5 February 2021
It has been a difficult day here. And it isn't over. Skip to the end for the latest.
THE MORNING
Joyce was very apprehensive about going to the hospital this morning. Packing up and preparing to be away for a few days was an ordeal. She just wasn't able to manage it.
It started with her phone. She has been charging it since November on a wireless stand that she didn't want to take with her to the hospital. That wasn't a problem.
I explained that she could charge it with an adapter and cable, just as she had done for her old iPhone every day until November. She couldn't grasp that, though. She didn't know where to get a cable or what an adapter is.
"I can't process anything," she cried.
I found a third-party adapter I had given her a few years ago so I didn't have to take apart the chargers for her watch and phone on the nightstand. And I found her old iPhone cable so I didn't have to unwrap the new one. If she lost them at the hospital, no loss.
I plugged them in where she always used to charge her phone and showed the setup to her but she still didn't understand how to charge the phone
I put them in a bag and labeled it for her: "iPhone Charger." When the battery dies, that's what she'll look for.
We had the same problem with the Wound VAC. Its internal battery lasts about five hours, so it has to be charged throughout the day.
The hospital has their own Wound VACs, of course. But waiting for a room and waiting to be discharged, she would be on her own portable unit. And she would need the charger if she ran it a few hours waiting for one thing or another.
But she got angry at the idea she would have to bring the charger. She insisted the hospital has only two-prong outlets (which, of course, isn't true) and the charger needs three.
So I suggested she call the Plastic Surgery Clinic to ask if she has to bring the Wound VAC. But when she called them she asked for Dr. Tong and never put the question to them. And Dr. Tong was in surgery, of course.
So I called back and explained that she was apprehensive about bringing all this gear and could we arrange with Admitting to supply a Wound VAC when she arrives. Doable, they said. But they were concerned about releasing her without her portable unit until I promised to drop off the portable when the time comes.
So she doesn't have to bring the Wound VAC. She can wear it in the car and I can disconnect it when she goes into the hospital. She'll probably be without suction for an hour, which isn't great, but she has an eight-hour window before the dressing has to be changed anyway. So no Wound VAC.
And she won't be bringing her phone either, just so she won't have to worry about it. So you won't be able to contact her unless you call the hospital and ask them to connect you. And since we don't know if she's coming home on Saturday or Monday or later, it's probably better to wait.
The procedure is scheduled between 2 and 3 p.m. I told her to use the room phone to let me know what happens. I don't expect Dr. Tong to call, although she might. It's just debriding the wound and putting the black foam in, a dressing change.
TO THE HOSPITAL
She was told to arrive at 11:30 but she insisted she had to be there at 11. We left just after 10:30.
But that's getting ahead of the story.
As we were about to leave, she couldn't put her phone down. "Can't I take my phone?" she pleaded.
"Of course," I reassured her. "You can take anything you want."
I found the little package with the charger and dropped that and her phone in her purse.
She was wearing the Wound VAC. I brought a cap to close off the lily pad line and bring the Wound VAC itself back to the house.
But when we got there, she wanted to bring it in. OK, so I can bring the charger and empty canisters if she needs them. The hospital has their own VACs with larger canisters that she'll be using but she arrived so early that she may be sitting around for hours without a VAC otherwise.
So she ended up taking the phone and the VAC after all.
I was going to wait a bit to make sure she got through admitting but I didn't think she'd remember to call me. So off I went to Trader Joe's. The cupboard is bare.
And right in the middle of the frozen food aisle, my phone rings. It's Kaiser. I answer but can't hear anything except the faintest voice. Volume up. Nope. They figure out the problem and if I lean over the frozen quiche out of the noisy aisle I can hear the nurse.
"Mike?"
"Yes."
"Your wife has an 11:30 appointment but she didn't arrive," the nurse says.
"Yes, she did. She was there half an hour early in fact."
She checks. "Oh, right. Sorry, I see it now."
I continue on to the aisle where the scotch and bourbon is shelved.
THE SURGERY
I don't believe the surgery was actually "scheduled." I think Dr. Tong had scheduled more serious stuff earlier in the day and then lined up the less demanding stuff after lunch. So Joyce would have been in line after 2 p.m.
So it depends how things go. In the past they have gone into the middle of the night, so don't hold your breath.
If I don't hear anything from Dr. Tong or Joyce by 6 p.m. here, I'll try calling for an update. But I don't really expect to hear anything before then.
In any case it is just a dressing change, so there's no drama.
There is pain though, as the nerve endings will get scraped when Dr. Tong cleans out the yellow tissue to get to the good pink stuff. So Joyce may still be pretty loopy.
More later, but that's the latest.
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