Last day at MGH. Slept ok for a couple of hours, but nurse came in to check vitals, and my blood pressure was low: 83 over something. She paged the doctors, and later, around 2 am, came to set up an IV of saline for hydration. Vitals at 4 am showed blood pressure back in the normal range. Eagerly awaiting news of when they’re going to transport me to Spaulding.
News came that they’d transport me at 12:30, and Jonathan, the driver with an impressive mustache, showed up right in time. I’ve been at MGH this time since July 16th, over two weeks, and gotten to know many of the nurses, PCAs, doctors and NPs quite well. They’ve been marvelous. I am impressed with how well they interact with other patients as well. No Nurse Ratchets here!
Arrived at Spaulding via chair ride and wheeled up to my room. Oh Joy! It’s on the 5th floor, single room, with a stunning view of the harbor!
Talked with the doctor who checked me in and completed the MOLST form, so that’s another To-Do checked off. They seem to be leaving me alone for now. Rehab starts tomorrow at 9 am, according to the schedule on the TV. Strange User Interface. Firstly, you can’t turn it off. Pressing the OFF button on the remote merely causes the main window to cycle between screens, without turning off the display. Secondly, there are windows both at the bottom and right of the main screen, but the taller windows on the right have unused real estate, whereas the shorter windows on the bottom you have to scroll. Seems like a poor UI design. Hopefully I won’t be here for V2.0 to be released!
Talked for a while with the PCA Mary Ann who brought me a cup of tea in evening. She’s from the Philippines, so we had an instant connection when I told her about Miranda’s two years in the Peace Corps and our visit there. We talked about family mostly.