The oral surgeon was supposed to show me how to replace Brad's broken bands. They are just small rubber bands slipped over hooks at his gum line. This sounds easy enough but you saw the picture of Brad's face- do you want to try to move those lips out of the way?! I wanted him to actually put one on there in front of me, hearing someone explain a task is not how I learn. I have a tendency to stop listening and start thinking about something totally off topic my brain has somehow connected to what we are talking about. Like this one time we were at the beach and...oh wait...rubber bands, how to place the rubber bands...um yes, ok I got it.
So other then not showing me how to place the bands the Drs were pretty useless only telling me common sense things and that the nurse would go over everything with us. I was really hoping we would be discharged while our good nurse was there, Reta, we liked Reta. But nope she had left already. So Mi-Jung got to go over instructions with us. She went over the meds, and man there was a ton of those. Other then Oxy and motrin there is a stool softener, an anti nausea, Sudifed, nasal spray, mouth wash, saline wash, then some of his normal meds he took prior to surgery. Then more common sense stuff, how high of a fever is too high, puss is a bad sign, oh and a bad odor is a sign to watch for too- hmmm bad odor, how do you decide that because the man can't open his mouth to brush for 6 weeks and the outsides of his teeth he can brush well those are covered in bands that just hold everything in...so bad odor? hmm? Lets just say it is a good thing Brad married and me, a person with nearly no sense of smell!
I asked the Dr and the nurse both if it was possible to give him a dose of morphine as we were leaving for the ride home. Nope. I also asked if they were sending us home with any meds. No, just paper prescriptions. We opted to leave shortly after Brad was given his meds, hoping the ride home would be less brutal on a fresh drugged brain. In case you are wondering...it wasn't. I'm going to guess that driving home for Brad was like a woman in the car on the way home after giving birth, you ladies know- every little bump in the road. Holy cow, it is like you are in labor all over again. Poor guy, it was an hour long drive.
Before I would let him in my car the boy had to shower though, he was ripe and no one needs that left behind on the seat of their car. Actually he was the one that wanted to shower, I would have drove him home in any condition.
U of M was different then any other hospital I've ever seen discharge a patient. We were on our own from his room. I had always thought a nurse had to wheel you to the door. Nope, not here! We got a wheel chair and I pushed him across the massive hospital up to the car in the ramp. Good thing I parked right near the elevator.
So we were off, with our paper prescriptions...on a Sunday afternoon...it was not going to be a good afternoon.....
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