My wife hired a special duty nurse on the night shift named Leetrice.  I will have her with me for three nights.  Leetrice is able to get me additional blankets to keep warm.  Tomorrow, my roommate will be discharged and I will move to the window side of the room closer to the radiator.

Thursday, October 7, 1999

            A new roommate, Richard, arrives in my room.  He is a full-blooded Native American with a round face and thick black hair. Richard is 52 years old and weighs over 315 pounds.  He had gone to his doctor with slight chest pains and was immediately sent to the hospital to have a 4-way by-pass.  He tells me that both of his parents were dead of heart attacks by the age of 45.

            He has a great deal of pain and is given narcotics to control it.  He is always hot and wants the thermostat turned down.  The hospital provides him with a big circulating fan.  Leetrice keeps finding more blankets to keep me warm.

            I have several visits from members of the clergy.  One priest offers to give me communion but he notices the yarmicka I am wearing to keep me warm.   He wishes me well and leaves.

            The food at the hospital is terrible.  I have no appetite and eat very little.  Nurses come around regularly to check my pressure, temperature and the oxygen content of my blood.  They work with rubber gloves and disposable instruments.

            I do not sleep well. I am constantly being awakened and feel like a pincushion.  They are jabbing me with saline solutions and antibiotics.  After four days with little sleep, I ask for a sleeping pill.

Monday, October 11, 1999

            I am feeling a little stronger, but when I get out of bed to walk I feel faint.  The nurse is called. She takes my pressure. It is 90/60.  With medication my pressure is usually around 125/80. The nurse says I have orthostatic hypertension, which means that my pressure can go down thirty or forty points when I go from a horizontal position to a standing position.  She suggests I get up slowly and exercise my legs and feet before standing.  This appears to solve my problem.