Crash- Station 19/Marina

Hospital pt. 2

On day 5 in the hospital Maya wasn't any better. Her lungs hadn't been improving and her SATs were in the low 90s with hi-flow so Maggie came up with a new plan. She was now getting breathing treatments 3 times a day and had added the vest to her treatment. It's a vest that shakes and loosens all the mucus in her lungs so it's easier to cough up. She's also started using a cough assist machine to replace some of the assisted coughing because she was getting a bruise from how frequently she needed to cough. So now every morning she would be woken up for nebulizer and vest then use the cough assist and suction machine to clear her airway. After a few days on this new plan she finally started improving. Once she started improving she managed to convince Carina to go back to work.

On the morning of day 10 Maggie came to check on her while she was doing her morning treatments.

"When can I go home?" Maya asks as soon as she's done all her breathing treatments

"When you can breath on your own" Maggie replies, used to getting this question every time she walked in. She got her stethoscope and put it on Maya chest to listen to her lungs. "Lean forward so I can listen on your back"

"Like its that simple" Maya mumbles, holding her arm out to Carina who come over and helps Maya pull herself up then holds her there while Maggie listens to her lungs.

"Your lungs are sounding better and your vitals are good, I'm going to try taking you off high-flow and see how you do on regular oxygen" Maggie says, grabbing a nasal cannula out of a cart and unwrapping it.

"So I can leave the room?" Maya asks eagerly.

"I guess you could, stay connected to a pulse-ox, bring a suction machine and don't tire yourself out, let someone push you." Maggie says, attaching the end of the nasal cannula to the oxygen supply on the wall then taking the high-flow cannula off Maya's face and replacing it with the regular one.

"I can push myself, I have power assist!" Maya argues. She finally got her chair back a few days ago but has only been in it briefly since she's stuck in this room.

"You have power assist to make it possible for you to push yourself, it doesn't stop you from getting tired. Exhausting yourself will just slow your recovery. I'm not saying you can't push yourself at all, you can move around the room but if you're going far, like to the cafeteria, let someone push you there." Maggie says, used to Maya after the 10 days she's been her patient.

"Fine" Maya says, not completely happy with that but she's already getting tired just from her treatments and arguing so she knows she wouldn't be able to push herself everywhere.

After discussing a few more things Maggie left and it was just Maya and Carina again.

"When do you start working?" Maya asks

"Not for a while, I'm only working for the afternoon today"

"Can you help me shower now that I'm not on high-flow? I can shower now, right?" She's desperate for a shower after 10 days in the hospital, they'd washed her hair in bed a few days ago but she hadn't actually showered since being admitted.

"I'm sure you can but let me ask the nurses, the shower here is pretty small and just has a bench, I'll ask about a shower chair and if one would even fit in there"

"Ok, thanks"

Carina left the room for a few minutes then came back in. "It's going to be easiest just to go to the rehab unit, there aren't a lot of big roll in showers or shower chairs with the right support other places in the hospital. All this unit has is one of those hard plastic chairs with a bit of a backrest they could but in the little shower" she says

"Ok" Maya agrees, she doesn't want to go back to the rehab unit but she really wants to shower.

"What do you want to wear after?" Carina asks, starting to gather things in a bag to bring with them. 20 minutes later Maya was up in her chair ready to go.

Maya felt weird entering the rehab wing, she'd been back here lots since being discharged for therapy and seating appointments but that was in a different section. To shower she had to go down the hall with all the inpatient rooms, where her room had been.

After showering Maya got dressed then back in her chair to leave, the shower had tired her out, it was the most she'd done since being admitted. On their way out they ran into one of the nurses that had cared for Maya during her time at rehab.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Erin asks, walking over to them

"Apparently the only accessible showers in the hospital are here, well accessible for quadriplegics, they have benches in other showers but that doesn't work when you can't sit independently." Maya says

"Why are you exploring hospital showers?" She asks

"Been admitted for 10 days, UTI and pneumonia plus they caused AD, mostly just the pneumonia now."

"That sucks" she says "I like your chair"

"Thanks, I just got it back. We went to Italy and they lost it on our flight back"

"I'd love to hear about your trip when you're feeling better" she says, noticing how tired Maya is. "You should come visit when you're recovered, all the staff would love to see you and maybe you could meet some of our current patients, its always nice for them to meet someone who's been doing this for longer"

"Maybe" Maya says, not sure she wants to come back again, especially to meet people. The pulse-ox beeping gives her an opportunity to leave the conversation, its beeping that her oxygen levels have dropped a bit so Carina bring her back to her room. After using the cough assist and suctioning she napped until it was time for lunch and her afternoon treatments.

After 15 days in the hospital Maya is finally being discharged.

"You can go home but you're not fully recovered yet" Maggie explains. "You still need to do breathing treatments, nebulizer twice a day and cough assist at least 3 times a day, more if you need it, you're also taking a pulse-ox and suction machine. You're borrowing the equipment for now but I'm going to put in a request to get you your own pulse-ox and suction machine because it's a good idea to have those. Wear the pulse-ox overnight and put it on during the day if your having trouble breathing or have any signs your oxygen is low. If your oxygen levels drop below 90, call me and come back to the hospital. No going back to therapy for at least a week, you need to rest. You have an appointment with me in a week to see how you're doing but if you have any concerns before then, call or come in"

"Ok" Maya says

"Thank you Maggie" Carina says

"I'll see you in a week, hopefully no sooner than that" Maggie says. As Maya and Carina leave Maggie walks over to Amelia.

"She's going to completely ignore my discharge instructions, isn't she?"

"Did you tell her to take it easy and rest?" Maggie nods. "Then ya, probably. She has gotten better at listening to doctors but she's still always pushing herself"