Hospital Stay

My Other Half was in the hospital from last Thursday to Tuesday evening. He's diabetic and we've been doctoring a diabetic wound on his left shin for, geez...I've lost track of how long. It's been one wound after another and they are running together in my memory.

Anyway. He went in for a skin graft. It's his fourth. I can't remember if all four have been on this wound, or if some were on the previous. He was on a wound vac while in the hospital. Listen, if you have a wound and your doctor suggests using a wound vac, go for it. It's absolutely amazing! If you don't know, it's a vaccum that vaccums blood and fluids out of the wound and at the same time, stimulates the tissue to grow faster. It is a 24 hour a day procedure that can last for weeks at a time. It can be cumbersome and annoying to lug around, but they work so well! This is his third time using one. The last two times, one was delivered to the house for use after his release (KCI is the vendor and they are great to work with. Fabulous customer service.) He came home without the vac this time. The first time it was so new to home use that some of our suggestions on how to use it and how to affix the vac to the wound were incorporated into the manual.

Sad to say, this graft failed as did the previous one. So we're back to the Regranex (another fabulous product) and saline dressings. I've gotten so good at changing different types of dressings, and doing infusions and that kind of thing that the nurses in the Wound Center say they are gonna have a pinning ceremony for me one day :D Mom always did want me to be a nurse.

That reminds me of a story. When I graduated from high school, I was in a class of 650. As we ascended the stairs to go on the stage, we handed a slip of paper for our names to be announced. Then we proceeded across the stage, got our diploma covers and shook hands with the various dignataries. Well, I crossed the stage, and as I shook hands with the last VIP (I can't remember his name now, but he was the head of the methadone clinic in Miami), I started to turn away to descend the stairs and return to my seat. He literally pulled me back to him, looked me square in the eyes and said, "You're going to be a nurse." It was about the last thing in the world I wanted to do. Work around blood and sick people? eeeewwwww! All I could say was, "I don't think so."

I asked my parents later if they had seen it and they both wanted to know what it was all about. When I told them what he said, Mom said, "I've always told you that you should go into nursing!" They both said that he didn't pull anyone else aside as he did me. And there were several who were planning on nursing careers.

I guess he and Mom knew something I didn't know.