Nobody to Call

I've been suffering from a kidney stone episode these past two days.  It has been incredibly painful and uncomfortable, both from a physical standpoint, and in other ways as well.

My surgery to remove the stone occurred last night.  By the time I got settled into my room and adequately doped up, it was around 10 at night.  My wife left for home, and I tried to get as comfortable as I could for the long evening of recovery.

On the hour, nurses would come in to get my vitals - take my BP, listen to my heart, review my oxygen levels, and take my temperature.  Occasionally I'd get up to urinate, and dealt with the pain and blood associated with that act.

At midnight, I started running a temp, and this had me quite worried.  I had just had major trauma to my urinary tract - to the point of substantive bleeding - and my fear of infection was high.

At 1:00, the temp had increased to just under 101.  I was punchy due to the fever and the drugs, and I was flat out scared.  I was pressing the nurse on what we were going to do about the fever, and she seemed non-concerned.  Unfortunately I was not in my right mind to advocate for this to be taken more seriously.  I tried to call my wife, but her cell phone had died and she couldn't hear the main phone.

And that was the only person I could think to call.

In Minnesota, I can think of two dozen people that I could call in the middle of the night and have them come into the hospital and help me.  But here in Green Bay, I have zero.

Thankfully, the fever did subside.  But had it not, I wonder what my night would have been like.  

And more than that, should something like this occur again, I have no idea who I'd call or what I'd do.  And that's the saddest thing of all.