random

I kept some notes. Here's a couple:

11/15/08 6:15 PM
Dinner was horrible. Overcooked, cold fish patty w/ tartar sauce. Cold, undercooked "french fries" (barf). Vinegary cole slaw (barf). Brownie (OK). Cranberry juice, milk, hot tea. Could only eat fish patty.

11/18/08
Roomy's name is Rigoberto. I know because they put his mail on my bed while I was in PT (Physical Therapy) with Nancy and Al. He actually turned off the Spanish Blaster (TV) at 11:15 PM tonight. I got to watch Seinfeld without competition.

11/19/08
One good thing about this place is that, with the exception of IV's (usually), they won't wake you up when you are sleeping.

You can see from the foregoing that being in the hospital is a real hoot. The CHW Life Care Center at South Mountain houses mostly old timers doing their last burn and fade. Sort of a "you can check out but you can never leave" scenario. They keep most of them in another "ward" that I call the Land of the Lost or the Sleestack Ward. They are turned loose during the day and crowd the hallways like chickens in the yard.
My roommate Rigoberto is paralyzed and spends his day watching Spanish language TV at extremely high volume. His visitors talk over the TV and the volume is increased accordingly. If I could understand more than a word here and there, I might find their conversation interesting but I doubt it. Anyway, I've gotten used to it. Rigoberto doesn't talk much, he just lays there and watches extremely strange Mexican TV. When I get my fill, I hop in my wheelchair and join the yard birds.
The nurses only come to start and complete the antibiotics if they come at all. They take their time and apparently operate without supervision. They move around the different wings so I rarely see one for more than a day or two at a time except for my favorite, the wound specialist named Sam. She has the touch of an angel and even came in on her days off when I first got here and special attention was needed due to the condition of the lower left leg. Sam's worth a letter to the editor regarding a real health professional.
Physical therapy is handled by the bullies. They all must have failed as PE teachers and now take it out on the weak and infirm. They try to rush things through early in the day because they get to leave when they've seen their patient quota (around noon).
The crap work (sometimes literally) is handled by the CNA's (Certified Nursing Assistants). Some are good (Carlos) and some seem to hate their jobs (Adelina). I hit the call button more often for the latter just to aggravate her. All nations are represented by this crew with Mexico and South America holding a wide margin over Africa and the Philippines.
The doctor is sighted least of all. I see mine about two times a week and she's always in a hurry. I think she has a second job.
Well, I think that's about it for the hospital stories. It hasn't been fun for me to be locked up for what will be five weeks when all's said and done and I'm sure this is a downer for you readers so let's get this Hootenanny back on track. While I get things in gear, check out the new Killers tunes uploaded for your listening pleasure. Hasta!