Back to the Hospital (Again!)

I woke up early today needing to move my bowels again. The only problem was that it was now dark, green and the scent had changed. That meant that my bowel was infected. Plus, I continued to have a sustained fever. Calls to the hospice, and them waiting for a response from my doctor was taking hours. We called my clinic directly and spoke to my doctor. She suggested that we go back to the hospital for IV rehydration, chest x-rays to make sure my pneumonia hadn't come back, and treatment for my bowel infection.

Back to Hoboken University Medical Center. We arrived late afternoon and spent the entire evening getting the necessary exams and labs. The medical service admitted me to the hospital. the residents and medical student reviewed my case in detail for a couple of hours and sent me up to the floor just before midnight with complete set of orders.

Up on the floor, Bernadette was my nurse. She had taken care of me last week on the same floor. Bernadette got me admitted to the unit and set up in my room. She started my treatment protocols including IV fluids and IV antibiotics. The irony; I needed antibiotics to counter the infection that antibiotics had made possible in the first place. The antibiotics that I had received to cure my pneumonia(s) also cleared my intestines of most of its bacteria. This left my gut with very little bacteria and an environment in which a nasty bacterial infection could take hold quickly.

My ahijada Rita was with me much of the day, including waiting with me in the Emergency Department most of the evening. Soledad and Sergio went home between 1am and 2am.