As you know we had an appointment yesterday to see the ENT doctor to figure out how to repair my honey's cute face. He had been doing really well (aside from pain) so I went to work for a few hours. I got home around 2 and just sensed something was off with Chip.
We got him showered but he was acting odd - in a way he hadn't since the accident. I noticed he was swaying when he stood, he was spacing out and just sort of in his own little world.
Inside I knew I was taking him back to the ER after the appointment with the ENT but I didn't tell him!! I knew he wouldn't be happy and would be a royal pain. I figured I would deal with it when I had to.
On the way to the appointment I was making small talk and said casually did you hear Santorum dropped out of the race. Who's that? What race? I said the republican presidential candidate. Huh - isn't Obama president? I was puzzled, he knows full well who Santorum is why is he saying he doesn't? Why is he confused by this?
So we went to see the ENT and he just got more and more bizarre as time went in. He couldn't sit up straight or still and was weaving all over. That part was surely odd but odder still was his not even knowing he was doing it.
The nurse and ENT were giving me side looks and I knew just what they were thinking. I just said "I know we are going right there after this". The ENT said the hospital didn't do a full scan of his face and he needed to see more, then he called the attending doctor in ER to explain what was going on. He was clearly concerned.
As we walked in the door of Day Kimball, he wasn't really walking unassisted and must have looked very out of it because the people tending the front desk just opened all the doors, didn't ask questions and sent him in. Not the norm for sure.
The nurse that treated him Sat was in triage and could tell he was far from the same as he was on Sat. So he got right into a bed, had MRI's, X-rays, blood work...the works. Why wasn't he treated like this on Sat? We'll never know I guess.
He was unable to answer basic questions or was VERY slow to respond. Things like the month, when his birthday was, who the President was, that kind of stuff. As an example, the nurse said she was taking him to MRI he says okay. They start moving him and he says where are we going? To MRI. Oh okay - honey grab my sneakers he says. Honey you don't need your shoes we are coming right back. He says oh I thought we were going home. Later on he looked at me with a very puzzled look and said "wait I thought I was here for a physical?". Seriously? Is this a joke on me? What's going on. This kind of behavior went on for a long time. He couldn't remember conversations from just a few minutes ago.
So we stayed in the ER for hours and hours waiting for results and some answers. They finally said the MRI was clear but were confused by his behavior. They wanted to see if he could walk unsupported and straight. He didn't even get to the unsupported part nor could he walk a straight line. The doctors were using that to determine what to do next. Since he failed with flying colors, he wasn't going home and would be transferred to UMass. He was NOT a happy guy, he just wanted to go home and insisted he would be fine. I was pleading with the nurses and doctor with my eyes to keep him. Chip was pulling every move he could come up with to talk himself out of this When I finally got stern and said because its not fair to ME he relented.
Chip and I then had a big debate over what I was going to do. He agreed to stop griping about going if I would agree to go home and try to get some sleep. Seeing that it was now 11:30pm, driving to Worcester wasn't the top of my list but I wanted to be with Chip. I eventually agreed to go home to rest and he was content with that (could it be the double dose of adivan that calmed him down perhaps....).
After the ambulance left with him I was talking to the nurse. She was reassuring me and telling me she's even a nurse and if her husband was behaving like Chip she wouldn't want to be home with him either. She gave me a big hug and was very sweet. I went home and fell into bed.
Rest was a joke though. He texted me about every half hour complaining about the pain and being left in the hallway. They left him there for a good 7-8 hours and basically ignored him. He got one dose of pain meds the whole time. He was distraught with very good reason. When I got here he was dressed and trying to discharge himself. Ya....don't think so!!! I spoke with the neuro resident (spoke being a nice term for it) and after apologizing they assured him that he'd be taken care of very soon. The neuro resident told us that the hospital had been told (by glorious Day Kimball - so they say) that he was transferred because of balance problems. No wonder he wasn't treated as a priority. But had they checked on him, they would have figured out that it was more then balance.
When the attending neurologist stopped in (about 15 mins later) she went through a whole battery of assessments and is very concerned about risk of seizures, damage to his neck and possibly his spinal cord. Great. So much for two "all clears" from Day Kimball. Ridiculous.
The main concern right now is on his neurological issues. Ortho reviewed him and didn't seem to think surgery was warranted. One down. Now we need to know about the neuro stuff please!!
Within the last hour he was moved into what they call the Decisioning Care Unit - a branch of the ER where they put patients who aren't going to be released from ER anytime soon but aren't yet admitted. He has a nice private room. It's sort of like an ICU here I guess. It's very quiet. He just got some pain meds by IV that sent him to a very happy place. It's been 11 years and 1 week since his last big crash so it could be that my memory is just not so fresh but this just may be the worst pain I've ever seen him in.
What a roller coaster. I'm ready to exit the ride now please.
