Thursday, May 17--discharge from hospital

This is the day I get discharged from the hospital. They took the Foley catheter our this morning at 6, and I'm told to tell the nurse when I first need to pee on my own. They want to note the time and the quantity. The nurse puts a plastic container, called a hat, under the seat of the commode. This allows the patient to sit and pee in the normal posture, and the urine is captured. I only wait about 20 minutes when I feel the urge. I go by myself, then tell the nurse, who praises me for being able to go so quickly. She says that sometimes, after having had a catheter for days, some patients lose the ability to detect a full bladder, which is not good. No problem there. I keep asking when I'll get the neck IV out, but I'm told it will be the last thing to be taken out. I get breakfast, which I was able to order, and it's lower in carbs than what they would otherwise serve. I've still got bad diarrhea, so I'm leary of eating yogurt or any kind of dairy, so I stick with eggs, coffee, and a few bites of bread. I asked for tomato juice, but skip because of the diarrhea. I had 8 bowel movements yesterday, and my bottom is sore and raw. It starts up again as soon as I eat. I mention it to the nurse, and again I'm only told that it's a side effect of the Myfortic, which should abate when the dose is lowered. Later in the morning I get a call from Courtyard Pharmacy; they need a payment method for my prescriptions which the doctor has called in. I give them my debit card number, and they say that they will have the prescriptions delivered to my room later today. When they arrive, they come in a huge blue bag, which will become my constant companion in the days to come. I take the blue folder that Bettina gave me (with all kinds of paperwork) and stick it inthe blue bag. I'm told that I must bring the blue folder and my meds to clinic every time. I go to clinic for the first time tomorrow. Even though I'm going home, I still get all the regular checks--vitals, heart, lungs--every few hours. And I get a glyburide tablet after my breakfast, to control my blood sugar. I'm happy to learn that I will not be going home on an insulin regimen, but told that I am to take the glyburide. Bettina comes in to go over my meds with me. There are ___ prescriptions on my list. Of course that includes one for pain (hydrocodone) and one for sleeping, which I don't need. I get prescriptions for Prograf in 0.5 and 1.0 mg doses, Myfortic (___ mg), Prednisone (1 mg. and 5 mg), Valcyte, an antiviral (__mg), Bactrim, an antibiotic (_mg), Mycelex troche to prevent "oral thrush", Phospha (phosphorus), Potassium Chloride, Famotidine (to prevent stomach upset), coreg, for BP control (12.5 mg 2x day), amlodipine (5 mg. 2x day) for BP control, simvastitin (cholesteral control, 40 mg), glyburide (___mg) for blood sugar control, which I'm told not to take unless my fasting blood sugar is over 120.