The Rest of the Story
It’s been an unusual time on Stauffer Avenue. We have been getting extremely cozy with the working of our local hospital’s ER that then led to the hospital.
Dennis woke up Saturday morning and one of his toes was not happy . . . it was black. Had he dropped something on it . . . no. Had he stubbed his toe . . . no. Dennis’ feet are always cold so he is totally geared up with heavy socks and good shoes.
I knew we would not be spending anymore time than necessary before heading down the street to the south to our local hospital’s ER. Yup, the cupcakes needed to finish baking while Dennis got his little red pickup out of the garage.
There is a no hurry when being checked in. Protocol mandates a lot of computer entries and just as many questions. Dennis’ blood pressure was normal. His temperature was normal . . . his toe was still black. Everyone doing their due diligence looked at the toe and also had a question or two. Even the gal that had the job of doing the blood draws for the lab took a peek.
Could it be a blood clot that headed south rather than the usual route which is to the brain? Could it be blood poisoning? Will the pooled blood be absorbed into Dennis’ system as bruises are? Has the bone been infected to the point that the toe was dying? Will gangrene set in? With everyone thinking out loud, I caught Dennis’ eyes glazing over. It was a lot of “what-if.”
The next thing was to scramble to find any empty hospital bed. Mankato and Fairmont had no available beds. It was questionable if St James hospital would have an open bed by day’s end. We waited in the ER with Dennis on a gurney watching an IV poll and the bags it held do the drip, drip putting it’s goodies into Dennis. It was wonderful news to find out Dennis would be staying in our local hospital. I do not know, and did not ask if the beds were physically occupied or if the shortage of staff was the issue.
Every six hours there are two antibiotics that are prescribed around the clock. We were both surprised that Dennis will be staying in room 108 until Thursday. I will be springing him on Thursday to make a 10:15 appointment in Mankato to see a podiatrist. By that time the cultures will have matured and hopefully a solution and an answer will make itself known. I forgot to ask if Dennis would return to room 108 or if he would be coming home.
Life can throw curves that are least expected. A thankful heart that health care is right down the street and that no one wants to settle until the rest of the story reveals itself.
