Joyce's KP Adventure mikepasini.com headlines
Back to the Hospital
27 August 2020
I took Joyce through these majestic doors at 11 this morning for her scheduled sponge replacement procedure. It's 4 p.m. now and that was the last I saw of her.
I thought her surgery was scheduled for around noon so I dashed over to Lowes to look at the three washer/dryer combinations I've been researching after our 16-year-old Kenmore threw a bearing. I probably shouldn't have tried to wash the gardening tools in there.
Then I went back to the hospital thinking she would be just about ready to come home.
No.
These out-patient surgeries, Dr. Tong just told me, are also add-ons. She's just trying to pick light days so she can get her in early.
Today Joyce didn't get in there until 3:30.
I took a nice nap in the car after looking at the news and responding to a few texts. But then I thought I'd go home. The hospital sends texts describing her progress and I still hadn't gotten the one that saying the procedure had started.
Good move. Not only did I get to clean up the yard (it's garbage night) but I was there when FedEx brought the white sponges Dr. Tong ordered. FedEx couldn't leave them if I wasn't there.
The white sponges, Dr. Tong explained, are a little higher level than the usual black sponges, which themselves promote faster healing but are more painful. Dr. Tong can get whites in the operating room but not in the clinic, so Joyce has to bring her own white sponges there.
As you can see, there's no time for laundry anyway.
So now you know all about sponges.
I was also home to answer a few phone calls about the home nursing schedule and confirm we are Covid-19 free here. I like to think I expedited Joyce's care, but I'm not kidding myself about that.
There was also a call to schedule Covid-19 testing for Joyce. It seems Kaiser is a bit more strict than the city itself in requiring a test within four days of a surgical procedure. That wasn't an issue when Joyce was in the hospital but it is one now that she's doing out-patient surgery.
Of course, it's a bit nuts trying to get a test that takes four days for results that are valid for the next seven days when you are having surgery twice a week.
Dr. Tong was calling after the surgery so I asked her about doing the test today before Joyce leaves. But that would be five days before her next surgery on Tuesday. It's Tuesday and Thursday next week, close together but within the seven day validation period for the test we'll do tomorrow.
As you can see, there's no time for laundry anyway.
But wait, I've saved the good news for last. During today's procedure, Dr. Tong did not need to use the propofol anesthesia. So Joyce has a better than even chance of making it up the stairs (I did ask).
That means we're getting nearer the clinic with no anesthesia and home sponge replacement. Suzanne from the home nursing company explained the nurse can do the replacement but has been instructed not to for the time being because of the pain.
Dr. Tong was very happy with the wound's healing and showed Joyce a photo. It's a much larger area than even Joyce suspected because more adjacent tissue was removed.
It's 4:30 now and the phones are quiet here at headquarters ("world headquarters," as George would put it). But there's one more call I'm expecting before I whip up some dinner out of thin air.
The call telling me to take Joyce home. Again.