Last night when I was lying awake after yet another interruption, I realized that there is one thing that I haven't done in the nursing program, and I think other nurses do either, that they really should. I think it should be a requirement to spend the night in the hospital with all of the interruptions that a patient would have. Obviously, the nurses have to come in and do things in the night, but if they'd actually done it themselves they might do things a little differently. For example, they have to test Ian's urine everytime he goes (which is a lot thanks to a med he's on). Usually the CNA does it, but the nurses have been doing it too sometimes. Anyway, last night one of Ian's IVs ran out while he was in the bathroom. So when the nurse came in to start the new IV bag we told her that he had gone to the bathroom. She just said she would tell the CNA. Its not really a big deal, but it would have been nicer if she could have just done the 2 second test herself instead of creating another interruption 20 minutes later. That's all. Its hard to sleep when they have to keep coming in as it is, so less interruptions are definitely better.
Things are basically the same for Ian. They did the leukapherisis again yesterday morning, so his white blood cell count is coming down pretty fast. It was over 300,000 when we came in, 214,000 after the first round, and its 175,000 now, so that's definitely good news. He will be having it at least one more round today. The goal is to get it below 100,000.
Ian's been feeling just fine, and we've had friends and family come to visit which has been nice. Ian's parents came down from Washington yesterday and got here last night. So all four of us feel better now. Its nicer to have the extra support and I think they feel a lot better since they've seen him.
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I agree, those interruptions can be pretty annoying. (And I usually only have to be there 2-3 nights for a baby.) I am glad his white blood cell count is coming down. We will pray that it keeps going down, and that Monday is "good news." (Funny how the meaning of good news changes in just a few days, isn't it.) We love you three. We are grateful that you are Ian's wife. You are wonderful.
ReplyDeleteYou're so right. So do you think you could figure in a couple class credits (extra-curricular) for all the real life hospital observation you have encountered and will encounter. They should work that into the class curriculum. You'd graduate in no time... Glad to hear your spirits are up. Love you.
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