Things have been very interesting here. I joined a couple of swaps and have been having a lot of fun with that. Got my lst swap package in the mail...from England! And got my packages ready to mail when last Thursday, around 1:30 in the afternoon I got a phone call at work from Jeff…his doctor had just called and told him to get to an ER faster than fast so I left the library to drive him. He had had his regular 3-month blood work the day before and the MD was very upset with his blood count, seems he was at 7.5 (normal is 12-15 and time to transfuse is 7? )and she wanted to stop his bleeding out. (What bleeding where???) We spend from 2 until 7pm in the ER and left knowing as much as when we arrived…except his numbers had gone up to 8.2. No transfusions--no IV’s--no cause for the drop or rise in numbers. Also no food or meds for my big diabetic guy except a candy bar from a machine in the waiting room! He was told to call his doctor the next morning to find out what to do but their phones were down all day so after work we went over there. Another waste of time. Doctor wasn’t available, system had crashed, please call on Monday. Made for a very interesting weekend…everytime the phone rang I jumped. Ripped out as much as I knitted! Monday he called them again. Went thru it all with a secretary and was told she’d pass the info on to the doctor who was covering for his doctor and one of them might or might not call him back. Just before supper the covering MD called back and told him to go over the next day for more blood work and he would be seen immediately afterwards. About 15 minutes later a secretary called told him the same thing…except she said they’d give him an appointment to be seen. Jeff told her what the doctor he had just talked to said about being seen and she hemed and hawed. Tuesday morning we went over and his doctor was very upset. She had assumed he had been admited from the ER, had had a transfusion and everything was better. She was sending him back to the hospital…skip the ER--go to the admission’s desk…by ambulance but Jeff managed to talk her into letting me drive him. Anyway, another version of hurry up and wait. I know everyone has a job to do in a hospital but some times I think they forget why the patient is there…it’s not a social call. Anyway, he finally gets into a bed expecting a blood tranfusion but no, the hospital wants more tests. Finally they’re ready to start the transfusion around 6pm. Jeff sent me home…actually told me to go to my knitting group! I knitted at home next to the phone and again ripped out as much as I knit. Jeff was rather cranky when I got to the hospital Wed afternoon coz the old man in the other bed had put in a restless night and neither of them got much sleep. Jeff’s 2 unit blood transfusion had lasted until about 2am…w/o complications. They had done some more tests Wed morning and we just had to wait for the doctor. And, Jeff really wanted a cigarette. Around 3:30 this goodlooking youngish doctor comes in and we all talk. Seems they can’t find out why Jeff is anemic but he is. His numbers did not rise as high as expected after the transfusion but were back in the safety zone. He could probably go home. As the doctor was leaving the room I asked if the anemia could be a result of low vitamin B12 or Iron and the doctor half-heartily agreed. About 14 minutes later he comes running and jumping back into the room yelling ‘your B12 and iron numbers are in the toilet! ’ and orders a series of B12 shots. Jeff looks at me and we both say ’ I told you so’. He had gone thru this when he was younger but none of these doctors would consider it. Anyway, after his shot, he got dressed and finally with an armload of paperwork we went home around 6pm. I put together a fast supper and while Jeff napped all evening, I knit. I had barely managed to finish a pair of baby socks from the ‘baggie in my purse’ during his stay in the hospital but that night at home with him asleep in the other room I was able to do 1 entire sock ! Yesterday I left him at home waiting for the garden tiller man and went to work for a couple of hours before taking him for more blood tests and grocery shopping. Today he had to see his regular doctor but I was not asked to come along…just have to wait until after work to find out how he offically is doing.
I’m glad the week is over…maybe I can get back to deciding which pattern I’ll use for my next swap.
