Monday, September 14, 2009

Last day in the hospital...

Today's my last day in the hospital and I'm somewhat relieved but at the same time I'm a little apprehensive about going back to my real life. My doctor has decided he wants me out of work for two weeks so nothing will get in the way of my physical therapy and outpatient care (they like to call me a non-compliant patient because I never do follow-up visits or physical therapy because I'm usually rushing back to work). I have the paperwork signed for temporary disability parking and I will be getting a prescription for a walker as soon as my discharge paperwork is set in motion.
I hope I've been a good little hospital patient. I'm not used to being waited on and I have a hard time turning that control over. A lot of the nurses like to joke with me that I do a lot of their work for them. I just explain to them that I know there are patients who are worse off than me so I'm okay with being independent. I've got to master it all on my own for when I go home anyways so it's great practice.
I'm still having issues with the MS hug, especially when walking so the walker will be a great improvement, this way if I lose my breath I'll be able to clutch the walker for support instead of falling into the wall or grabbing the nearest object. Physical therapy is a bit annoying, but it's a necessary evil if I want to be able to walk normal again. I've noticed some improvement since doing my laps even though my left foot is still dragging.
I dropped my course load for school down to twelve credits instead of fourteen in the hopes that I will be able to concentrate better. I'm almost tempted to contact most of my professors and let them know that I may be experiencing a bit of MS brain fog over the next few weeks while I taper off on the prednisone but I'm not sure if I should share that information. What would you do?
The good news is my blood glucose readings were far better than they have been (152) despite Kelly sneaking me in some sugar yesterday. This might be on the verge of TMI, but the only really bad side effect from the solumedrol is the constipation! I have yet to go and I have been here since Friday morning. I feel like I'm going to explode. Despite the constipation the scale down the hall that I passed last night while doing my laps says I've lost some weight so I'm really excited about that. I wish I could tell if my pants were loose but I can't right now because of the hug everything feels tight. I plan on sneaking over to the scale in a few minutes just to get a final weigh in before I boot scoot out of here.
I looked at myself in the mirror today and my face is red, I mean really red, but I don't seem to have any puffiness going on, which is a good thing, who needs a moon face when you are already fat!
I have to say that out of all the times I've been on solumedrol this has to be the easiest time I've had. Maybe it was because of the hospital stay. I was able to be comfortable, I didn't have to constantly get up and take care of things around the house and I was just able to get well. I think I prefer this method, despite my obvious lack of being cooped up. It was also nice not to have to worry about cleaning, pets, cooking, bills, etc. I just wish I had a copy of my budget here with me because I have no idea what bills I'm supposed to be paying in the next two weeks. I guess I will just have to play it by ear and see what happens. Doing it all by the seat of my pants! That's the way to live life with MS I suppose!

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