Sunday, May 31, 2009

On Nursing

Shhhh... Listen... Do you hear that?
Listen closely. What do you hear??
Nothing?? Well, then you're hearing the same thing as I am!

Nothing but quiet. Know why? THEY'RE GONE. My neighbour downstairs and her twerpy boyfriend have left the building.

And now, a moment of silence. NO WAY! *jumping up and down on the floors*

And not a moment too soon either. Because things would have just gone further downhill from here on, if that's at all possible. See. It turns out that there will be a Junior McBickerson some time early in the 2010. Yup. To be honest, if she's on her own, I don't doubt she'd be a good mother. However Twerp-Boy? Less than stellar. Much, much less. The plan now is to save up for a place together. She's living at her mother's, and he's...wherever. Eventually, they'll move back in together. I can see the COPS footage now. Nice.

I'm just happy I now have her apartment!

But. Let me tell you, I got precious little done this past week. Not a thing, as a matter of a fact.

See, what I *thought* was buildup in my right ear turned out to be something worse. Much worse. So bad in fact I landed in the hospital, with IV antibiotics; and not the least bit ashamed of crying and blubbering in front of total strangers. Seems the "blockage" was an infection that perforated my ear drum, and found a nice, sore spot to eat away at my eustachian tube, and enter the surrounding tissue, infecting the right side of my face, and getting into my bloodstream.

With the right side of my face swollen to the point you could not tell where my cheek ended and my outer ear started (and the ear swollen shut), I went to the ER, and was admitted. I was hooked up to some heavy duty antibiotics, and given some pain medication.

Anyway - all that to say, it was a rough week. I have another check up with the specialist on Tuesday (the 3rd since I was released), and more bloodwork to check the level of infection in my bloodstream, but things are sooo much better now. The swelling is gone from my face and ear, and the ear infection is on the mend, although it's still "there". I still have a few more days of oral antibiotics, and a week + of the drops.

Once home though, I was lucky to have some Home Care.

Nurse Atticus followed me around until I was either in bed, or on the couch. He then proceeded to plop down next to me, making sure I couldn't move without him knowing about it.

"I don't do bed pans or clean up barf. Just so you know."


Head Nurse Mae made sure that I took my medications, and drank my Ensure drink. My jaw was too sore to chew.

"Don't make me come up there."


And "Wants-To-Be-A-Therapy-Dog" Gandalf made sure that I smiled as often as I could.

"Hee hee! I really think I'd rock the hospital."

What more could you ask for?

And don't think I haven't been knitting through all of this. OK, maybe not so much last week, but I have been concentrating on getting some long suffering WIP's done.


Not that you can tell, but this is my Birdsfoot Scarf, from Virtual Yarns (Red Rattle doesn't photograph particularly well). If you enlarge the picture, you'll get a better idea of the stitch repeat. Really very soothing to work on - which I can appreciate these days.

I really don't have the attention span to work on much more than that. For one, the medication I'm taking for my ear makes me soooooo...tired... Plus, there's the little thing I'm doing called MOVING. Of which I've done precious little packing to prepare. Good thing I have a few weeks to move in...

Soon we'll be downstairs in the bigger apartment, with a huge, bright kitchen that I'm pretty sure will please the sun worshippers that are the Little Dudes.


"What do you mean, I won't be able to sit on the bannister post and harass squirrels any longer??"

Have a great week everyone!

19 comments:

Marina said...

Why aren't you looking after yourself?! I'm glad you're feeling better and have home care, but I sure would feel more comfortable if you had a nice, caring, handsome neighbour ;-)

Anonymous said...

Hmmm......I'm with Marina....will the landlord let you pick the new tennant for your old place????

Hang in there......let the dudes take care of you.

miyamojo said...

OMG! That's very scary. Glad you're on the mend. You're lucky the kids take care of you. I've never seen them look cuter.

It's funny how we knit, even when we feel bad. I think it's an addiction. ;)

Glad there's peace in your house now. Wouldn't it be nice if someone rented your place just for storage?!

My Little Room In The Corner said...

Glad you are feeling better and at home. Take your meds and don't let that happen again young lady! Dizziness for the rest of your life won't be a fun thing...let me tel you! Now, tell the Home Care Kitties that they must, must, must make sure you are well rested, well fed, and well humored.
Your scarf is beeee uuuu teee fulll! Love the color.

Michelle Martino said...

Wow! I can't imagine how painful that must have been. It's nice that you have a fresh, new, apt. to look forward to but you need to continue taking it easy for a bit.
The knitting looks :) great! Nothing like VY ~ just what the dr. ordered!

Lorraine said...

Brigitte- You could have called me, although I don't "do" barf either.

Looking forward to seeing the new place. Bad boys, bad boys, watcha gonna do? Watcha gonna do when they come for you?

Bridget said...

Brigitte, I'm so sorry to hear you had such a terrible bout of things! At least the good news is that you are feeling better, and the neighbors are GONE!

I'm sure your nurses are more than qualified - I know mine were when I really needed them.

Take care.

carolyninAlaska said...

Oh Brigitte, I'm so sorry about your infection and your ear. Glad you're home, feeling better, and about to "inherit" a new apartment! YAY!

Birdsfoot looks much bigger!

Get better fast!

Chris said...

Eeek! You didn't give me all the details of that infection - scary! I am SO glad you're doing better. And here, hold, while I go jump around to celebrate the moving out of the McBickersons!

Make sure the new tenant is a spectacularly underweight person who levitates everywhere, ok?

Rebecca in CO said...

OUCH! OUCH! OUCH! That sounds like an extremely unpleasant experience...I've never heard of such a thing happening before, you poor thing!

Your Birdsfoot Scarf is looking lovely. I really like it in the Red Rattle color.

Mouchois said...

Wow! You have an amazing talent. That scarf is absolutely beautiful. I've tried knitting before and just couldn't put in the patience.

And I hope you feel 100% soon. Melvin, too!

Raven said...

Ouch.

At least you had nice furry nurses.

Get well soon. TTYL.

Carrie K said...

Glad you're recuperating under the tender care of your nursies. And knitting. And moved!! How's it look/feel this week? (I meant your face but the apt is good too. :)

Nicole said...

Yikes! You are okay, aren't you? Goodness. At least you have the Little Dudes to nurse you. Though I like those early comments about a new neighbor...

kimberly said...

Oh, I am so sorry about your infection, sounds like that was very scary! I am glad you are feeling better and have such excellent care at home. Good luck with the rest of your move - wish I could come help you!

knitseashore said...

If you don't mind my asking, does a perforated eardrum heal on its own? That sounds so incredibly painful! I am very glad you are doing better.

Cat nurses are the best. Sadly, they do not fetch tea, but waking up with one staring down into your face to make sure you are breathing is somehow very comforting. In a strange sort of way.

So glad the neighbor is gone and you'll have a new place to enjoy soon!

Rebekah said...

Oh my goodness! That is horrible. I can imagine how paintful as well.

Now kitties, you guys have to be on constant vigil and make sure your mommy is doing what the doctor says.

Brenda said...

I hope you are infection free now! That really sounded painful and scary. I'm glad the antibiotics have worked well and that you have such good nurses at home. Good luck moving!

Chris said...

Ack! Your email address is bouncing back as being disabled. :(