Hospitals are not fun.
OK, no one ever said they were. My dad had a heart attack on Friday, I flew home on saturday and have been at the hospital every day since. They moved him from the ICU to the heart telemetry section on Monday, which normally would be a good thing, but I think the area doubles as a psych ward.
I know at least the woman in the room across the hall seems legitimately crazy. Hours upon hours of moaning, sobbing, and unintelligable yelling for help. I overheard the Dr say today they didn't want to sedate her b/c she won't move and they're worried about bed sores. Ok, fine, but bring her somewhere else b/c the hysteria is not helping anyone else. I guess I should just be impressed that she can keep this going for multiple days in a row, that's some endurance.
The man that shares my dad's room is about 90 and tries to do things on his own, which he absolutely cannot do, because the nurse takes at least a half hour to arrive after paging her for help. When he does this, I have no idea what to do.
My dad is actually starting to see things (like cats in the room and people outside the window) and is convinced one of the nurses is trying to poison him. He ripped out is IV this morning, this is following him pulling out his feeding tube monday when he was still in the ICU. The room is tiny, the area of the hospital busy and crowded, and it takes about a half hour to get a nurse to the room for anything. He's suppose to go home tomorrow, I hope he's ready- I just can't stand to see him in this room any longer.
So, in short, this week has been kind of surreal, a lot of feelings, a lot of guilt right now, especially because I just *had* to get out of there for a couple of hours this afternoon. I think I'm actually starting to go a little mental myself. I'm worried about my dad, but also about my mom, who is not eating and stressed with work (in retail) this time of year, and will become a full-time caretaker as well once my dad's home. I'm really not sure what to do and how to best be of help. What's sad, is more than anything I just want to get away. It's times like these that I really hate being an only child and wish my parents still lived closer to other family.
I know at least the woman in the room across the hall seems legitimately crazy. Hours upon hours of moaning, sobbing, and unintelligable yelling for help. I overheard the Dr say today they didn't want to sedate her b/c she won't move and they're worried about bed sores. Ok, fine, but bring her somewhere else b/c the hysteria is not helping anyone else. I guess I should just be impressed that she can keep this going for multiple days in a row, that's some endurance.
The man that shares my dad's room is about 90 and tries to do things on his own, which he absolutely cannot do, because the nurse takes at least a half hour to arrive after paging her for help. When he does this, I have no idea what to do.
My dad is actually starting to see things (like cats in the room and people outside the window) and is convinced one of the nurses is trying to poison him. He ripped out is IV this morning, this is following him pulling out his feeding tube monday when he was still in the ICU. The room is tiny, the area of the hospital busy and crowded, and it takes about a half hour to get a nurse to the room for anything. He's suppose to go home tomorrow, I hope he's ready- I just can't stand to see him in this room any longer.
So, in short, this week has been kind of surreal, a lot of feelings, a lot of guilt right now, especially because I just *had* to get out of there for a couple of hours this afternoon. I think I'm actually starting to go a little mental myself. I'm worried about my dad, but also about my mom, who is not eating and stressed with work (in retail) this time of year, and will become a full-time caretaker as well once my dad's home. I'm really not sure what to do and how to best be of help. What's sad, is more than anything I just want to get away. It's times like these that I really hate being an only child and wish my parents still lived closer to other family.