It all seemed perfectly logical to us. When Dr. God saw the results of Nyel’s bloodwork yesterday, his nurse called and said for Nyel to check into the ER (emergency room) at Ocean Beach Hospital. He needed to be diuresed (given diuretics or ‘squeezed dry’ in hospital-talk) because his CHF (congestive heart failure) was making too many strides.
We got him there by 3:30 thinking that, like the last time this happened, they would check him into the ER and then he’d be admitted to the hospital, proper, by our local P.A. (physician’s assistant.) First problem: the ER was full. Second problem: his numbers were too high to admit him into the hospital. Say what???
Well, it seems that CHF patients need more specialized care than normal hospitalization. Or, at least Nyel does. He would need a hospital with an ICU (intensive care unit). And then the penny dropped. The cardiac care unit is the CCU at Emanuel! Same thing, said the E.R. doc.
In the end, a bed opened up and they kept him in the ER overnight, giving him several doses of an IV (intravenous) diuretic. The unfortunate part for the patient – the bathroom in the ER is ‘down the hall.’ It made for a long night. He called ‘to report’ about 5:00 this morning. “Happy Friday the 13th!” he said. “Wasn’t that yesterday?” was my response.
We compared notes. Maybe three hours sleep between us! I kept waiting for the call to come pick him up. Little did I know that the ER doctor decided to keep him there at least through one more diuretic dose. I needn’t have been poised to go get him after all. And, come to think of it, it’s nearly seven ayem and I still haven’t gotten the word. Nor do we know if we’ll be going on up to Portland. New territory. New rules and regs. New ropes. I hope this Friday the 13th is better than whatever yesterday was…
Have been following your stressful experiences and from our heart issues know what you two are going through. The medical field has come along way with treatments!
Wishing you both the best