The overnight stay wasn’t the Marriott, but it wasn’t too bad either. To my surprise, my feet actually didn’t hang off the chair that pulled out into a bed. They did have to stick Amanda twice for labs early in the morning, a mess up on their part again.
The medication issue carried over to the following few shifts too. They aren’t on top of things when it comes to timed meds. They brought the anti-rejection med too early and wouldn’t leave it for Amanda because it had to be taken within 30 minutes. But the nurse brought it back when Amanda was asleep and didn’t wake her but left it on her desk in the room. It was later on when she gave Amanda pain medicine that she asked you didn’t take this. Mind you, the desk it was on was nowhere within Amanda’s reach or our sight.
This same nurse pawned off the replacement of the pain pump medication on the nurse that relieved her. It was nearly 3 hours after it ran out by the time it was replaced. We’ve been in many hospitals, and this is one of the worst regarding medication.
We had a good friend stop by for a bit bringing Amanda a Starbucks refresher, which she lived on after her transplant. I also got an array of “weird snacks”! Once I go back to work this friend will come and stay with Amanda for a few days.
A medical equipment tech came by to see what we needed. We usually take everything the insurance will pay for. We have various medical equipment we’ve lent out or given away. So we added a new walker to the stack this time. There’s also a passive knee movement machine, but it’s only a rental. It lets you set an angle of bend up to 120 degrees and continually bends the knee to a set degree. Our doc usually starts at 60, increasing by 15 degrees a day. It’s supposed to be used three times a day, 2 hours each use. Amanda can reach that 60-degree bend but only handle 30 in the machine. I did get her all the way up to 40 before bed.
It’s incredible how much better she’s doing with more movement. She was already walking better, noticed by PT and me, after only 30 minutes in the bendy machine. We made a walk by ourselves tonight too. It’s essential to keep the knee bending and increase the range of motion. If the joint becomes frozen, they have to sedate her and manually manipulate the joint. Essentially manhandling her knee back and forth to break the scar tissue up. It sounds horrific, so I’m pushing her pretty hard to push the pain limit and get it bent more and more.
A tech came by yesterday to tell us Amanda would get a tee shirt and asked what size. This was while Amanda was in such pain she was in tears. The tech came back and showed the shirt off, all happy-like. It wasn’t the best timing; she was a bit quirky too. Today she took Amanda’s lunch tray back, and it was labeled vegetarian. She returned later and asked if we did not eat meat, sayings she was vegetarian. We explained we eat a whole food plant-based diet. She acted hurt that we didn’t eat the processed fake meats, though. Then she started spouting off something about the actor that played Worf, the Klingon on Star Trek, and how he was vegan. She left saying, “well I’m glad you don’t murder!” We got a good laugh out of that for quite a while.
I ordered Uber Eats for dinner, a Vietnamese place for Pho. It wasn’t anything to write home about and not one we’ll be ordering from again. Amanda didn’t eat much last night and was still in the mood for soup tonight. She never has much of an appetite after surgeries. I think it’s just the body prioritizing its energy for healing, not digesting. I had to meet the Uber driver outside because he couldn’t find his way to the correct entrance. This is why I hold a little back on my delivery tips. If they reach the door, I always tip a little extra in cash. On my way back up, I was looking for the quirky tech so I could hold the bag up and say “no meat”!