David Update

The day after Meagan's graduation, David started feeling sick. Maybe Cameron gave it to him? Maybe it was all the stress of his little girl growing up? Who knows. For just over a week, he moped around home, feeling sick. I took him to two different doctors and they each gave him a prescription for anti-biotics (my favorite!). The first doctor said it was bronchitis. The second said it was pneumonia. He also said that David eating grapefruit made the first anti-biotic not work. That was probably the first time this year David had eaten grapefruit. Anyway, for whatever reason, the bronchitis progressed to pneumonia.

Finally, I took David to the ER on Sunday morning because he just wasn't getting better. Sunday morning must be a good time to go to the ER. We didn't even have to wait. They took David right in. There was NOBODY in the waiting room, which, if you've ever been to the ER before, is amazing. The ER doctors said they didn't know anything about grapefruit rendering that particular anti-biotic invalid, but perhaps it was possible. They ran lots and lots of tests on him and decided to check him in to the hospital. We figured as much. David packed a hospital bag before we left.

I hung around the hospital until Sunday evening, then came home and soaked in the tub. I went to work half a day on Monday, then went back to the hospital. The official diagnosis was that David had pneumonia, influenza A and a fungus growing at the back of his throat. Like our neighbor said, "Hey, if you're going to get sick, you might as well get it all over with at once." He ought to know. He's been in and out of the hospital a lot the past few months between surgeries and recovery. They gave David the same drug they've been giving the patients with swine flu, even though he never tested positive for it. I guess they've had enough false negatives, they're being overly cautious now?

I hung out at the hospital for several hours on Monday, then decided I should go home and see what the kids were up to. Meagan started her externship with Dr. Ferre the Monday after school got out, so I've been getting her up early most weekday mornings. She's worked there 5 days now, I believe, so she's about 1/3 of the way done. I got to wear a mask my entire time at the hospital on Monday. That was fun. I hate masks. Meagan did not feel sorry for me. "I've been wearing one at work all day," she told me. "You get used to it." I guess I didn't wear one long enough to get used to it. It was really annoying when I had it adjusted wrong and it steamed up my glasses.

Tuesday I didn't have to work, but I stalled going to the hospital because I didn't want to wear a mask again. Turns out, I didn't have to! When I got there at about 1:00 pm, David greeted me with, "You should have been here an hour ago, they were going to let me check out!" Of course, checking out of a hospital is never a quick and easy prospect. Even when they say, "Oh, sure, you can check out now," it still takes a few hours. At least David got to eat lunch at the hospital. I knew he was getting better when he was complaining about being hungry and bored. We spent most of Tuesday afternoon looking out the window at the cars, people and the helicopter moving around the hospital parking lot. David was on the 8th floor, so he had a good view.

Tom, the nurse who checked him out of the hospital reminded me of Christopher. When he came in to take out David's iv, he had 2 rolls of coflex. "Which color do you want, bright green or bright pink?" "It doesn't matter," David replied. Tom came over with the pink coflex and a big smile. "Of course you chose the pink," I told him. "It's funner that way!" he said. Yup. I can see Pherphy doing that.

I think David's favorite person in the hospital was Natalie. She was his CNA Tuesday night. The dinner they gave him was not very big and he was starving. He asked her if she could get him a hamburger and fries. "I guess I could go downstairs and get that for you," she said. A half hour later, she was back with a burger and fries and David was very, very happy. Of course, the next day, Tom came in and told David he needs to eat a low-fat, low-sodium diet. I'm not sure he's doing that.

When I checked David out, I had to buy him a bunch of prescriptions. That's when I noticed I'd lost my checkbook. No big deal, I thought, I'm just not looking in the right spot in my purse. So I paid with my credit card. When we got home and I still couldn't find it, I panicked. So did David, because he was starving again and I wouldn't go buy food until I'd found my checkbook. Good news is, I found it. (I even cleaned up the bedroom a bit and took a big box and 3 bags of stuff to the DI. Are you shocked, Sheri?) It took me a couple of hours, but I found it. Tuesday also happened to be Amber's birthday. She didn't get much of a celebration, but we did manage to cook some frozen pizzas and have cake and ice cream.

I'm really glad June is almost over. This has not been my favorite June. I am glad, however, that we are all doing much better now. I may even catch up on my sleep soon!