Whirlwind

Yeah, that pretty well describes the last 2 days and a half.

On Thursday about noon we headed to WalMart to get Roger's grandson a birthday card. Roger has been coughing for the last month and he's offered the gamut of reasons for the cough from allergies to pollen to weather. He wasn't acting sick, he wasn't running a fever and he certainly hadn't slowed down any in what he does so I let it ride. Until THE COUGH. This cough sounded like it was coming from the bowels of Hell. It was deep and tight and my nurse mode kicked in and I said, "I'm calling the doctor.", whipped out my cell phone and had him an appointment 3 hours later. It was this cough that put him in the hospital in December and I wasn't ready for a repeat performance.

I asked if he wanted me to go to the Dr. with him and he said it was my choice so I chose to stay home with the exception that if they were sending him to the hospital for a chest x-ray I wanted to go. He called me about 3:45 and said they wanted an x-ray, so he came by, picked me up and off we went. Last time we were sent for a chest x-ray the doctor wanted us to wait there for the results. This time he didn't say that so we had the x-ray taken and left.

I expected a call the next morning with the results and that didn't happen. When I had him call for results from the doctor(he is not really proactive when it comes to something about him but had that been me, he would have been calling the night before to get results) he was told that no, they did not have results and they would call him when they did.

Yeah, that answer just didn't set well with me. He has congestive heart failure, smokers lungs from when he smoked 30 years ago and the Dr. heard rattles, wheezes and other noises in his chest when he listened to him, he was in the hospital for this same thing in December and they're not calling the hospital for results?

So I called the hospital and asked for the protocol when they read x-rays and found something and it was the weekend. They were super nice, pulled up his name and said they hadn't been read yet and if something was found, the radiologist would call him or would call his Dr. and have him paged and he would call us. They explained that their policy is to read the x-ray within 24 hours and since his x-ray was taken at 4:30 p.m. Thursday his 24 hours wasn't up yet. I explained his history and thanked them for the information. OK, I was OK with that...there really wasn't anything else to do but fume and that's not good for me.

Amazingly, the doctor's office called about 45 minutes later(before 4:30 p.m.) and said they really didn't find anything on the x-ray and he should take the Z-PAK meds they gave him. Hello? They did not give him a prescription for a Z_PAK(steroids). So they had to call it in and Walgreens could not fill it until this morning!

This morning he started the meds so we will see how it goes.

Michael arrived last night and I have another set of medical eyes on him(Michael is an EMT) so I feel better about that.

Tonight I'm fixing Michael's belated birthday dinner after we get back from going to the base to get some stuff Michael needs and he's taking me by the Commissary to check out meat prices. Roger is staying home(his choice and he doesn't need to be out running around anyway)

If I could have run this show, given the patient's age, past medical history, prior hospitalization for this same problem 6 months ago, etc. I would have put on the x-ray order to STAT it. I would have put his chart out and when I came into the office the next morning, I would have checked to see if the x-ray was in yet and since I felt the need to have him x-rayed that day, I would have called for the results. Especially given the fact it was Friday and we were heading into the weekend not knowing what was wrong with him.

But I'm learning not many things run on Ness Time.

And I got this memo this morning:

Date: TODAY

From: THE BOSS

Subject: YOURSELF

Reference: LIFE

This is God. Today I will be handling all of your problems. Please remember that I do not need your help. If life happens to deliver a situation to you that you cannot handle, do not attempt to resolve it. Kindly put it in the SFGTD(Something for God to do) box. All situations will be resolved, but in MY time, not yours. Once the matter is placed into the box, do not hold onto it by worrying about it. Instead, focus on all the wonderful things that are present in your life for now.

If you find yourself stuck in traffic, don't despair. There are people in this world for whom driving is an unheard privilege. Should you have a bad day at work, think of the man who has been out of work for years. Should you despair over a relationship gone bad, think of the person who has never known what it's like to love and be loved in return. Should you grieve the passing of another weekend, think of the woman in dire straits, working 12 hours a day, 7 days a week to feed her children. Should your car break down, leaving you miles away from assistance, think of the paraplegic who would love the opportunity to take that walk. Should you notice a new gray hair in the mirror, think of the cancer patient in chemotherapy who wishes she had hair to examine. Should you find yourself at a loss and pondering what is life all about, asking what is my purpose? Be thankful. There are those who didn't live long enough to get the opportunity. Should you find yourself the victim of other people's bitterness, ignorance, smallness or insecurities remember, things could be worse. You could be one of them.

Kinda put me in my place.

Have a wonderful rest of the weekend and make it good for yourself despite the weather, your finances or other distractions.