30, Mom showed at 4-ish. At 4:30, Nicole was taken from the room and we headed over to surgery. By 4:45 we were at surgery. The surgery was performed in the new wing of St. Joseph's, and to get there from Nicole's room was like going through a maze. The surgeon came out at 5:45 and told Mom and I that the surgery was over, she didn't bleed a drop, everything was fine, she was already in the recovery room and he didn't see a reason that she could get on the plane Monday for our week-long trip to Disney World. While Nicole was recovering, Mom and I went to dinner, and then made phone calls to let everyone know what was going on. By the time we got up to Nicole's room, the nurse was leaving after taking the first of 4 hourly vitals, Blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, and respiration. Mom left at 7:30 pm. Shortly after Mom left, Nicole called for a painkiller and received a shot of morphine. When I left after her vitals at 8 pm, she was struggling to stay awake. Nicole just called as I was typing this, letting me know she feels a lot better and will be going to sleep as soon as the nurse brings her a new band-aid (one of them is starting to leak), gives her something for the pain again, and turns out the light.
Tomorrow, Katie is going over to the hospital as soon as she drops her husband off at work to pick up Nicole and any paperwork, dietary instructions, wound instructions and anything else the nurses and/or surgeon need to give Nicole. After they get to the apartment, Katie will make sure Nicole is comfortable and is sleeping. I'm going to work tomorrow, I haven't been in two days, and I need to go. I wasn't able to get yesterday as a paid day off, but I did so today. And I'm off this weekend, which will help. Unfortunately, we won't be able to go to Ren Faire on Saturday like we had planed and Nicole's Girly Day will be postponed until Saturday, but oh well, Nicole needs to rest so she can go to Disney World on Monday.