Quote From: beth93Kenneth is almost 85 years old and legally blind.
Since his open heart surgery several years ago, he takes blood pressure medication amongst others. He has a nurse that comes to apartment and takes his vitals. Yesterday, he told me that his pulse was a little low last week. When the nurse came to his aparrtment to check his vitals,
his pulse was 48!
Kenneth was rushed to the emergency room. The cardiologist placed a heart monitoring vest on Kenneth. The cardiologist wanted to hospitalize Kenneth. The problem being shortage of hospital beds. The hospital staff says Kenneth's pulse must be 45 before they can place him in the critical care ward. Kenneth's pulse is 48 as of last night!
The cardiologist says the first 72 hours are the most critical. People are rotating visiting Kenneth.
I am a so scared! Kenneth is my dearest and only true friend in Corpus Christi! I need to force myself to eat because I do not feel hungry. I have been so upset that I have picked scabs and scratched myself. I also cut some callouses off my big toes. The callouses get so big. I need to keep myself busy to channel my nervous energy.
I was able to sleep because I am so emotionally exhausted that my body shut down for 5 hours.
I need to go so I can get a few things done before Kenneth's wake up time.
Beth
I think that Hospital is a bunch of crap !!!! He should of been admitted right away. I mean I am no nurse, but obviously his pulse is too low !!! Have you in the mean time made an appt with his doctor?? Is there another hospital in the area that you could go to? How about a Urgent Care facility? Man, I would be exhausting all my resources that I could. Which you probably already have. But DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!! Keep pushing and asking for treatment. BUT.........TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF TOO !!!!!!!! Realize you can only do so much. Pace yourself. It is all a balancing act. YOu can't help your friend very much if you are wiped out, can you??? In order to be strong for your friend, you must be strong with yourself. Good luck !!
Liz