Today was not the best of days. In fact, a good portion of it pretty much stank. I'm still kind of cranky about it, so please bear with me.
I had been scheduled for an MRI of my head on Thursday, but that was changed to a CT scan today instead: since the expanders in my chest contain metal, Dr. S said that I should not have an MRI unless I want my chest to grow suddenly, quickly, and painfully.
The oncologist's assistant and I thought it would be quicker and easier to schedule the CT at Griffin Hospital on a Saturday, instead of at Yale, since Griffin is only 5 minutes away from us across the river. Boy, were we wrong.
Griffin Hospital recently remodeled. It has a nice waiting area, nice decor, and nice landscaping. They even have Asian-inspired faux-stone outdoor speakers along the walkway. As we entered the hospital, a Muzak version of Petula Clark's "Downtown" was blaring out of them. Joe pitied the people who live across the street that living across the street, who have hospital-Muzak as part of the music of their lives.
You're not allowed to eat or drink anything for 4 hours before a CT scan, so I hadn't had breakfast. Or my morning coffee. Or my morning pain meds. The drive to the hospital, even 5 minutes away, was painful. We parked, walked the Muzak gauntlet, and asked at the front desk where we should check in for a CT scan. They directed us to ER admitting--on the other side of the hospital. Off we trooped, slowly, because walking is still painful. Have you ever thought about how much your upper body muscles help you balance when you walk? You are constantly making adjustments. Without my pain meds, I felt each of those adjustments . Especially where my bra strap rubbed against the spots where they stapled the surgical drape to me.
We finally made it through the labyrinth to the ER admitting to find out that they don't do radiology check in until after 12 pm. It was 11:15 am, so we needed to go back to In/Out Patient Admitting, which is more than 1/2 way back the way we came in. Back we walked.
We got my name on a waiting list to do the admission paperwork. Meanwhile, the boys were happily playing Nintendo DS in the waiting room. The admissions clerk commented on how well-behaved they were. Evidently, that's not normal in the admission area.
I completed the paperwork and we went back to the waiting area. And we waited. And we waited. Eventually the admissions clerks all went home because it was after 12 noon and all admitting was now done through the ER. Joe, bless him, found the one clerk who had not yet left and asked her to call the CT lab to find out when I could get in. By this time, I was rocking back and forth slightly, trying to breathe through the pain. Due to the delays and my 4 hour no-food-or-drink schedule, it had been 12 hours since I had taken pain medication. The chairs were horribly uncomfortable and I just wanted to go home.
The admissions clerk took pity on me and escorted me back to the CT lab. She could take the short cut that says "Authorized Personnel Only," so the walk was much shorter. There was only one tech on duty and she was running behind. She put me in a tiny waiting area and prepped the room for me. When it was ready, I finally got my CT scan. It was more comfortable lying on that hard table than it had been sitting in the waiting room chairs. The scan only took 15 minutes. Afterwards the tech said "Oh, you could have taken your pain medication. They never tell people that, but you can." Aaaargh!
So the CT is over. I am not enamored with Griffin Hospital. Yale is bigger and just seems to run a tighter ship. I have confidence in the care I receive there. Griffin, not so much.
As we walked out, Spiff saw how slowly I was walking. He came back to me and took my arm so I could lean on him. His little heart is so big for such a young boy. I wish this wasn't the way he had to learn some of these lessons.
The hospital visit wore all of us out. I spent the rest of the day on the couch, trying to get comfortable again (a Vicodin and some dark chocolate helped).
After dinner, tropical storm Hannah was dumping down rain in the neighborhood. Joe took the boys out with their umbrellas and went for a walk in the storm. It was warm and drenching and they had a wonderful time. Eventually they put down their umbrellas and just danced and played.
It's amazing that a tropical storm can be the highlight of the day.
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