I had a very busy day yesterday. Today I am taking the world in.

So – one fine day in the hospitable, a nurse aide comes into my room and asks to take my vitals.

Sure, of course. I just got back from my walk. This walk was where I moved my IV monitors onto my wheelchair pole and had an oxygen tank because while moving about my oxygen dipped a little. The wheelchair enabled me to go further and faster.

I used my oxygen on my first few walks and then my oxygen levels were hovering on the Okay line at that point, as long as I felt Okay – I said, “Lungs, you just have to work. Take deep breaths – we can do this.”

Note: I bought a portable oxygen finger thing so I was watching closely where my oxygen levels were at. They were fine.

Back to my story – the nurse aide takes my vitals and records them. She leaves and then she bursts through the door 30-minutes later.

“I have to take your vitals every 30-minutes.”

She wouldn’t look at me but said something to the fact that I was sepsis, or septic, or code sepsis.

WTF

I asked, “What is my white count?” I pretty much knew she couldn’t give results –

No response.

“I will just ask the nurse.”

My vitals seemed normal that time around, but I thought they were normal the last time around.

I hit my nurse button because new drugs needed to be changed soon and I wanted to ask about my septic condition.

Upon waiting, I ordered room service and sipped on my latte. The nurse was busy, so I decided to waltz out to the nurse’s desk and ask for some of my food I had in the fridge. I was starving and room service took about 45 minutes and my stomach was pounding its fist. I had tons of snacks but that wasn’t going to cut it.

I ran into the nurse walking back to my room with my IV pole and a pile of food in my arms.

“I will be right in. My name is Peggy.”

“Oh hi, Peggy. Sure. Just some drugs and things, but do you know what this septic thing is about?”

“I will explain in a minute.”

She comes in as I am eating, quite relaxed overall except this septic thing. This was the Saturday for the possible discharge on Monday – so I can’t be septic now.

Let alone – it didn’t make any sense. Who knows –

“So, Epic flags us if your white count and when one of your vitals are increased. Let’s see, your last white count was done 3 days ago and it was high.”

Three days ago, that’s forever ago in hospital numbers. To be forthright, it might have been for two days. However, it had been a couple 24-hour cycles without a doubt.

“Okay. I just came back from a walk.” Literally, I had just transferred my IV monitors back to my IV pole and sat down.

“So, Epic flagged you because your heart rate was 101. Anything 99 and below for a heartrate is considered normal.”

After a sideward glance. “If the nurse aide would have waited another minute – I imagine you would have been fine. Let’s take some more vitals.”

Perfect.

The nurse typed-in new values. Epic calmed the F down. Septic warning shutdown. New labs were ordered.

“It is actually a fairly effective warning. We don’t want you to get worse. It’s a tool to warn us that we need to do something.”

This is a notation in my mind I have known forever – especially in the hospital:

When your numbers start to line up and everything is looking good, this is when you need to jump bail.

Run. Jump. Get out.

In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, remember when the children walk into the dark, cold, captive closet – only to push open the next door into Narnia.

Push it. Get out. Bolt. Remember Usain Bolt – do it.

Step into life.

When all the precious numbers and my symptoms were lining up for me – I made my announcement: “It is time for me to go home. I feel great. Fabulous. Thirty times better than when I came in.”

It was all true.

The thing is because we are human, eventually, a number will go up or down, and then – who knows.

My sugars were low once. I had a visitor and I was talking. It takes energy. I ate a Luna Bar and yogurt to curve it. Miraculous I was cured. Then I ate a big meal with the right foods, as I did not want my sugars to go over.

I had to take some potassium capsules and vitamin K liquid drinking shots a few times.

Two sleep studies to check my oxygen levels at night.

I had phenomenal care – I just needed to go home after a while.

You see, things go up, things go down – get out.

The morning of the discharge the doc comes in. “Your sodium is a little low again.” He held a space of silence.

I said nothing. I looked directly into his eyes. I was eating breakfast and had many liquids in front of me.

“I think you just need to drink a little more water. I am not worried.” 

Get out.

Bolt.