Day 7 in the Hospital Part 2

Krissy, Jackie, Connie, Lauren and Tiffany

Krissy, Jackie, Connie, Lauren, Tiffany, Jennifer and George were among those caring for and helping The Dawg today. Dr. Bolster was back today; Dr. Handshoe came in and ordered the CAT scan.

Carroll is feeling so much better tonight. The Braves won!

After a breathing treatment, George said Carroll sounded much improved but he could still hear some wheezing.

There have been loads of calls and e-mails wishing Carroll well. Thanks so much for all of them. Again, feel free to leave your comments below any of these posts.

Day Three

Well, Day Three wasn't so good, but that's primarily because the Braves didn't win tonight. In fact, they didn't win by a whole lot.

The Dawg was still tired today, wheezing and short of breath, but he's certainly better than he was on Thursday.

Now, let's talk about the personnel at Summerville Medical Center. Have you ever seen people who seem so delighted to bring the needles to stick the patients?

Laura, Jenny, Lori, Bobbie and Pam certainly seem to enjoy their jobs! They've been wonderful!

In fact, I almost hate to leave at night. They seem to enjoy The Dawg too much!






Here, I think Bobbie is having the same problem with Carroll that Mindy had yesterday. He's not supposed to talk when he's taking the breathing treatment (i.e. "smoking the peace pipe.")

He had some nice visitors today, including Vic & Edie, Lisa, Pete & Mary, and Pastor Holley from St. Luke's. Pastor Holley, who had just arrived (two hours earlier) back in the area from his daughter's graduation in Chicago, had devotions with Carroll.

Friday Night - More Great Folks!

In the previous post, we showed Mindy, the respiratory therapist who spent a long time with Carroll, listening to his stories about training pigeons. That's something he's been doing since he was about 12 years old. He had pigeons in a race last November in Jacksonville and has some entered in a race this coming November. In that race the pigeons will fly from near Nashville, TN, to the Spartanburg, SC, area.



The next friendly Summerville Medical Center employee we met was Julie. I can't remember exactly what she was doing in this picture, but I believe this is just after one of the contraptions he's hooked up quit working. It was telemetry monitor, I think. Julie had it working in no time.



Carrie was his evening nurse Friday evening/Saturday morning. Carrie is one more member of a great staff. She checked in on him several times and seems to be very patient. That's good!

George is another respiratory therapist. While The Dawg was taking another breathing treatment (smoking his "peace pipe"), we learned that George likes hunting and fishing.

Friday night, The Dawg watched the Georgia-South Carolina baseball game on TV, the live feed of the Atlanta-Arizona baseball game on the Blackberry and he worked today's crossword puzzle.

He's still coughing and there's still some wheezing. It will take more than these two days in the hospital to clear up the pneumonia and to find out if that is the only problem in his lungs. He's still getting three kinds of antibiotics and other medications.

There's only one time I've questioned his behavior. Yesterday when I looked up from paperwork, he was watching TV. He was watching one of those home shopping networks; they were selling nothing but bras! Somehow, I don't think he was in the market to buy one!

The Dawg: Hospital Likes and Dislikes

This is the remote for the TV. This is a BIG dislike. Here's the reason. He can't go down on the channels, only up.

So, for example, if he has been watching something on channel 7 but wants to find something else. He can go up only. If he has just finished a show on 7 and knows there's a sports event on 5 that he wants to watch, he has to click on every channel up to about 125, then back to 2, 3, 4 and finally 5. No, he doesn't like this.



He liked his food tonight, especially the beef and rice.



Here, he's talking to Ella. She was the daytime nurse today -- and she's great. She even remembered us from his last stay in the hospital back in February (or early March.) Even if she weren't good, he'd like her. She has the same last name as a player for the Atlanta Braves. Nancy was there today also. Ella put up with a lot from us today - always with a smile.
Tonight, his nurse is Kevin, who is assisted by Tamme. I only got to see them briefly before leaving at 9 pm.

Oh, this picture also has a dislike. He dislikes the "dress" he is wearing. That's what he has been calling the hospital gown.


This sign, I guess, is a big like also. It's just outside his door; there's one just like it outside the door of the man in the next room. That's because both patients are men and both are named "Smith." Ella told The Dawg that if someone came in during the middle of the night with a humongous needle to tell 'em they had the wrong Smith.