Nurse BP

My first night at Hotel Hackensack was memorable to say the least. I didn't "check in" till almost 6:30, after a very long consult with the transplant team, hospital admission procedures, and waiting for my recently vacated room to be cleaned. By the time I ate dinner and unpacked, I was pretty beat. I took an Ambien to help me sleep (I've been a little stressed out lately), and by 9:30 I was barely able to stand up.

The night nurse came in at about 10:00 to do a full assessment of my medical history. As I remember it, there had to have been hundreds of questions. I nodded off at least 5 times and the nurse -- I'll call her Nurse BP for reasons that will soon become clear -- kept nudging me awake. No, I don't have a pacemaker. No, I don't have removable teeth. No, no one is beating me at home....

Finally, the assessment was over, and I could sleep. Then she took my blood pressure. It was 80 something over 50 something. This was very disturbing to Nurse BP. She took my blood pressure 3 more times. Same results. She just kept staring at the machine. She sat me up and took it again. No change. By this time, I felt like a wet noodle. "It's because of the Ambien. And my blood pressure always runs low. It's no big deal," I tried to explain. Then she wanted me to stand for a minute, have another reading, lie down, have another reading, stand again, and so on. No freakin way. "Tomorrow!" I begged. She finally left at 11:15.

At 3:30 a lab technician barged in and threw on the overhead lights so that he could draw my blood. I thought I'd been dropped in a baseball stadium. That would have been the time to take my blood pressure. Instead, just when I had fallen to sleep again, the nurse's assistant came in at 4:30 for, you guessed it, more blood pressure readings.

With the exception of a rather frustrating night, things are going well. I'm in a very nice room, on a newer, pretty fancy floor with "In Room Dining" service, complete with delivery staff dressed like restaurant servers. I had all my tests and pre-chemo procedures today, and I will start treatment tomorrow. The side effects and toxicity levels remain to be seen, but I've been through it before. I can take it.

I have a new appreciation for Greenday's song, Wake Me Up When September Ends. Unfortunately, no amount of Ambien will allow for such a luxury at Hotel Hackensack.

Kathy

CANcer + HEALth = CAN HEAL