Day 3

Sleeping in a hospital is tough. The bed was okay but there's something about it. 6am rolled around too soon. Matthew was up already, he's an early bird, and showered. He got me up and I got cleaned up. Shortly after the nurses came in to start my IVs. Today is the day they were going to do the Glucose test via IV.

On my right arm, she got it in my vein quickly and easily. The left arm wasn't so easy. She tried twice and didn't get it. She called in another nurse and she too tried twice... nothing. They said they were going to get the "professional" and that she was... she got it on the first try. I must say my arm is still sore and bruised from the attempts but it's okay.

The key to this test is timing. When put in the glucose, they have to draw blood every single minute for a bit, then up it to every two minutes, then up to every five minutes, then ten... for 3 hours. A nurse sat with me throughout the duration ready to draw blood. They kept a heating pack on my left arm to keep the blood flow going. Fortunately there was no hiccups for the duration. I did feel slightly light headed but I was laying in bed watching TV so it was okay.

Towards the end when times between draws were to be 10 minutes in between, a nutritionist came in. She introduced herself to us and proceeded to to a rest test. She put this plastic bubble around my head. I was to relax and breath normally for ten minutes. This test was going to detect how many calories I burn in a restful state. It wasn't a big deal. I was completely relaxed and continued to watch TV.

When the test was done, they did another blood draw. When that was done she spent some time with us asking all these questions about my diet and exercise. She took notes and said she wanted to review the information and she would return later on in the afternoon.

After the blood was drawn and all needles far away from me... finally... I got up and got dressed. We went downstairs to the lunch room. It was good to eat. I was starving.

After lunch, the nutritionist returned and reviewed my special diet plan. She did say each study patient's plan is different depending on their current diet. The first step in my plan is to eat consistently. I currently  have a problem making myself eat breakfast and lunch. She wants to see me eat each at each meal. After that I am to concentrate on eating better. Smaller portions and more veggies and fruit. Also, I have to lay off Coke. UGH! After this visit one of the doctors came with my medication. There was two bottles. One I am to take two pills in the morning and two in the evening. The other bottle I was to just take one in the evening. Let me tell you, these pills are HUGE!!!

She then escorted us out of the hospital and down a couple of blocks for my stress test. Now i've never done a stress test before so I wasn't sure what to expect. The doctor and Matthew had to stay in the waiting room while I was getting ready. We went into a room with a big treadmill. She had me put this mouth piece in my mouth. It looked like a scuba mouth piece. It was attached to a long tube that ran to this computer. It hooked onto a head piece that was put on my head to hold it in place. Then she pinched my nose with some kind of pinchers. Now those hurt! She had wires taped to my chest and ribs to monitor my vitals.

At this point they invited the doctor and Matthew in the room. I couldn't see them but I was trying not to smile. I knew Matt was. ha ha

They started the test. I was walking slowly. No big deal. After about three minutes they increased the speed and the incline. Still not too bad. My breathing was a little more intense. After another few minutes they increased speed and incline again. Now things were getting tougher. For some reason I signaled to keep going, so she again increased speed and incline. My legs were starting to shake and breathing labored. Shortly after that I gave her the signal that I was done. She wouldn't let me stop altogether but slowly brought the treadmill down. She wanted my blood pressure and oxygen level to return to normal. I'd say it was bout 18 minutes worth. I was sooooooo glad those horrible nose pinchers were off my nose!

I was still kinda shaky as we walked back to the hospital. The doctor walked us back to my room and we said our goodbyes. This was the last test for the trip. She told me that she would calling me every week to check my progress and that I would be back in September.

I must say that all the doctors and nurses involved were extremely nice. It was kinda neat to have the actual doctor spend so much time with me. I'm so used to dealing with nurse and only talking to a doctor for a minute or two. This was a nice change. :)

We repacked our stuff in our backpacks and said our goodbyes to the nurses. We took our cab vouchers and after a new minutes, we found a taxi and made our way back to the airport. It was in rush hour in the evening so this ride took about an hour. The driver was friendly though.

We got there and checked in to the hotel there. It was nice to relax in a comfortable bed. Soon enough we were tucked in bed and sleeping well. Tomorrow means home. We were ready to be home.



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