Met "Doctor House" yesterday - scary experience

Sunday morning – the days are really mixed up now and l o n g!  Yesterday was very interesting to say the least. I’ll see if I can make a coherent mess of it in writing. Bill is still in the hospital and will be it looks right now, for the rest of the week with his stay columniation in surgery to remove the prostrate gland. So with that said I’ll talk about yesterday. We met “Doctor House” yesterday – I’m still shaking from that experience – more on that later. [I should leave in the typing errors so you can see how much I’m shaking!]

I straightened up around here and being an optimist put together some clothes for Bill to come home in to take with me. Uneventful drive to the hospital and got a parking place right in front. That in itself is a good omen there are only four spaces there.

He was dosing off when I got there so I quietly sat down to wait for him to wake up. But the night housekeeper, a sweet older women, soon came into the room to make sure he was awake and knew I was there. I don’t know what she said to him but he sat up like a shot looking around his surroundings. Smiling when he saw me. She smiled nodded her head and left. Mission accomplished I guess. First thing out of Bill’s mouth – how was I doing driving there. Assured him I was doing okay – hadn’t run into or over anything yet. In fact kind of enjoyed it as there wasn’t much traffic. So how did he feel? UH! Explain that a little. Still being pumped full of antibiotics and anti inflammatory drugs and saline solution. Still has slight fever off and on and is TIRED of being in BED. Few other words added in there. More blood drawn early. Catheter will not be removed until all swelling is gone. He’s not hungry. But last night he did get the food he ordered from the Panama restaurant. Said it was good. The food is part of the hospital service – we don’t have to fork money out for it – now. We sit and talk for awhile speculating on when he might get out of there and how he’ll feel and when he might feel like making the drive home. Were we ever wrong.

Our Blue Cross insurance has been in touch with the hospital and talking to Bill to make sure he is getting good care and to see if he needs anything else. So that is good news. They are talking about picking up the entire hospital bill. Haven’t mentioned minus deduction. We can either pay now and collect from them later or the hospital can bill them direct. No brainer – let hospital take care of it.

Bill kept dropping off to sleep so I told him I’d leave and come back later – mumbled okay. So out to the car again. Have to back out of the driveway right in to the on coming traffic. Finally a break so off I go. Decided I’ll do an errand on the way home, go pick up the laundry. So I go through town to the big traffic circle and head east on the road, up past the jeep place and our grocery store Sorianas. Make another turn north heading towards home. Of course the laundry is on the other side of the divided street so have to go way beyond it to another traffic circle and come back. Get the laundry and explain to the owner where Bill is – get a hug and message for Bill. Back in the car again headed the wrong way. Go to the first retourno and get headed back towards home. Have three more traffic circles to negotiate. No problem. Get home. Put laundry away, work on laptop, do backup and read for awhile. It is sure empty and quiet in here without him. A couple other chores then decide to head back downtown. Saturday afternoon and the traffic has really picked up. I do have to change lanes a few more times than I like. I really don’t like driving the Jeep. The windows are tinted so heavily and my sun glasses have such a heavy tint on the lenses I have a hard time seeing. So I have to put all the windows down. But I still can’t use the rear view mirror because there is no way I can see out the rear window. Today before A leave here I’m going to have to readjust the side mirrors for me cause it looks like I’ll be driving this for a while. During day light it isn’t too bad.

Back to the hospital, parking out front, yippie. He’s sleeping again but wakes up when I come in. Ask him if there is any news yet – nope. But he’s hungry so puts in an order with Juan the wonderful male nurse/office manager/problem solver – ordered ham and cheeses sandwich, fries and a fruit plate. It came in about a half hour. Toasted sandwich and fried warm, fruit cold. He ate part of it I ate the rest. No doctors had been in. Waiting for results of last blood tests. Find a soccer game on TV. Then Juan comes back and says Bill has visitors if he wants to see them???? It’s Paquis, her husband and Roberto. Of course he’ll see them. So they come back. Lots of worry and hugs and why didn’t you call us sooner etc. Seemed like real concern. So visiting for awhile when in walks a man. He looks at them and pretty much runs them out. What the f? Who is he? No introduction. He looks at me and nods then he starts talking to Bill in rapid fire Spanish. Reminds me of “Dr House” very abrupt – very cold. BLAH BLAH. What few words I can pick out panic me. Antibiotics for five more days. Hospital a week. Prostrate surgery. Bills mouth is hanging open. He asked “do you speak English for my wife.”  “A little” then back to Spanish. Finishes his speech says Goodbye and leaves. Bill’s mouth is still hanging open and he is pale. I’m shaking like a leaf. WTF. WHAT DID HE SAY?  Bill looks at me and shakes his head. He says the infection is very very bad – beyond bad. It has to be cured before the prostrate comes out. COMES OUT??? It will have to be removed. [Some where in the original diatribe I thought I heard the word fatal. “Did he say something about fatal?”  “No I don’t think so…but”  I can here the doctors voice in the office so I head up there. He is checking lab results at the desk and doesn’t even look up when I enter the room. Finally he looks at me – “Can I ask you some questions?” I ask in English. YES – So I ask him to explain to me what he told Bill.  To paraphrase – “The infection is a urinary track infection that was caused by an enlarged prostrate. The infection is massive and needs to be controlled with heavy doses of antibiotics and the anti-inflammatory drugs are to hopefully reduce the sixe of the prostrate. However the prostrate must come out – it is now six times the normal size and will never go back to normal. It must come out.” Can he go back to the states to have it removed. We have to drive there.”  “NO Impossible. He cannot drive. He can fly but not drive.” “But we have to drive.” “No.” and basically end of conversation as he goes back to his papers. Juan the nurse shakes his head and says I’ll talk to you later. ‘

WOW – talk about no bedside manners.

Back in with Bill – we are both shaken. But there is a soccer game on TV to take our minds off it. Then another doctor comes in. Smiling and shaking hands and speaking great English. He is the Director of Emergency Medicine. He says he understands we met Dr House – I can’t remember the real name. I mention Dr House and this doctor laughs and agrees with us. He tells us the doctor is an exceptional man one of the best in his many fields Cardiologist, internist, urologist etc. etc.  They called him for a consult. Agrees he has no warmth to him but they want his advice.  So the prognosis is – Bill will stay in hospital for up to five more days getting massive doses of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. Then he will have to have the prostrate removed because it will not shrink back to normal. So far all things point to NO Cancer. Removal is done through the urethra so there is no incision. Recovery is quick. Hospital stay is overnight.

They are in constant talks with the insurance and everything should be covered.

Basically his message is “sit back and relax and let the drugs work to cure the infection. Then we’ll take the steps with the prostate itself.” The infection is foremost right now. By then the original doctor he saw Dr Cruz came in with the day's test results. He showed them to us. The white blood count is slowly going down as infection clears. But it is still pretty high. Had one Hell of an infection. All caused by the enlarged prostate trapping urine in the bladder - then one thing piled on the other to make things worse. 

So that is where we are now. Day by day through the first of the week anyway.

By then it was late – dark out. I watched the rest of the soccer game with him and had to come home. I must say – I probably don’t have any right to be driving at night. It is scary. The lights of the on coming cars blind me. And down here I like driving in the center lane as so much is always going on in the outside lane – busses, cabs, people starting stopping and walking around. And to add to the fun this is Carnaval week. Most of the festivities are on the other side of town. But still parties going on over here too. And at one of the traffic circles was a road block. Luckily I got waved through. Don’t want to have to deal with that. Think from now on I’ll take a taxi at night or stay home. (And don’t tell anyone – for about a quarter of the ride I’d not remembered to turn the headlights on – then I had to find them!)  think this morning I’ll go out and check out where every thing is in Willie and see if I can get the side mirrors adjusted to me.

So there we are for now. Going to give Bill a call and see if he wants anything, get the car to my liking and head over there.