Wednesday, September 26, 2007

What Not to Say

I was talking to my aunt the other day and commented that life was calming down and falling back into a routine. Apparently this is code for I want everything to fall apart again.

I drove my mom to her therapy appointment today. Normally she goes by herself, but my dad asked me last night to drive her there. At the end of her appointment her therapist came and got me to go talk with them in her office. Apparently my mom's choices were to tell me that she's suicidal or have the cops called. So now we can't leave mom alone at all. Fortunately we have a friend that mom can go visit while I go for physical therapy tomorrow. It's also a good thing that I only have tax classes on Saturdays, because dad's home then. I just wish that mom wasn't hurting so bad.

And then I come home tonight and realize that in the next couple of days I need to take my husband in to the ER and have his ammonia levels tested. I really wish that his doctor's office could do it, but we always get sent to the ER. This time I just going to cut out the middle man and take him to the hospital. I hate doing that, because it takes forever and he has no patience. I'm looking at a couple of hours sitting in the waiting room trying to keep him calm so he doesn't become verbally abusive with the staff. This won't be fun.

The next time I'm tempted to say that it's calming down and getting back into a routine I need to staple my mouth shut. And then go in and have it sewn. And then somebody please pass the duct tape.

4 comments:

mielikki said...

Oh, Jamie
I am sorry your having such a hard time. Its like saying the "Q" word in the hospital.
I am guessing that they can't check the ammonia level at the hospital because the blood needs to be on ice for it, and read within a certain amount of minutes. I wish the hospital could find a way to accomidate you quicker, with less hassle though.

Jamie said...

Mielikki,

I think I explained things poorly. The hospital is the only place that I can get his ammonia levels checked at. It just means dealing with the wait that happens at all ERs. My only real objection is that my husband is so bad at waiting. It's hard work keeping him from becoming verbally abusive with the staff. They don't deserve the treatment that he dishes out, so I run interference.

mielikki said...

Jamie
I'm at work right now, and perhaps didn't get to phrase my comment the way I wanted to.
What I mean to say, is that having ammonia levels is necessary to check on your husbands health, and it would be nice, and beneficial to everyone if, somehow, the ER wait could be bypassed, and he could check in, and go straight to the lab for the lab-work.
Being a patient, and losing a lot of control of life is a difficult thing, maybe the hardest thing, ever, and people do tend to get irritable and abusive when that happens. For the most part, we are used to it, but I am sure the staff is very grateful and appreciative of you being there to diffuse the situation. You must be one, strong woman.

Jamie said...

You're right, skipping the ER wait and going straight to the lab would be great. I never thought of that before, but next time we're there I'll see if there's a way we can do that. It would save time for everybody.