- Turn in around 10.
- Vitals check around midnight.
- Visit to the bathroom around 2.
- Visit again around 4.
- Vitals check a little later.
- Blood draw around 5.
- Morning pills around 6. Take advantage of being up for another bathroom visit.
- Vitals check around 8. I guess I might as well get up now.
For some reason, when I got back into bed after the 4 a.m. pit stop, I had the song "The Good Ship Lollipop" going through my head.
On the good ship Lollipop
It's a sweet trip to the candy shop
I was puzzled.
Where bon-bons play
On the sunny beach of Peppermint Bay.
Where in the world did this song come from?
See the sugar bowl do the Tootsie Roll
With the big bad devil's food cake.
I mentioned that it was a largely typical night. One thing that was different was a little abdominal pain.
And if you eat too much, oh, oh
You'll awake with a tummy ache!
Huh! My belly hurts, and somehow my mind dredges up a song with the words "tummy ache" in it? That's just weird. Does anyone have any better tummy ache songs to suggest?
Anyway, my tummy ache is gone now.
= = =
Uneventful day. Platelets down to 4, so I got another platelet transfusion. Now up to 21. Currently watching Despicable Me, courtesy of the recreational therapist.
Brother-in-law coming in for a visit this evening.
Oh, Joe, you brought me a blast from the past. My older sister once did a talent show kind of act dressed up as Shirley Temple and sang that song. She's NOT a singer. So now I'll walk around with a smile on my face at that memory, but also with that song stuck in my own head. The only other stomach ache song I can recall is "Found a Peanut".
ReplyDeleteI can't bring to mind any tummy ache songs, but being awoken repeatedly by hospital personnel sure can't help with the symptoms. I don't understand why hospitals schedule all the middle-of-the-night checks when patients are allegedly in the hospital to heal, with, in theory at least, should require more sleep, not less.
ReplyDeleteMaybe they figure on extra profit it the healing time is extended due to exhaustion!
Joe,
ReplyDeleteYou're description of Somnus Interruptus sounds distinctly like one of my busy nights on Call at the hospital as an anesthetist:
* Turn in around 10.
* Called for an exploratory laparotomy around 2.
* Called to restart patient's Ivy (maybe they're related~does six degrees of separation apply to pole dancers?)
* Called for appendectomy around 4.
* Called for a cardiac arrest in Critical Care around 5.
* Called for a stat C-section (for twins!!) around 6.
* I guess I might as well stay up now ~ shift ends at 7.
Perhaps you have a future in health care...
But "The Good Ship Lollipop" part of your blog makes me certain you have a future in ultrarunning where stress and sleep deprivation "pleasantly" addle one's brain. Even in the face of depletion, experiences become surreal and even humorous especially if you have a great pacer like Jan, and great cheerleaders like your family and friends. You keep going until you think you can't go anymore. Then, guess what? You go some more. Because you can. You're a runner ~ you're strong. It's all about taking those deep breaths, pacing oneself intelligently, and finding the silver lining. And, oh yes, having an attitude of gratitude and a lollipop...
Joe, you not only have an aptitude for those things, you demonstrate mastery of them. What a privilege it is to be on this journey (even if only virtually) with you. Thank you and God bless.
Rhonda & Rich
But have you been woken up to take a sleeping pill? Maybe that's just the Three Stooges - now that was a medical team ("Calling Dr. Howard, Dr. Fine, Dr. Howard..."). Your platelet and RBC counts aren't REALLY bad until the number signifies individual cells...
ReplyDeleteWhat strikes me as the best news is that you have something to work toward: transfer out of the "solid tumors" wing.
I hope you've learned a valuable lesson here: ask for stronger meds so you're not channeling child stars. If you're going to spend time in a premier teaching hospital, you might as well peruse the formulary. How about coming up with your own refrain, like "PICC line so fine," "There's no humor in solid tumor," or "You're my erythrocyte tonight." Damn you for putting Shirley Temple in my head.
JNR
Didn't you love Vector?
ReplyDeleteOh, YEAH!
It is not necessarily better, but another cheerful little tummy ache song is "I'm bringing home a baby bumblebee."
ReplyDeleteBeck's Nausea off the album The Information is edgier and kinda fun, but not as catchy as kid songs.
Oh, and Love Sick Stomach Ache by Bowling for Soup is at least not a kids song...
ReplyDeleteYeah, when I was pregnant and sick all the time, i would get the song from the original Willy Wonka movie in my head "Pure Imagination"...not because it had a lot of words about food in it, but because i would imagine Gene Wilder's stroll in the chocolate room with all the candy plants surrounding him...that was just not cool.
ReplyDeleteSo.... I wiki'd the song. It made it's first appearance in the 1934 Shirley Temple movie, "Bright Eyes." And, in fact, is sung about a plane, not a water vehicle. Learn something every day... Oh, and the movie is available on DVD in the original B/W and computer colorized versions...
ReplyDelete"I Got A Stomach Ache" by Junior Wells
ReplyDeleteCome on, ooh, come on
Come on, baby
Ooh, I got a stomach ache
When you rock, you know you look so good
And when you walk, baby, you know you look so good
And every time you walk down the street
You wave outside to the blind
Met a fisherman on the curb
He said, "Hey where you going?"
I said, "Look here man, I'm going my way"
He said, "Lookie look. boy, ain't that a crying shame"
I said, why he said, he said, "I got a stomach ache"
Hi JOE,
Ain't GOOGLE great!!!!!
Hope your tummy is feeling better!
Neil