IN THE HOSPITAL FOR A FEW MORE DAYS

I was hoping that Piper would be coming home from the hospital today, but it looks like she will be there until at least Saturday.  They are concerned about her blood pressure readings and are just scared to let her leave the hospital.  One problem is that they are having a very difficult time getting an accurate blood pressure.  All of these medical professionals constantly surrounding her can’t seem to get a blood pressure.  As with much else in civilization, technological advances lead to a decline in being able to do things in the “old school” ways.  Consequently, none of these people know how to get a manual blood pressure anymore.  I don’t blame them…the new equipment is meant to take care of that for us, but in this case, doesn’t.

I really can’t complain about the quality of care she’s been getting, but the administrative nonsense is starting to get old.  We left the hospital just a few days ago, but to get re-admitted yesterday took hours.  Then, it was like none of the nurses were up to speed on the specifics of Piper’s treatment (like manual blood pressure readings, etc.) so we had to explain everything to everyone all over again.  I also think that the nursing care is either extremely good or extremely mediocre.  It all just depends on who you get.  My last complaint is that the doctors often don’t tell you what they’re really thinking.  They say one thing and then do another thing.  It’s almost like they don’t believe we are smart enough to understand their thinking on certain things, when in fact, we get far more frustrated when they give us no explanation for their decisions.

All in all, the care has been great and most of my issues are probably just a product of being both physically and mentally exhausted.  The hardest part for us right now is the unexpected things that we don’t see coming…like being back in the hospital when all we wanted was a week for everyone to be home before Piper has her nephrectomy.  More proof that whatever control we have in our lives is truly tenuous and when we have it, we should take full advantage of it.  When God gives you opportunities, take them while you can.  You never know what is going to happen tomorrow.

Erin is with Piper now (11:36 am) and I will head over there after I’ve done some work today to take over for her.  I will stay the night with her again so Erin can spend time with Sophia and Lindsay and Brooke.  I want them all to have a good time together and I don’t really mind being at the hospital.

Last night went pretty well until 5 am, when the nurses came in and started treatment on our little 2 year old roommate.  She really struggled and made lots of noise so they had to turn all the lights on.  Piper slept through it with no problem.  Me…not so much.

Des, our angel from God, took over for me at 6:30 am this morning so I could go home, see my other kids for 15 minutes, shower and then head down to my cardiology appointment.  It turns out that my aorta is 3.9 centimeters which is .2 centimeters larger than the high end of normal.  However, the cardiologist was not concerned as they don’t get worried until you get in the 5 centimeter range.  I will follow up with him in a year to make sure my aorta isn’t getting bigger.

The good news from that appointment is that he signed off on my donation to Piper, so that’s one more hurdle we’ve gotten over.

I’m scheduled to play golf in the Union Hospital Charity Golf Tournament with a couple of close friends tomorrow and I am still planning on going.  It will be nice to get away from all of this for a few hours and be around some guys whose company I really enjoy.  It’s a fun event every year, and I’ve really been looking forward to it.

So there you have it.  Will update again when we learn more.  Thanks for all the love and support.

Love, Chris and Erin

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