Life affirming few hours

 Ah the medical world intruded into my life. Or perhaps I was on the verge of it saving my life. It turned out I didn't have another heart attack, probably something related to eating curry for dinner.

But I won't bore you with all the details. There were many hours lying/sitting around in ER waiting for tests. They results were delivered quickly, but they might have been affected by my having taken a nitroglycerin pill when I first had chest pains, so they waited another 3 hours to retest my blood. Since that is how they determined I'd had a heart attack 2-1/2 years ago, I was willing to wait. Unfortunately I was coughing a lot which had started earlier in the afternoon. I was surprised nobody tested me for COVID (like the last time which was just at the beginning of the pandemic). I didn't have a fever and wore a mask the whole time. I realized there were many germs there just waiting to jump into my lungs! 

I texted my son who is my health care power of attorney, just to let him know what was happening. I also texted my friends in Black Mountain. One of them goes to bed early, while the other stays up late and wanted to know everything. (I condensed things for texts)

I could title this, the Male Nurse from Iran. He was very nice...when I asked him where he was from, he laughed, and asked me if I'd traveled the world. I admited that I had a bit. So he asked me to guess. By just listening to his accent I knew at least somewhere in the Middle East. He was pleased with that, then said he'd been born in Lebanon, lived in Dubai, then Saudi Arabia...and I think then Iran before here. I wonder why he said he was from Iran, since there were all those other countries in his life (but I didn't ask.) Did he like it here? He said the cost of living in Asheville was really bad, though he liked the place and the people.

Then of course I asked if he was following the World Cup of Soccer. He smiled. Of course. The rest of the world calls it football. We shared about our favorite teams a bit. 

Here's the picture on the wall in the room. I was so grateful to not be in the hall, but probably because I needed the constant EKG machine which was only available there.

And all this time he was sticking little patches on my chest that connected to wires. Hey at 80 I don't mind a very young man seeing my chest...though I think he prefered when I covered my breasts with my hands.

Anyway, drawing blood, hooking me up to a blood pressure cuff, and a thumb device to see my pulse oxygen levels...he was efficient and kind. 

But later I was miffed, he forgot to give me the call button thing. I was calling out the open door, hey, can someone help me. Nobody came. I was tethered to all these things, but really needed to use the bathroom (and was perfectly capable of walking to wherever it might be.)

So I got out of bed, pulled the wires as much as I could, and stretched far enough behind the bed where the call bell contraption was hanging, and pushed the "nurse" button. Someone answered immediately, and I told them my need. And my nurse, Iman, was there in a flash.

I must also note, that I arrived by ambulance (the best way to get into ER) at 8 pm on Sat. night. I groaned at what kind of crowd might be there. Actually at 8 there were a couple of people lying on gurneys in the hallway, but it wasn't till much later that I would be disturbed by neighbors yelling/groaning, and being drunk so when they used the same bathroom, I was very careful to keep clean. 

As I walked to the bathroom a second time, about 4 hours later, I noticed lots of paper and bandaid type debris along the floor, and realized the nursing staff focuses on patient care, and then housekeeping has the chore of cleaning everything up. As I returned to my room, passing at least 6 people in beds along the hallway, I also saw one nurse trying to work with a patient who looked like she (?) would just slide out of the bed by the foot of the bed, not where the rails were, onto the floor. I sure didn't offer to help. And neither did anyone else, of 3 professionals sitting at the desk nearby with computers and phones. I guess the nurse was successful. It made me question using a bed for my practically invisible needs.

I ended up having 2 doctors as I was there past the 11:00 shift. But Iman said he was doing a 12 hour shift that started at 7, so he helped me the whole time. The doctors said with my history it was the best idea that I came in to be tested, rather than just staying at home. That was affirming to me, to have gone through all this trouble for nothing. I know my insurance will cover a lot of the expenses, and sometime in a few months I'll get some bills. The nothing of being normal was really wonderful. I sure liked the comfort of my own bed when I finally got home.

My IV needle in my arm, where blood was drawn and tested for something that changes if you've had a heart attack. It's some kind of enzyme. I should learn what it is.

Last blood test had been at 11:40. I was discharged and then got a voucher to use for a taxi service. I had to wait about an hour, though they said it would be 5-10 minutes. So at 2:00 am I finally got home. Part of my future planning while sitting on the very uncomfortable bed, was to have a big chocolate cookie and a glass of rice milk before going to bed. Ahhh.