Mayo Clinic - Day 1

On Day 1 we were up bright and early at 5:30 am..after not sleeping too well the night before, I was not feeling bright and it was still dark outside so it seemed late not early. We had to walk over to the hospital and catch the shuttle to the clinic. The walk is not too bad about half a mile. We got to the clinic right on time and registered. Then at 8 am I met with my main doctor to go over medical records, talk about how I was feeling, and a physical. After that long appointment we were sent to the scheduling desk and registered there. We were then given a pager and told to come back when it buzzed and they would have all the doctors orders input and give me an itinerary for the next 2 weeks. My pager went off about 30 minutes later and then I had to stand in line to turn the pager in. In a corner of my appointment list it was stamped that the itinerary was incomplete. We went and asked what that meant and the lady told us to start on the days appointments and they would have the rest of the schedule made by 3pm. So off we went to the Lab, where I graciously gave lots of blood (14 vials) and some other specimen you don't want to know about. We then had a 45 min. wait for the next appointment and got a small lunch in their cafe and shared it. It was blackened catfish over white rice and veggies on side. (Yes, Karen made me eat 2 bites of veggies) There is a really great nature trail to walk but we were pretty tired so we just found exactly where it was and marked it for another day. After finding the nature trail, we came back to the 2nd floor to meet with a nurse that assigned me a machine to wear to bed. I took some pictures of it. It was not uncomfortable at all. It just hooked onto my finger and then we taped the wire around my wrist and it stayed beside me in bed. The machine measures your oxygen level and your heart rate. After we got the device, the next appointment was radiology and I was x-rayed from head to toe. It took a very long time almost an hour. After I got dressed again we went back to the scheduling desk to get the rest of the missing itinerary and the scheduler told us that there wasn't anything else for the day and to just be there on Wednesday for my next appointment because they were waiting on some insurance verification for the sleeping doctors. I asked if she was sure because I had to come back to return the sleeping machine the next day and I was sure the doctor had mentioned some appointments the next day. She assured me that if anything was added they would call me. It was only 3pm but I was exhausted. All I wanted was to rest. Being poked, prodded, question after question and waiting in line is so tiring. I was so happy to have Karen there. She really helped me find where to go and to remember to eat, and was there to take notes if I had questions. We had a bag on wheels that we pulled along with my bag of medications, blood meter, books, computer, purse etc. We were so happy that it was on wheels because it seemed to weigh 100 pounds by the end of the day. We only had to wait 5 minutes for the shuttle to take us back to the hospital campus. Our shuttle driver was very safety conscious and made sure we were all buckled up before even getting in the drivers seat. I wasn't as concerned because I was trying to do a blood sugar reading and was quite crabby after the long day. But I did get it on. About half way back to the hotel/hospital we got broadsided by a black Lincoln SUV. It was a hard hit and it jolted us pretty bad. If I had not buckled up like the driver ordered I would have been tossed to the aisle of the shuttle. As it was, we both were feeling quite sore. Karen's neck was hurting her and I rammed my hip into the seatbelf and used my hand to brace myself for the impact. So instead of going back to hotel, we had to go to the ER. We both completed our forms for the police, and then another shuttle came out to get us. The poor driver that hit us wouldn't even look at us. She seemed pretty upset, but I asked the policeman if she was alright and he said that she was not hurt. I was so glad to hear that. Her poor car looked pretty bad though. The police did determine after all the witness statements that the accident was indeed her fault and they were still dealing with the paperwork and forms as we were shuttled to the hospital. Already exhausted, we checked into the ER and waited at least 2 hours to get into our rooms. Then we each saw a doctor and he ordered x-rays of our necks, and my left hip because i bruised it on the seat-belt. Karen and I had a room across the hall from each other and it was funny because the nurses didn't know that we came in together and I was talking to her and called her by name and the nurse said "there goes HIPA" which is the privacy act. At 9pm we were told that we would be sore tomorrow and they gave us some Tylenol and each of us a prescription for pain medication. By the time we had our release papers and were dressed it was 9:30 at least. We then had to walk to our hotel as shuttle service stops at 9pm. Not a pleasant thing when you are tired, sore, cold, and hungry. It was a little after 10 pm when we finally got back to our room and I had to change out my insulin pump still and while I was doing that Karen set out some yummy cheeses and crackers and veggies and chicken salad and we felt like it was a feast. I tried to blog, but was so tired nothing was making sense. So I just shut the computer and hooked up the machine and went to sleep. So I am writing about day 1 on day 2. But since day 2 has it's own adventures...it needs it's own blog.