September 11, 2008

I would like to wish everyone a Happy Patriot Day. This is the seventh anniversary of the plane attacks that killed more than three thousand people on this date in 2001. Please thank all your public safety personnel and remember that they're out there putting their lives on the line every day for us. Instead of getting an attitude when one stops you, try thanking them for doing a wonderful job and be polite. They are people too.

I did a little work on Charmed Dreams, but I forgot to take a picture, again. Being here in the hospital has really disrupted my routine. I was chatting online, reading email, and writing blog posts most of the day so there wasn't much stitching progress, really.

There has been a huge hulabaloo about the antibiotic that's been ordered and how and where I'm going to get it. First thing this morning, the hospitalist told me I was going home today. He said the antibiotic would be given with dialysis. I told him I was told it had to be confirmed with my dialysis center that they had the drug before I could be discharged and he said he'd check with them. I gave him the number of my center so that he could call and speak with the charge nurse.

He came back a few hours later and let me know that it was going to be about a week before my center had the drug, if they ordered it today. Then the question became whether I'd have to stay in the hospital to recieve the antibiotic, go to outpatient infusion, get home infusion, or be transferred to a skilled nursing facility (rehab) until my center had the drug.

The discharge coordinator came back in and said that my only option was the skilled nursing facility and I told her I prefer to go to Heritage Harbour because it's the closest to my home. She let me know she was going to put in the referral to HH and would also request that I get a private room, although that can't be guaranteed.

The hospitalist came back a third time and told me that he'd spoken to the director of my center, Dr D, and was informed that the antibiotic I've been ordered can't be given during dialysis or through a dialysis graft, that it's not on their formulary, and they will not order it. Although this sounds harsh, the reason is because dialysis removes the drug from the system, so it's useless to infuse it during dialysis treatments. He said that he was going to talk to Dr Y about another possibility that can be infused during treatments because my only option would be to go to HH for the entire time I need to get the antibiotic (every other day for 2 weeks) because I have to have a central line in order to recieve the infusion. He told me he'd give the final verdict tomorrow.

So that's where things stand right now: I'm waiting to hear whether they're going to change the medication to something that can be given at dialysis so that I can go home, or whether it has to be that particular one where I have to be transferred to HH in order to receive it.