Reply
Thu 14 Oct, 2021 07:39 am
I was in the hospital with pneumonia for two days. I spent probably five days before that suffering with it. First, a fever for two days, then extreme shortness of breath, then extreme pain upon breathing. Finally, I went to the hospital because I didn't know if I was going to get better.
I hadn't been in the hospital since I was a kid. I was there for about a week under oxygen because of a breathing difficulty.
When I arrived at the hospital for pneumonia, they laid me on a stretcher type thing, a big, wide stretcher with a deep foam cushion. I think it was the most comfortable bed I ever laid on. After the attending physician, Dr. Sheffield, questioned me I was rolled up on that big stretcher to my room. I was greeted like I was some kind of a great celebrity being welcomed to a fine hotel. I'm not used to that.
There were four nurses each on a 12-hour shift while I was there. These are people who really care. They're not just there for the money. They're angels, absolute angels who really do care about you. I wasn't used to that. Doctor Sheffield, whom I would see once a day, was a genius of bedside manner. I was almost totally deaf at the time, and he would bend down close to my ear to talk to me, not shouting. A real genius. I'm not used to that.
Tests, tests, and more tests. They're test crazy.
The food was wonderful. I still must be in that fine hotel. Three meals a day. I'm not used to that. I'm a vegetarian, but I ate every damn thing on that tray, and I loved it. The only thing I turned down was milk because I get kidney stones, and coffee because I had an elevated pulse. The tray was 3 inches from your face and you just cram the food in it.
When I got discharged, I had plans to dodder down and catch a streetcar and then a train back home, but then that angel, Kristin, my last nurse arranged to have a Yellow Cab drive me home for free. The hospital paid for it, probably about $40.
And Kristin wheeled me right to the taxi.
Kristin the angel. I'm not used to that.
@coluber2001,
Glad to hear you are recovered and back home.
@coluber2001,
Glad to hear you're better.
@coluber2001,
Good you recovered. I've lost more than one relative to pneumonia.
@coluber2001,
That's good that you're better and I'm glad that your hospital experience was so positive.
@coluber2001,
Wow, what a wonderful experience you describe. I'm so glad you're better and at home, but how lovely to hear how the medical professionals treated you. Surprised about the food (!) and so happy you didn't have anything worse. Welcome back.
@coluber2001,
Glad to see you have recovered from this terrible week. Ya gotta stay healthy. You're pretty much a vital member of a2k.
@coluber2001,
Congratulations on your recovery. It hasn’t been mentioned but how was your COVID-19 test results?
so sorry you were sick - but so glad that you got the royal treatment - that is wonderful.
@coluber2001,
Thank goodness you're better!
And thank you to Dr. Sheffield and Kristin and everyone else who took such marvelous care of you. Gold stars all the way.
While in the hospital with pneumonia I had an elevated pulse rate. They had a device, a portable device that was placed in a pocket of that silly garment that they give you. The device monitored and showed a picture of your heart rate and rhythm and that was transmitted to the nurse on duty. It took me a long time, but I finally figured out how to turn the device on so I could view the heart rhythm and rate.
On the second day the morning of the day I was going to be released I got up and started shaving. The activity raised my heart rate and the nurse came running in alerted to my heart rate. Now, it was about 5 o'clock in the morning. For some reason he panicked and made me lie down on the bed. I remember the heart rate was about 132 beats per minute. Later on Dr. Sheffield came in and said that there was no reason to worry, that it was normal for my condition.
At any rate I've been home for over a week now and my heart rate is still pretty high although I haven't actually measured it. I'm pretty hyperactive most of the time and have trouble sleeping, and my whole schedule is reversed. I'm up at night and sleep when I can during the day. In my hyperactivity I've been very active writing and posting non-fiction stuff on Facebook.
Have you ever used the voice-activated keyboard?
It's a very handy and speedy alternative to that little keyboard on cellphones. I forget the name of the app that I use, but it's supposed to be better then Google, and I think it is for the most part.
But I think it's designed by kids or very young people who are obsessed with movies and popular culture. As you're using the voice-activated keyboard the script is typed out on the screen in a very efficient manner assuming that you're speaking very clearly and methodically. If you don't speak clearly, you'll have some very ridiculous writing appear, and if you don't correct it immediately you'll have no idea what you were writing.
My main complaint and the reason I accuse the app of being written by children is that every time you voice-type a word in that happens to be a movie or a phrase that happens to be a movie or book or song in popular culture, it's capitalized. Believe me, there are a lot of them and it's virtually impossible to write a sentence without at least one word being capitalized. That means that you have to go back and decapitalize the word or phrase, and that takes a lot of time virtually neutralizing the gain in time from voice-typing.
@coluber2001,
Is the app called Dragon Naturally Speaking?
@Ragman,
Microsoft SwiftKey, I believe. It's really not bad, but it could be a lot better.
@coluber2001,
you better stay well. I look to your nature posts and learn more than I could get from Google. Stay well dammit!!
@farmerman,
I'm somewhat taken aback. I don't know what to say. What you say means a lot to me because it's coming from you.
@coluber2001,
I suspect FM speaks for a lot of us in that regard.
@coluber2001,
These dictation editing programs are often not much better than hunt and peck; however they need to be well calibrated and often you need to train it (and yourself) properly which requires a minimum of 5 -10 hours initially to get you both on the same page. Having a high quality mic is an essential, too.
You often need to dictate s-l-o-w-l-y and enunciate in an exaggerated manner so as to be productive. Going over and editing afterward can be tedious and again time consuming.
Stumble It!
Tweet This
Bookmark on Delicious
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace