Welcome to web wanderers new and old. Not commenting on a particular post, but just want to say hi, ask a general question or introduce yourself? Drop me a line in the visitors' book below.

April 4, 2011

How to complete the A-Z Challenge in one day from a hospital bed...

I'm not a daily blogger and probably never will be as I'm too respectful of my blog followers to torture them that way; so I'm not officially participating in the A-Z blogging Challenge...but couldn't resist my own hospital-inspired A-Z post seeing as I'm in here for another four weeks. Yes I DID get to go home but went back by ambulance 13 hours later. Long story.

If you know anyone in hospital, THIS


...will cheer them up. Trust me. (big thank you to my baby sister for this)

Anyway, without further ado...



A is for Ambulance, and 2am is a good time to call one. No traffic.

B is for Bed rest.

C is for Cannula (if you don't know what a sixteen gauge IV cannula needle looks like, be very glad...and try to keep it that way)

D is for Drip, IV saline by the litre.

E is for Embolism which apparently is a blood clot you can get if you don't wear your funky knee-hi white anti-embolism pressure stockings while on bed rest for days...and days, and days.

F is for...let's not go there, but trust me, nurses ask about this every day.

G is for Gate pass, which apparently you can earn if you're really well behaved. You can leave hospital for a couple of hours...but the kicker is, you have to come back again. Voluntarily.

H is for Hydration. Drink plenty - the air conditioning is a killer.

I is for Inpatient, which refers to those of us who love hospital so much we come to live here. It's been said before, but 24 hour call button service - wouldn't you be sold?

J is for Juice to help swallow daily vitamin pills.

K is for hospital Kitchen, where they turn out fabulous food for the patients every day. If you missed my yummy hospital food post (with pictures!) check it out here.

L is for Local anesthetic. You usually realize you needed this after you've said no...and by then it's kinda too late.

M is for MRN (patient ID number)

N is for Nurse.

O is for Observation or Obs for short. Nurses will check your pulse, blood pressure and temperature at least once a day to positively confirm you're still alive.

P is for Pulse.

Q is for Quiet.

R is for Registrar...and I think they're doctors who've finished studying and work in hospitals full-time. Don't quote me. I find it confusing.

S is for Surgery.

T is for Teaching hospital, where there are lots of interns and residents practicing stuff on us patients in order to become better and more experienced medical professionals. Supposedly this is a GOOD thing.

U is for Ultrasound.

V is for Vein, necessary for application of aforementioned cannula, and for frequent blood tests. Make sure you know which are your star performers, and nurture them.

W is for Waiting - there's lots of time allocated to this in hospital.

X is for X-ray.

Y is for Yawn.

ZZZZZZZZ. Time for sleep I think.

Phew.

And starting tomorrow...I get seriously into my current WIP, (a middle grade novel with artifacts and dragons and Triad baddies) with a view to making use of my many uninterrupted hours. Hospital isn't ALL bad.

Now my bed is calling.


Night all!

24 comments:

KM Nalle said...

OH no! Sounds like you have a sense of humor about being there though. I hope your creativity flows fast and deep while you are there. Most importantly, I hope you get to go home soon - for good.

Adina West said...

Thanks Kari - me too. To BOTH things you said!

PT Dilloway said...

I can't stand looking at my Blogger feed. It's all "C is for..." like we're back in f**king kindergarten. Gaaaah! I'm going to need to check myself into a psychiatric hospital before the end of the month. I'm not reading any of those, but I figure this one doesn't qualify.

Have fun in the hospital and with your WIP.

Anonymous said...

I loved your clinical A-Z. More Best Wishes for a speedy recovery. Love the flowers too :O)

Anonymous said...

That's an impressive A to Z. I can sympathize with your hospital stay. Rather, my daughter can. She got a head injury and was in hospital/rehab for a year and a half! Too bad she couldn't write anything. But we hope you can!! And hope you get out soon.
Ann Best, Long Journey Home

Elizabeth Twist said...

Oh wow. I hope you get better at rocket speed. And - way to complete A-Z! I'm sending you positive, healing vibes.

Suze said...

Here's hoping you get plenty of Q. And big kudos to baby sister.

Keep that wit sharp, no matter what. It'll see you though, my dear.

Kittie Howard said...

Oh, no, this kinda challenge you don't need! I'm real sorry you're in this mess and am sending lots of healing wishes and prayers your way. Here's hoping your H can be changed to Home (for good)! Yes, I think a teaching hospital is a good thing. The supervising doc is gonna be the pick of the litter with lots of energetic pups from the best of litters elsewhere who don't want to make a mistake.


Bravo for the best A-Z ever; hugs that it was!!

MC said...

I like your version of the A-Z. So you couldn't stay out of the hospital eh? Well I hope you get back home . . . for good.

Adina West said...

Thank you all for your lovely comments and for appreciating my attempts at humor in a sometimes trying situation.

Not gallows humor but cannula humor perhaps? ;-)

@RM: I hear you. I'm giving myself the month off commenting on anything purely alphabet related as there are enough other people out there busily doing the rounds! But you're right - mine doesn't really count. :-P

@Ann: I can only imagine how hard that would have been not only for your daughter but for you and your family as the 'support team'. I'm very very fortunate that I won't be in for anything like as long as your daughter was...and I'm sure you're glad to have those days behind you though even at home with her I imagine things can still be tough.

@ Suze: You bet. Sharp as a scalpel! It's the only way to keep the new batch of residents suitably fearful.

@Kittie: I know, I too am completely in favor of teaching hospitals in theory and I'm trying to keep that thought at the front of my mind when it's my veins they're practicing on...

Alison Pearce Stevens said...

Oh goodness! At least you've got the right attitude about it. :)

I hope your WIP behaves itself and the words flow from your fingers like water. Unless they change direction on you and you wind up in a whirlpool. That might be bad. :)

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Anonymous said...

Oh, my! Feel better soon--but way to tackle the A-Z Challenge!!

Faith said...

I'm glad you're managing to keep your spirits up! And that's a rather creative way to tackle the A-Z challenge :)

Hope you get lots done on your WIP to make the hospital stay a little more enjoyable (so to speak)!

The Sisterhood said...

Hi Adina,

The sisters and I would like to wish you a quick recovery (and I hope that in the future you don't need to take such drastic measures to get some quiet writing time ;) )

Thanks for stopping by the Sisterhood blog. We always welcome your insightful comments!

Best,
Lorena

Rachael Harrie said...

Sending you the biggest hugs Adina!!! Can't wait to hear about your new WIP, and I'm glad you're still (kind of) smiling. Wonderful A-Z, best of all of them I think! :)

Hope you get out soon (and for good!).

Hugs,

Rach

Elena Solodow said...

Sorry to see you're still in that dread place - but I'm glad you can still keep in touch!

Anonymous said...

You're a trooper Adina, such a sense of humour even in a hospital bed. Hope you get out of their soon and I can't wait to hear about your WIP either.

Unknown said...

I hope your hospital stay gives you the writing time and space necessary to bang out that wip! Best of luck and speedy recovery!!

Unknown said...

Oh my gosh, that is SUCH a long time to be in hospital! Hope you're okay. But you do seem to have found a good way to deal with it by detailing the A to Z of hospital life... And I hope you've got a lot done on your WIP :-)

Cally Jackson said...

It's been a while since you wrote this, so I'm hoping this finds you out of hospital or at least nearing the end of your stay there. I've been in hospital a couple of times so I smirked at a number of your entries, good to see you've got a sense of humour about these things! :)

Denise Covey said...

Oh Adina sorry to see you're in hospital. Do hope things are going well and pleased that you're all fired up for your WIP. Yeah, this challenge is more than a little nutty as who really needs to blog every day, but it's only for a month and i'm using it to get some posts on my Travel Blog.

Hope to catch you later. Get well!

Denise<3

<a
href="http://laussiestravelblog.blogspot.com/'>L'Aussie Travel A-Z Challenge</a>

Anonymous said...

Thanks for joining us in the spirit of the A-Z challenge, and I wish you the best of luck with your recovery.

You may not be up for participating in this for a little while, but I wanted to mention that I'm starting up a 'Critiquing Crusaders' program, where participants in the Second Crusade can find other writers to exchange critiques with or form critiquing circles. If you're interested, come by The Kelworth Files to check it out!

Autumn Shelley said...

Adina: So sorry to hear about your lovely hospital stay! Get better and get home soon! Your garden looks lovely and as soon as mine comes in I'll post pics. Thinking of you!

erica and christy said...

This is the BEST a-z blog I've seen in the whole month of April. I'm so sorry you are still in the hospital and will say many prayers for you. Have fun writing your novel! christy

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...