My time in the ER

We had to go back yesterday and get Little Man tanked up again. The hospital was full and there was 7 others waiting to be admitted. Home beds are better that hospital beds.

So ER rooms are an interesting place to get a glimpse of others world. We had some interesting experiences with roommates
First there was
Sonya a 400 lb 5'2 14 year old African American. She has type 2 diabetes and her blood sugar was in the 600s. I guess she switched from shots to an oral med.

Her Mom had the bi pass surgery and was down 200 lbs. Her Mom lost all her hair and showed me her wigs. Each wig had a story and a boyfriend who liked or didn't like it. I guess I liked the red one best?

Sonya liked to read and was smart. She was so good with Benjamin. Keeping him entertained and smiling.
Her mother was not happy being there and would come and go for extended periods of time. She yelled at the nurses a lot and was not waiting around to hear Ben scream while the IV was being put in. She wanted Sonya admitted or bus passes.

Sonya was hungry and the doctors were not allowing her to eat so that they could get a blood sugar test. Her Mom disappeared and returned with a big bag of McDonald's. Nothing was too good for her baby and no one was going to make her baby starve.

I guess she had to be a certain amount of weight before Medicaid would pay for Sonya to have the surgery .
Sonya cried when Ben was crying . She had a tender spirit.
It took the nurse 5 tries to get the IV in so I understand that her mother didn't want to take it any more- I could hardly stand it.

When her blood sugars got down to 403 after McDonald's they sent her home on a bus to check in with the clinic.

In came room mate 2

Kim and Bill were sure there darling daughter, Christian, had appendicitis. Christian was a beautiful blond 2 yr old who had bright eyes and a cowlick she will grow up to hate.

Apparently, she grabbed her stomach and said ouch on the right side, then threw up.
They rushed her in and Bill was canceling plans for the next day because of the upcoming surgery ( the nurse had not even evaluated her yet).

After the evaluation, Christian got a red Popsicle until it started to drip faster than the mother, Kim, could wipe up the mess on "her new beautiful Lord and Taylor sweater "( matching socks and earrings ). She put a fast stop to that action popscicle.

After is was decided that because she had no fever, could jump and was running around that Christian was not to have emergency surgery- and indeed there was nothing wrong with her appendix, they decided to wait and see.....

Kim asked me if I was a Christian to which I said "Yes".
A little while later she asked where I went to church- Bushnell Basin I added and asked her where she went. That gave her plenty to talk about for a good 20 mins. Then it occurred to her that she "was not aware of any Christian churches in that area."
I told her The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
She gasped.
That ended the conversation.
When I left, I gave her a "God Bless."

The next day we got Sasha and her daughter Marilee.

Marilee was was about 2 and was a disabled girl. Her Mom was crying hysterically on the phone speaking in Spanish when we arrived. Marilee was unconscious. She had choked the night before on some food and it had gone into her lungs. She had had a seizure.
Benjamin brought great joy to Sasha. He loved playing peek-a-boo with her and she enjoyed watching him throwing impromptu balls we had made from paper towels and balloons from latex gloves.

She got a kick that he was not having anymore yucky pedilyte and that he was not fooled by it being hid in Popsicles.

She was antsy and was tasting first all the meds that Marilee had to take.

I guess Marilee was getting pneumonia and they wanted to admit her, but her mom, Sasha didn't want that. Her mother (Marilee's grandmother) had arrived form Peurto Rico and they could watch her just fine at home.

At the hospital, there are people who walk around offering anything to parents as they wait.
I spoke up for Sasha saying she needed chocolate for her stress and she had motioned how hungry she was.

They took her order and promptly brought her back the food. She never touched it

Sasha asked a nurse to babysit for a few minutes while she ran an errand. She came back with McDonalds, and began to cry again in Spanish on the phone.

Marilee was suppose to be on oxygen.When I left and looked back to say 'good bye', Sasha was wearing Marilee's oxygen mask and just waved. It didn't even occur to her to take it off-much less give it to Marilee. Lol. She just kept crying on the phone in Spanish with the mask on in a muffle sob.

Me, I was the crazy -obviously going to hell because I am not Christian enough- lady who has 7 kids and a husband. I probably flashed a few people here and there. Benjamin wanted to nurse and I allowed it.
I allowed Ben to eat my salad when he was done throwing his jello at the those who walk in (and I wonder why he threw up). The nurse was not happy with that decision , but he was grabbing it and I only gave him water chestnuts and a little cuke. Hey it stopped him from trying to pull out his IV for 2 seconds.
Aren't people funny