Moving on up

We made it to the “floor” late last night, and we already want to be back in the ICU. Surprisingly, I was able to get all of our stuff packed into the cart. Only because I already took two loads to the car! I was ready to go, it didn’t take me but a couple of minutes to pack the cart. It didn’t seem to be a regular transfer. They took Amanda up in a wheelchair, not a bed, which was odd. I waited in the hall because it usually takes a bit to get the transfer done while the nurses give a report to each other. They just rolled the cart in and wanted to unload before Amanda was in bed. 

Amanda’s bed was an airbed, not as adjustable as the ICU bed, but she was happy and said it was comfortable. On the other hand, mine wasn’t as good—at least not a recliner, it was a pull-out chair. Half the bed was lower by a few inches, which made my legs hurt. So, I had to stuff three pillows under the fitted sheet to level things out.

Once my bed was all made up and semi-level, we tuned in to a Chicago New Year countdown and firework show. Amanda was up and noticed fireworks going off out our tiny window; I was already tucked in and just took her word for it! Our room is small and used to house two patients, so we have his and hers sinks, closets, and TV! There is no full-width window as most of the rooms have, though. Amanda can barely see anything out of the window from bed. Usually, the transplant floor has excellent views, being on the 25th floor.

We saw the cardio team late in the morning, well after coffee time. It was an older cardiologist rounding for the holiday, I assume. We’ve had him before, and neither of us like him much. I was vocal about feeling we were spinning our wheels and not getting anywhere. He upped the meds a little and added more diuretic again. I just don’t feel we will get anywhere with these small increases.

I grabbed a couple of wraps for lunch from Piada, a street Italian food place right across from the hospital. Not long after, Amanda had some chest pain, but it wasn’t so bad she needed medicine yet. Her rate was increasing, and so did the pain. She called for the nurse, but another came and said she’d find our nurse. The pain slowly increased till she was hurting badly. I encouraged her to push the button again; she hates to bother them. She finally did, but no one answered. It was at least 30 minutes before our nurse walked in, followed closely by the nurse we’d originally talked to. She told our nurse oh, yeah, she needs pain medicine! By that time, Amanda was almost in tears, and it still took the nurse a good bit to get Amanda the pain meds! I was hot, and I made sure our nurse knew how long we’d waited. This is where the ICU was much better.

Amanda wanted an afternoon StarBs refresher. Who can say no to such a cute hospital patient? I can, but still obliged! I got her refresher, a little vanilla cold foam, and a cup of ice for me to finish off some leftover coffee from this morning. I forgot that I needed to run to the car, so I toted the drinks with me. I had to get a refill on our TP supply! I kept my little Christmas gift bag to smuggle some in; it is the gift that keeps on giving, the bag and the TP both!

I found an occupational therapist to give me the footage of the lap around the hall here since our nurse didn’t know. It doesn’t seem we’ll be making any laps today based on how she is feeling. I really hope they can get things figured out. I feel that we are in a spot where medication isn’t going to do the trick, though.

I found a dinner place earlier in the day; we had to have a traditional Southern New Year’s dinner. My mother would not have had it any other way! The places that had black-eyed peas were few and far between. We also had some other strict requirements. I found a satisfactory place, but it was a long way off in Missouri City, about 14 miles away. Uber Eats came through with a delivery option, though. That was until I received a call from the driver on the pickup that they were closed even though they had confirmed the order. 

It was another hour and a half before we received an order from another place. They shorted us on a couple of things, though. No corn or cornbread came, so no gold this year; I think that’s what it represents. We did have our greens, black-eyed peas, and pork (well if bacon in the peas counts). So, we’re good on prosperity, luck, wealth, and whatever else. I can never remember what represents what. Everyone has different superstitions, but my mother always said greens/cabbage were for money and black-eyed peas for luck. It’s not more of a tradition for us, not like we believe in any of the superstitions! The meal was full of nothing but sides, but it was delicious. I settled in with Amanda on the edge of the hospital bed to dive in.

Amanda eventually made a little over a lap, 400 feet per lap here, before her chest started hurting. She didn’t need any pain medicine afterwards, that came later. She began hurting, with her rate getting close to 130 not long after dinner. She hit the button early this time, but it still took forever to get the pain medicine she needed. We miss the ICU’s minute or less response time, they always had the medicine ready, too. I don’t think we waited more than a few minutes for pain meds there. Even if our nurse wasn’t available, another one would administer it.