I am alive and almost well!

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I'm sorry that I disappeared for so long. I ended up in the hospital with what the doctor's called, "A Whopping Case of Pneumonia".

I woke up at about 6 in the morning on March 8 and knew that I had better get myself to the ER. I got dressed and then sat and wondered if I should wake up my neighbors, drive myself or call an ambulance. Foolishly, I decided to drive myself. LOL! Luckily, Mount Sinai isn't too far down the road and is pretty much a straight drive. LOL!

I remember getting into the ER and having what felt like 20 people on me doing things and asking questions....Did you fall down?...Did someone hit you?....Do you have a pet bird?....Why are you crying? Well, NO, NO, NO and I'm crying cause I'm sick and you people are scaring me!

They tried to do an x-ray, but just like when I have gone to Urgent Care earlier in the week the x-ray was unreadable because I couldn't get enough air into my lungs. So, that made it time for a CAT Scan. The first one I've ever had done.

They gave me the iodine shot to show the lungs better---another first for me. When it kicked in I was really worried for a minute cause I thought I had wet my pants and wasn't sure how I was going to explain that one. LOL! Well, the technician must see that reaction on lots of faces cause he asked if it felt warm. YES! Then said that it was normal. Thank goodness!

I got back into the ER and was told that I had pneumonia on the right upper and lower side. I said that I felt stupid for not going to the ER sooner and was told that 10,000 people had walked through the doors with the very same symptoms I had and it just turned out that I was the one that was actually sick. I asked if I won a prize. They said I won a hospital stay. BAD PRIZE!

Since I had such a severe case it was about two that afternoon before they got me into a room. They didn't put me in ICU, but wanted me in the next level down from ICU because I really needed to be monitored.

There were no private rooms available and I was taken into a room with a lady that was not happy about my being there. LOL! She started complaining the minute they rolled me into the room. After they got me settled in and left for abut five minutes the lady pushed the call button and told them they were going to have to come in and do something about me cause I was coughing too much for her. LOL! I was coughing too much for myself too!

They found another room and moved me there quickly!

I shared this room with someone who was in worse shape than I was. She slept all the time so my coughing didn't seem to bother her. Her family came to visit everyday and they were very nice. I got to the point where I could go to a regular room and was moved once again.

The third room got me the bed by the window. There was a partial view---part building construction and construction workers and part water in the bay. I'm pretty sure I mooned those construction workers a couple of times. LOL! Poor guys!

I took my medicine, slept, watched more TV then a person should ever watch, slept, talked on the phone, slept, listened to the Ipod, slept, took more x-rays, slept, had another CAT Scan, slept...You get the picture! Every now and then---I cried.

I spent the better part of the 10 days in the hospital on oxygen because I couldn't keep my oxygen levels high enough on my own. At one point I had the lung specialist and RN looking at my monitor and talking about how I wasn't breathing. I pointed out to them that I was breathing and that they should look at me not the monitor. I then coughed for about 5 minutes and they won the argument . LOL!

On Thursday night, they made me fast for a test they wanted to run on Friday. I double checked with the nurse to make sure I wasn't even allowed to drink water after midnight and got yelled at. He said, "Don't you know what nothing means? Nothing means nothing!" Well, yes, I do know what nothing means cause I'm not 5 and you don't need to yell me!

So, late Thursday night they hooked up an IV bag of fluids for me. I'm not sure why they thought I was going to dehydrate between midnight and 8 AM! Guess I never should have asked that question about drinking water. LOL!

I woke up at one point and pushed the call button for the nurse because the IV just didn't feel right. I asked if the IV was optional or mandatory. I was told that it was not optional! The doctor had ordered it and if I didn't want it I would have to sign a paper saying that I refused the IV. Well, I said that I didn't want to do anything to harm my health but that the IV just didn't feel right. Now, don't you think this would have been a good time for him to turn on the light and look at the IV? Apparently, it wasn't cause he didn't!

I woke up again about 5 AM feeling like my entire arm had fallen to sleep. I turned on the light and looked at the IV. My arm and hand were so big I couldn't bend my fingers and I looked like a balloon in the Thanksgiving Day parade. The IV wasn't in right. That's why it hadn't felt good earlier in the evening!

Once again, I push the button and once again the nurse comes in. I asked if my arm was supposed to look that way and was told no. He unhooked the fluids, grabbed me a warm compress, left the IV in my hand and then went about his business.

It was 10 AM before they took me downstairs for my test. I got there with an arm that still looked like a parade float, a fever and a worthless IV in my hand. One of the nice nurses changed the IV for me.

When I got back to my room, I found that they had delivered the wrong lunch. I'm not proud of myself for doing this, but it had been a rough night and a rough morning, so I got mad at the nurse. I informed her that, "That is not the lunch I ordered and I'm not going to eat it!" LOL! I know it wasn't her fault and I did apologize, but at that moment in time it seemed like such a big deal to me. LOL! At one point during my temper tantrum, I was on the phone and I heard my friend telling people that she thought I must be feeling better cause I was telling people off. LOL! I never did eat that lunch. I settled for a shower and a nap instead.

My doctors finally had enough of me and sent me home today after I broke down and cried again. I was told to get myself back to the hospital if I started to feel bad.

I'm not going back to school until Thursday, but I sure do miss my class! I hated that I missed St. Patrick's Day with them. I told my friends that I couldn't believe I was missing Shamrock Shakes ( a vanilla shake with green food coloring) and they said that they had all agreed to wait for me to come back to make them! I was so excited! So, it looks like Shamrock Shakes all around on Friday!