Hospitals Part One-

I will begin this saga- one which will probably have at least 3 parts with the good news of last week,
My boyfriend, after 11 months and 24 days was diagnosed NED (No evidence of Disease) last Wednesday, In layman's terms- hes cancer free!! There is no more explanation needed, this is amazing in itself.  However I will quote my relatively annoying sometimes but very sweet neighbor who went, "Kelly, that's like, A MIRACLE or something".  So excited after a long hard day on campus I rushed home, threw on a pair of heels, and a slightly transparent top, and headed out for a night of celebration.  I got no more than 400 feet down the road when I found a voice-mail on my phone from my mother.

"Kelly, I'm really not feeling well..... I think I need you to drive me to Hopkins tonight"

Now I think this needs a side note of a bit of history.  last week my mother went on antibiotics for an infection and she was hospitalized for 2 days, and then continued to take them for a week it was on this day that she went off the antibiotics so reasonably, she was worried that the infection was back.

I look at the clock, 8:00pm, my mother was on the eastern shore, at least 2 hours away from where I was.  I promptly got on the phone with my dearest boyfriend, "Sorry to break the Mood, But I have to take mom to Hopkins" his response was valid,

"Well I'm not coming with you, I just got the fuck outta there!"
"I told mom I would meet the girl taking care of you on Kent Island, can I crash at your place untill she gets there?"
"ok"

In hindsight, we could have gone out to dinner- because I did not receive the call from mom untill 10:00 that she was headed my way, nor did I pick her up untill 11:00 but this is beside the point.  We got to Hopkins at 12:15, and were seen by a Dr. at 1:00 record breaking time when compared to the local hospital, where you were never seen for at least 5 hours unless your dying, and then they don't see you either- they just send you to Hopkins anyway. 

By 4AM 3 cultures an X -Ray and two doctors later, we got the discharge papers stating that- 'Results were not conclusive to any infection, or other problem. We got back in the car by 5 and got home by 7, where I (not sleeping yet) got back in the car at 8 and tried to drive back (2hours) to school for class.  To say the least, this did not happen, I got off the Bay Bridge and climbed into my now cancer Free's bed to remain unconscious for the next 4 hours.

I woke up at 1pm feeling like Id been hit by a bus, my own fault for trying to sleep on the top to a bio-hazard sharps container the night before.  Driving out to my dads to get clean underwear and ice cream before heading home to my moms by 3:30 I found her burning up with a fever, shaking, and with high blood pressure.  I packed a Bag, we were going to have to go back into the ER.

I stopped at the Urgent Care Center on Kent Island, and was Denied; so I headed to Anne Arundel Medical Center which took a little convincing, but eventually got a bed for her in the ER. 

Once Again, 4-6 cultures, an X-Ray, Spinal Tap, and multiple complaints later, my mothers fever was gone, and they wanted to discharge us at 3:00am with no answers as to what was going on with her.  Apparently it was at this point that the Nurse looked over at me slumped over in a metal chair absolutely unconscious and stated, "OR, we could keep you here for observation untill morning"

Both my mother and I at this point were thinking they would kick us out first thing in the morning from the ER, so we both were surprised when they admitted us at 5am. 

The next day we had not seen anything but a helpless nurse before noon when I said to the nurse at One, "Look, I have a class tonight" If shes not released by 2 I'm going to have to leave her here for the night, because there's no one else to pick her up today and take her home.

We Let me tell you- We were discharged within 35 minutes and in the car heading home in an hour.  In actuality I did not have a class, but I did have a Formal for my Sorority, which god dammit I had already paid $50 for and was not going to miss because a Dr. was on their lunch break.

In the End- We still don't know what is going on with mother, we know she doesn't have Meningitis,  A Bacterial Infection OR Pneumonia.  But that really doesn't tell us much, now does it? However We do know that I can infact function on Very little sleep, much to my displeasure