Hospiblogging

Today is the First Mate’s surgery to install a dialysis shunt, and the didn’t start off too well. Her blood sugars were too low and her blood pressure too high, and so the hospital delayed her procedure for a while. Eventually she got settled down and they’ve taken her in for the surgery, which fortunately only requires sedation and a local anaesthetic.
In the meantime, I’m waiting in the hospital lobby with a restaurant pager for them to tell me when the doctor is ready to talk with me. (You can’t have a cell phone on, but you’ll know when your table is ready, monsieur.) After asking about a dozen people if the hospital had Internet access, someone told me about a few workstations they have just off of the lobby. None of them had an access port, but a table nearby has a computer for job applicants. Above the computer is a large sign that reads, “THIS COMPUTER WILL ONLY ACCESS THE HOSPITAL SITE”. Never one to do what I’m told, I took out my laptop and hijacked the network port, and to my mild surprise, I’m on line. Thank goodness, too, as I don’t think I could read another magazine from the last century.
I’m sure this story would amuse the First Mate if I told her, but seeing as she’s convinced I’m addicted to the computer, I think I’ll keep my mouth shut. I’ll update this post later on to update her condition, as long as my secret remains undiscovered…
UPDATE, 2:56 PM CT: The First Mate’s procedure went well, and now she’s getting dialyzed for the first time. Her blood pressure is already dropping and she’s dozing through most of it. I’ve hijacked the network access point again and I’ll check on her in a bit to make sure she’s still doing well. The dialysis unit is in the ICU, so there’s no place for me to sit while she’s up there.
UPDATE, WED EVENING: The First Mate had a successful run on dialysis and is resting comfortably at the hospital. She’ll stay a couple of more days and have a couple of more runs on dialysis before they release her on Friday. She’s looking a bit better already, and I think she’ll be feeling a lot better tomorrow and Friday after her treatments. Dialysis is a fascinating process; if you’d like to know more about it, check this out.