We woke to a winter wonderland this morning. Snow was falling, and we had been through the night. The Starbucks crew was on duty, but only for a limited time today. Unfortunately, the espresso machine, of all things, was down, so there was no espresso or steamed milk. I panicked about what to get. I’ll drink just about anything, but Amanda isn’t a coffee drinker per se. She likes specific drinks only. I had little hope a regular coffee with oat milk would cut it!
The hospitalist came by a little after I arrived, earlier than I had expected. She mentioned we were staying another night, and we both said woah! Because of the storm she wanted to hold us, we assured her we weren’t going anywhere and staying in the Westin right next door. I asked how far they would take Amanda in the wheelchair and if they could get her across the sky bridge. The doctor looked apprehensive, but the nurse said she would take us.
Our nurse was also staying at the Westin. The hospital had air mattresses set up in a lobby for employees, but she said she wasn’t about to sleep there! We heard that some of the nurses had never even seen snow. After shift change, many of the night nurses flooded to the top of the parking garage. They made snow angels and snowmen, did snow photo shoots, and had snowball fights! I had a blast drinking my coffee, staring out the window like an old man watching them.
The transplant NP from yesterday called, as she said she would, and mentioned that Amanda’s kidneys were mad, her creatine was high, and her hemoglobin was low. They wanted to recheck the levels in the afternoon to see if things would level out. They thought the Soliris was causing the wacky levels, and they wanted to confirm that with later labs.
StarBs was only open until 11, so I preemptively got a refresher and put it in the hotel room fridge. I was going to grab lunch, but all the restaurants were closed. Starbucks came to the rescue with its new falafel wrap along with vending machine chips. I grabbed some dip they started carrying after the new wrap came out. The barista told me that they said to call it chipotle almond dip, but he liked calling it by its brand name, Bitchin’ Sauce!
My toe felt much better today, so I returned to my usual fast, long stride, which made it sore again! After lunch, it was time for Amanda to shower. She had been waiting for the transplant team to come by so she could shower. It was just the cardiologist, and no one else came. He skipped the “keep it up,” but we still got the two thumbs up!
Of course, the nurse was only on time when Amanda was in the shower. She needed labs so we could get out of that place. Once she was out, the labs were drawn. The results didn’t take long, and we were already being discharged about the time Amanda’s hair was dry. One of the quickest discharges we’ve ever had. After the nurse took the IV out, she went to get a wheelchair; no waiting for transport to come. She took Amanda all the way to the hotel lobby elevator, making for one of the quickest and best discharges we’ve ever had! Once in the hotel, Amanda got all settled in her little bed cocoon. She started watching Grey’s and doing a little work immediately.
As we were settling in, I looked out of the window at the snow that was left. This hotel has windows across the room, including the bathroom. The building next door has windows you can’t see through unless it’s nighttime and the light is on; I assumed this one was the same. I always have the window, which is the entire length of the restroom, open when I get ready because I like to look out. As I looked outside from our bedroom this afternoon, I noticed someone across the way through the windows I thought you couldn’t see through. It was my reflection in the glass. Turns out, you can see through our windows. I’m sure some have been getting a show when I’m in the bathroom getting ready all full monty!
The excitement for the evening was trying to get dinner. We were back and forth since nothing was open here, and delivery options were scarce. After a while, we decided to get room service. I called to place an order, and they only had a buffet in the dining room. We went to order from one of the few Uber Eats selections. They showed available, but when we went to order, we couldn’t. We repeated with two other restaurants with the same result. Finally, we found one that took our order. A few inches of snow and this place is shut down; we’re lucky we got anything. My next option was to walk to the hospital cafeteria and grab something. Our meal wasn’t great, but it was better than cafeteria food!
We won’t get in a hurry to leave in the morning. It was warm enough to thaw things a little, but the temps will dip into the low 20s tonight. Things will be nice and slick in the morning, so we’ll wait till it warms up a bit before heading out.
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