I give, I give...

Okay, it finally happened. My hectic schedule finally kicked my ass. I have been down all day with either a hell of a cold or a mild flu bug. Either way, it's not been fun. The up side though is that I've had a day at home where nobody expected a damn thing from me.

I really should have used today to get some homework done, but I just couldn't stay awake long enough. Maybe if I hadn't taken a benadryl it would have been easier. However, I did rule out allergies as the culprit. I just hope that a good night's rest will cure me.

Tomorrow mom has a doctor's appointment at 9:30 in a town about an hour to the east, and slightly south of us. After her appointment I have to take her and my great-aunt to a town about a half hour north of where mom's appointment is. I'm to drop them off with a friend of my mom's so that they can continue on to a town about an hour north of there. (They have to drop my great-aunt off so she can make sure that her son turns himself in on Thursday.)

In the same town where I'm dropping folks off I need to attend another make-up class, because I missed school last Saturday due to being up all night with Donny at ER. I'm getting worried because one of the finals for this class is in a couple of weeks, and class is kicking my ass. I'm normally good at school type stuff, but I'm having a really hard time keeping up. I have got to get better study habits.

I was rereading my old posts and realized that I didn't really describe the last ER visit. It was actually really interesting. First of all, we got the same nurse that we'd had a couple of weeks ago, and she's wonderful. Once I got Donny in front of a doctor he stopped acting sick. He would wake up just fine for them. He'd carry on a normal conversation with them. It's like he was out to make me a liar. My only saving grace was that this nurse remembered him, and she told the doctor that the sleeping wasn't normal for him. It was really nice to have somebody there who knew that I was right in what I was saying.

This nurse also let me know that I wasn't overreacting when I took him to ER. Because she saw the same things that I did she was able to tell me that he did show signs of hepatic encephalopathy, and that I was right in thinking that he needed to be evaluated by a doctor that night. I was really worried that I would be seen as just another hysterical wife. It was nice to know that my judgement wasn't that far off.

In the middle of the night every now and then a nurse will catch a break and all her patients will be asleep at the same time. If she's really lucky they'll stay that way long enough for her to catch up on her paperwork and be able to take a break. During one such break we started talking. I was really surprised when, in all seriousness, she told me that she lives in Florida, and just comes to California to work. Her husband and her son both live in Florida. Talk about a commute!

There was a couple in there that had everybody misty eyed, they were just so cute. They're in their 80's and they've been married for over 60 years. She had a minor fall at home and came in by ambulance. She didn't break anything, but other problems were found and she was waiting for a bed in ICU when we left.

When she arrived she immediately started asking if somebody would call her house and tell her husband that she was alright. She was sure that he was fretting, and wanted to soothe him. There was no need to call though, since he was pacing in the waiting room. They brought him back, and he sat there and held her hand and soothed her forehead. After they knew all that they would for the night, and she was fast asleep, he had to be strongly encouraged to go home and get some rest. In fact, he wouldn't leave until the nurse pointed out that his wife would need him to be in top shape the next day. They were just so darn cute together. I know that's how my parents will be in 30 years. I wish that I could be that certain about Donny and I.

With any luck it'll be a while before I have any more ER stories to share with you. I have to stay away from the hospital, I'm sick. :)