. It was a warm March afternoon at Country Villa, Gary breaking down the larger cardboard boxes deposited in the 10 yard compactor. The sun giving notice, a brief handkerchief swipe of the forehead and face remedying the accumulated moisture, only the white kerchief came back baring the red stains of blood from his nose. Going inside the maintenance shop, the blood flow continued. With the bloody handkerchief in hand, he decided to see who was at the nurses station, discovering that Carolyn Hauser, the director of nursing and another nurse was in her office.
. Entering, Carolyn immediately recognized his predicament, telling a passing CNA to go to the kitchen and get some ice in a plastic bag as she reached for a blood pressure cuff. Gary noticing Carolyn expression changed, as she murmured, that can’t be right, retaking the blood pressure a second time. Gary curious, asking what the reading was, Carolyn not immediately answering, reaching for her purse, saying we need to go to the hospital, she would drive, then adding, your blood pressure is 2 10 over 100 21.
. Doctors Medical Center being only four blocks from Country Villa. In ER his nose bleed remained, a nurse taking his blood pressure, which had begun to come down. Gary telling Carolyn, he could take it from here, but would appreciate it if she would call Fran, and tell her he would be late getting home. After what seemed like an eternity, a physician entered the treatment room, the doctor swabbing the inside of his nose with silver nitrate, stopping the flow. He was about to leave when to his surprise Fran entered the treatment room, having taken a cab to the hospital, it was a comfort, the two walking back to Country Villa to retrieve the car.
. The 6:30 a.m. Monday morning ritual was normal, Gary was about to step out of the shower discovering his nose bleed from the previous Friday had returned. Placing a call to Country Villa to give noticed he wouldn’t be in, and by chance the previous administrator, now a Country Villa Corporate vice president, Brad Kikuta happened to answer the phone, Gary explaining the situation. The blood was exiting his nose, but this time with a vengeance, telling Brad he didn’t want to call an ambulance, what he needed was a ride to the hospital, Brad answering, he was on his way. Gary finally waking Fran, making her aware of the situation.
. Entering Doctors Medical Center E R, Gary signing in, told to be seated, the blood continuing its flow, it seemed like it was taking forever. he approached the reception counter area once more, only this time removing the towel, letting the blood drip all over the counter, getting the attention of the person behind the glass, it worked, he was immediately taken to a treatment room. For the second time in three days his nose bleed was stopped, the noon hour having arrived, deciding to walk the four blocks to Country Villa to see about a ride home, but no sooner had he exited the building, his nose bleed resumed. Returning inside, the process of waiting for his name to be called returned, another doctor repeating the same process as the first, halting the bleeding, Gary being told to remain in the treatment room.
. Time passed and as before the bleeding once again resumed, only this time requiring suction to prevent the blood from entering the throat. A third doctor performing a brief examination, informing him that he was going to be transferred by ambulance to the Kaiser Hospital in Fremont, a distance of 75 miles, as Kaiser Permanente was his HM O. Placed on a gurney and moved to the ambulance entrance, surprised to find Fran standing there, having just arrived by cab after being notified of his impending transfer, looking very concerned.
I. t became evident, the A M R ambulance crew hadn’t made very many trips to Fremont as Gary heard one of the EMT’s tell the other, he was at the wrong hospital. Apparently the driver pulled into Fremont’s 2 hundred 69 bed Washington Hospital instead of Kaiser, but was relieved the hour and twenty minute ride was over. Placed In a treatment room, introduced to a young lady doctor. . He questioned the doctor about the procedure relating that the previous two doctors had used silver nitrate. She said she would be using something different this time, it was medicinal cocaine, that it had vasoconstriction properties, in essence, the cocaine puts a chemical tourniquet on the blood supply to the septum. With the procedure completed, the bleeding stopped, Gary relegated to a wheelchair, the hospital unseemly quiet at that time of the night, and just when he thought all was well, his nose once again gave another notice, as the blood flow once again commenced. He was beginning to have a concern that he might have to have surgery, the lady doctor returning, informing him there was another non surgical procedure, and an E N T from the Bay Area was on his way to administer it.
. Again relegated to waiting, only this time in a semi-darken secluded area seated in a wheelchair, a night shift nurse finally breaking the solitude, wheeling him into a treatment room. The door opened, stepping into the room was a short elderly Chinese man wearing a traditional white lab coat, introducing himself, speaking gingerly about the procedure that would halt the bleeding. On the treatment table were two 24 inch long packing strips, saying this might be somewhat painful, as he proceeded to insert a 24 inch strip into each side of his nostril, forcing them up into his sinus cavities. The procedure completed, Gary’s reaction from having tensed up from the pressure and insertion of the packing leaving him somewhat exhausted, plus the biting reality of the past 20 hours. The doctor informing him that he would have to live with the packing in place for the next ten days, but at that moment it was of little concern, returning home was foremost on his mind.
. He was relieved after being told that the hospital had notified his wife, and that she was making arrangements. Concluding that admittance was totally out of the question, asking if there was some place he could possible lay down while waiting, and to his surprise, his request was answered, a nurse moving him into what appeared to be a darken unoccupied ward room, the bed a welcoming sight. The doctor was right when telling him of the extreme discomfort that would come with the sinus packing, sleep finally settled in. He was aroused by nurse with a food tray informing him it was noon, surprised at the hour as well as the food tray, as he wasn’t an admittance. Gary surmising was correct, Fran had called his mother, who in turn contacted his sister Katherine in Groveland, the two finally arriving that afternoon
. March 26th having arrived, the ten day stay at home with the packing had elapsed, Gary having an afternoon appointment with Kaiser Doctor vijay Bais M D, E N T. Still somewhat puzzled at the parade of events, a simple epistaxis, better known as a nose bleed, requiring 5 doctors and two hospitals to halt the flow from a cartilaginous nasal septum. On his way to the doctors, deciding he would stop at work as a quip, so they could see his swollen facial disfiguration from the packing, evidence of what he endured for the past ten days. The expression on the business office manager Joanie Peels face was priceless..
.. Once again returning to work, a renewed effort being made to retire, an interview for a replacement was at hand , this time, one with applicable experience. Scott Hensley having worked at Manteca Nursing Care Center and also possessed a state contractor license. Gary took an immediate liking to his replacement, but when questioned about the plant systems and appliances, he enumerated the Manteca facility had contracted all the equipment servicing out. Six weeks having passed, Gary satisfied with Scott’s progress, it was time for the 68 yearold to approached Rashmi that his last day would be Friday, May 29, 2009. His final day was much like most, keeping busy, approaching 4:30, he entered the business office to cede a farewell to Joanie Peel the business office manager.
. After nine years, Joanie was almost like family, Gary having employed her son Michael and daughter Karen in the past. Saying goodbye, he was about to leave, Joanie stopping him, imparting that he shouldn’t leave just yet, grabbing him by the arm, leading him to the closed door of the conference room. Seated inside was Rashmi and all the department supervisors and many others, a large cake and refreshments adorning the long conference room table. Gary was taken aback, caught without words, the reception unexpected, but the real unexpected gift, was not just their presence, but their acknowledgement he would be missed.
Inquisitive Quest 
February 7, 2017 at 1:12 pm |
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