karenulijohn

When I arrived at the hospital today, around noon, Harvey greeted me with a big smile and the news that he is feeling a little better.  He has no pain and he had been promoted to clear liquids and Jello.  There was no pain or discomfort after eating, so he must be making progress.  He tried to pin the doctor down earlier regarding his discharge date and was told that he would probably be in the hospital until Tuesday or Wednesday.  I don’t think he is that anxious to get out this time.  They are taking very good care of him, and he knows he was a very sick guy.  His nurse today was very sweet and willing to answer some of my questions about Harvey’s condition and what we can expect going forward.  I mentioned that I wanted to meet with the doctor next time he visited Harvey, and she said it would be better if she took my phone number and had the doctor call me.  I was very happy to receive a call later this afternoon from Dr. Calkins, who was looking after Harvey today.  She answered all of my questions, giving detailed answers.  She told me that Harvey’s white count is now normal, but his potassium and hemoglobin are still too low.  He isn’t out of the woods yet, but he is moving in the right direction.

Harvey was determined to get out of bed and sit in the chair while I was there today.  I brought the mail for him to review, including some get well cards which touched him.  We chatted for a while, but I could see that he was tiring and looking longingly toward the bed.  His desire to spend the afternoon sitting in the chair actually only lasted about an hour.  We said our goodbyes with a promise from him to call me this evening.  Little did I know that I would be talking to him several times later in the afternoon after I got home.

I was fixing some toast and a cup of tea when I heard a “pop” and noticed that the refrigerator had stopped humming, and the toaster and  electric kettle stopped working.  Everything else seemed to be normal, so I concluded it was a circuit breaker.  But, here is the rub.  Where was the breaker box?  I looked everywhere.  Finally, I called Harvey.  After telling me there wasn’t a fuse box, he told me to press the button on all of the outlets that had one.  I had already done that so I said, “next!”  He then told me to pull out the refrigerator, unplug it and, using an extension cord, plug it into another outlet.  I couldn’t budge the refrigerator.  “Next…”  He told me there is a breaker box outside by the gas meter and that I would need to use bolt cutters to break a plastic tie he had put on to protect it from marauding elderly people.  I managed to cut the seal, but I did not have the strength to slide the bolt.  I remembered that our next door neighbor is an electrical contractor, so I took a chance and knocked on his door.  Thankfully, he was home and was able to open the door and fix the circuit breaker.  He then came in to check that everything was in order.  He assured me that all was well and gave me his anytime cell phone number in case I needed anything.  A little while later, I came to the computer and realized that the network had disappeared.  To make a long story short, I had pressed the wrong button on the outlet in the garage and turned off all the GFCI protected outlets.  Not only am I getting a medical education, but now I’m working on becoming an electrician and a refrigerator mover!