Being Inpatient during a Pandemic - a Medical Mom's 3 day experience

The life of a medical Momma is a busy one. Add work on top of that, a pandemic, homeschooling and a few other things in there, and you get a very tired Mama. All of a sudden this Mom has a few weeks off, and poor hubby is in charge of everything. Take a few moments as you have to join me on this adventure for a little while. It truly is a roller coaster.

This journey began with losing clear vision in my right eye during a 20 minute drive. Thankfully I could see well enough to get to safety where Keith could join me and do the driving. Also thank goodness we have an amazing doctor and his clinical staff whom we could call and say, "hey, I know it is a pandemic and all, and you really like when we call ahead, but.... we are in your parking lot and we need to see a doc now".

Walking in was completely different than usual with the chairs all spaced apart and empty, as well as floor to ceiling plastic surrounding the secretarial desks. We were sent into a room right away and the doctor came in soon. He is a man whom I have known a long time and trust, and I know him well enough to know when he is concerned about something. Let me show you what my eyes looked like...

Ugh, okay, know that you can see that I need to start wearing makeup and really need to pluck my eyebrows, you can also see what he was most concerned about. My right eye was dilated and would not respond at all. I was dizzy and weaker on the opposite side. I felt awful and couldn't see out of the right eye as it was really blurry and light sensitive, so let me tell you how fun it is to have bright lights shone in your eye (I'm glad that we have the relationship that I can swear at my doc and he doesn't take it personally.) Keith understood right away when he was told to get me to the ER and also knew how hard that was going to be for me, especially going in alone (a whole other story).

The worst part of the whole journey was pulling up to the hospital and having to say goodbye to my husband not knowing when I would see him again. We thought it would just be in a few hours after some tests, but even that was not an easy thought. I walked in and was stopped immediately for a barrage of questions and to remove my gloves and hand sanitize. I got dizzy as she talked and thankfully a security officer brought over a wheelchair. The rest of getting admitted to the ER was similar to usual, initial triage, secondary triage, registration, all with people sitting chairs apart. The waiting room is divided into two sections now - possible covid behind these cubicle dividers and non-covid cases filling in the rest. My heart went out to the elderly woman bringing her husband for help and being stopped at the door, her pleas and tears falling uselessly as they were separated.

I was brought in pretty quick to be honest. Everything about my situation was confusing and alarming for them as well as me. Bloodwork, CT scans, Xrays, all happened in a blur. No one wanted me to eat in case I would have to go for surgery and I had been foolish enough not to eat that morning so by 6 p.m. when they had ruled out a brain aneurysm or stroke, I was starving.

I wasn't free to go since my eye wasn't responding and they were keeping me overnight for observation but they let me go out to the hospital lobby to Tim Hortons. Okay they say we should ask Stephen King to stop writing the story of our lives right now as a joke, but it came to mind while walking through the hospital. People in masks staring at each other suspiciously, well walking in a hospital gown and mask probably did not help, but it was so quiet. Normally the hospital is bustling and always going. This was like a small town that had rolled up the sidewalks already. You second guessed touching any button or anything. You handsanitized whenever you saw a dispenser. You walked on the far side of the corridor as to stay away from the person passing you. That was when I discovered the cafeteria and the Tim Hortons closed very early because of COVID. A sweet staff member actually offered to share her meal with me but I politely declined. It was vending machines to the rescue - but no drinks because they don't accept credit cards, really?!

I do not know how the ER nurses and doctors do it. The ER is a different place entirely. Thankfully I was put in an area where we each had our own room with three walls and a curtain across the front. It was somewhat separate but you still heard everything going on. You heard the lady in the room beside saying over and over and over and over and yeah over again 'ow', nothing else, just 'ow' on repeat. Your heart went out to her as that was all she said as she kept pulling herself out of the bed and removing her oxygen tubes. There was the patient who had hit his head in a bike accident and had no idea how he had gotten there and kept asking the question over and over again. There was the man who disagreed with every single thing that was asked of him. Let me tell you some of these nurses are saints.

At 2 a.m. the police brought in a domestic case and truthfully it made me wonder if it was a full moon. For two hours we listened as they tried to get them to settle down in their respective areas but he continued, even though he was cuffed, to bang his head on the bed rails and scream that the police officers were beating him, and she would yell and swear at anyone who entered her room and kept calling for him, and he said 'I'm sorry I cut your Mom but you shouldn't have slept with my best friend'...well it was a bit of a soap opera and my heart hurt knowing they were in a vicious cycle and would be back together again soon.

On my second day, the doctors completed all their 'normal' tests and decided to check on my theory about it being a result of me putting my son's new medication on him and consulted with an opthamologist. As soon as they heard the name of my son's medication, Scopolamine(ℹ︎- see below) they said, 'of course, that is a common set of reactions to that med, we even have a test to see if it is in the eye. At this point, just wait for the vision to completely clear and the patient will be fine.' So that night I got transferred to the cardiology ward and had a good night's sleep after watching free television felt like a whole new woman. My vision came back fully the third day and after a glorious shower, I was ready to go.

Due to the fact that a patient in the ER bay beside me tested positive for COVID I knew that I could not go home near my children, so we made arrangements for me to stay elsewhere. I was used to everyone wearing masks and all the security measures at the entrances, but being walked out of the hospital did feel strange. I don't regret going in, at the time it was the right call, and they did discover I have an enlarged thyroid which they never would have found otherwise as my bloodwork doesn't indicate it, but I will miss my family (all my prayers and gratitude for my husband taking on as ringmaster of our circus).

Here's hoping time goes quickly and I can use this time as a period of restoration and rejuvenation. To all those going into the hospital right now and those who have loved ones going in alone, I see you and I feel for you. May we all remember that we are all in this together.

ℹ︎ Scopolamine is a common over the counter medication. It is a small patch usually placed behind the ear for those who get motion sickness while travelling. We are using Scopolamine for our son in exchange for going to the hospital to get botox in his salivary glands in order to control his sallorea (excessive secretions). He gets 1/2 patch every 48 to 72 hours. We had been using for a week and no issues but this day was different. You can't cut the patches so you have to cut the covering on the patch so only half touches the skin. You put this on and then cover it with tegaderm. Then when the time is up or you notice too many secretions, you take the patch off, remove the half a backing and put the whole thing back on with new tegaderm. Usually easy peasy-ish. This time, the tegaderm got all bunched up and I had to peel it off the patch. I must have inadvertently touched the patch and even though I used hand sanitizer after, I did not wash my hands right away as I was holding William. I must have unknowingly touched my eye or near my eye. Within 20 minutes I was needing sunglasses because the sun outside seemed to bright and 40 minutes later is when my eye blurred all the way up. #MedicalMomLearningLessons101 for sure.