27 August 2025
I've been taking Joyce home for lunch on Wednesdays since the end of June. We only skip her debridement days, which happen to fall on Wednesdays, too.
But this Wednesday, I didn't bring her home for lunch.
The problem was me. On Monday evening, as I was writing an email downstairs, I started coughing snd choking and having trouble getting a breath of air. When this happens, I put my head between my knees to make sure the blood keeps going to my brain so I don't pass out.
It's worked since December. And it worked Monday except I'd never done it on a chair with wheels before and, swoosh, as I turned away from the computer I fell out of the chair and hit my forehead on the desk behind me.
When I got to my feet, I saw a lot of blood and discovered it was pouring from my head. I looked in the bathroom mirror and immediately realized I was not going to be able to help myself. I called 911, the Fire Dept. ambulance arrived and they took me to Kaiser where, eventually, seven stitches closed the wound.
It was the middle of the night by then. I didn't bring my phone (my hands were bloody) but I had my bus pass. But they didn't let me leave, taking a CT scan that showed three bleeds. Were they new ones or ones from last August? The only way to tell was to repeat the scan in the morning.
So I spent the night in the hospital before the neurologist on call saw no difference and let me go home. Not by bus, though. Kaiser gave me a taxi voucher.
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WHEN I GOT HOME, I cleaned up the crime scene. Which took a while.
Then I drove over to see Joyce, about two hours later than usual, getting her up and dressed, walking to the scale and then taking her to the gym for a workout.
Nobody noticed the bandage on my forehead because it's the same color as my skin.
Fortunately my wellness visit with my primary care provider is tomorrow. She can taken the bandage off and evaluate the wound. Stitches are scheduled to come out on Monday at the same place Joyce goes for debridement.
But driving home yesterday I warned myself about not overdoing it. Making two trips today (to get her home for lunch) qualifies as overdoing it. Besides the persistent double vision, the coughing attacks have not relented. And I can't put my head between my knees in the driver's seat.
But she needs new shoes. Her Skechers interiors at the heel have collapsed, making it hard for her to get her shoes on. So I drove her to a Skechers outlet a mile away and we found new slip-in ones that should make her life a lot easier as far as putting shoe on goes. She liked them.
She noticed the bandage today. I think the story scared her.
But it was an important lesson. What if she were home when that happened? How would she manage on her own with me in the hospital?
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WHEN I GOT HOME TODAY, I laid down on the bed to rest a bit and try to suppress the coughing, which has been unrelenting if not as severe.
She texted me that they took her bed table away and it had "personal documents" on it. We'd left the tray in the hall so the CNA could take the food tray away after she finished lunch today. There were no personal documents on it.
Emilla the RN called me that she was crying, concerned about losing her personal documents and financial statements. I told Emilla I'd just texted her that there was nothing on it.
Then Joyce called me on the other phone, crying. I asked her what personal documents were missing. It's possible the business office brought her a revised statement (we're disputing her share-of-cost calculation at the moment). But she couldn't say. So I just assured her all of her documents are at home.
She believed me and apologized.
Usually on Wednesday I have a good feeling about getting her out of there and living back at the house. But this Wednesday I had an ominous feeling about it. It would still be, it seems, dangerous for her.
Or as her surgeon, Dr. Tong once said, "Mike gets well; Joyce gets well." But I never thought the first part of that would be a problem.