BST14: Sunday Bloody Sunday

Allright, so maybe this title is a tad overdramatic.

Just a tad tho. Not much.

Sundays in the hospital were different, quieter. Time was spent watching TV, staring into space, watching some more tv. Managed to locate the NASCAR race, Watkins Glen at that. So bad enough I was slightly out of my head enough to think they (I HAVE NO BRAIN MOMENT) changed the body styling for the race (something chunkier and stockier than they normally run - for unknown reasons I was seeing the cars that way), they were also making both left and right turns.

Any wonder why my head was all screwy? Well, there was another factor.

Dilantin.

(Q & A Time) "What are the possible side effects of Dilantin?
- an allergic reaction (difficulty breathing; closing of the throat; swelling of the lips, tongue, or face; or hives);
· hallucinations;
· slurred speech or staggering walk;
· a rash;
· changes in vision;
· agitation;
· low blood pressure;
· slow or irregular heartbeats;" (drugs.com)

So lets examine shall we? I was allready in the hospital for a tumor which causes gait issues, I allready had a rather calm blood pressure. My speech was slightly slurred due to the tumor. Agitation? No comment...

So really all the Dilantin did was add a rash and hallucinations.

Well, why the hell not?

When asked about it - the doctors called it "kinda like useful heroin - the benifits outweigh the drawbacks in most cases."

This is also around the time I stopped sleeping at night. Resting fitfully during the day, and as my mother put it "at all the wrong times." I'd be asleep every time the nurses and docs came in to check me, but awake when nothing was going on.

I was beginning to learn that the food at UVA was more than decent, it was actually good hospital food. Everything but the Turkey Tetrazinni. God what sludge, not to be rude. Im sure there are people out there who enjoy it - but Im not one of them.

And those days I would get something from the cafeteria downstairs. I had not seen it, but I was told it was huge - they had everything a person could want (including coffee.. and boy did I need it), all for low prices.

I was attempting to keep a journal while in the hospital - but only succeeded in making one entry. Todays: "Disoriented, delusional, and detatched. Dilantin. Welcome to lockdown."

For what its worth anyway...

Tomorrow: BST15: Stealing the baselines.