Angie & Jim

Telepackby Jim

When you’re in the intermediate ICU, you have to be monitored constantly.  Most patients (especially the mobile ones) wear a little wireless transmitter to keep them monitored anywhere on the floor.  The hospital gown has a little pocket in the front, but it uncomfortable to carry the telemetry pack or telepack (as I’ve heard some nurses call it) in that pocket.  The other day I remembered that in the past, they’ve had little pouches that sling over the shoulder to carry the telepack.  Since they hadn’t offered us one, I figured I’d just make one.  My mom taught me to crochet when I was a teenager, and I haven’t used it very often, but I still remember how.  I think it is kind of like riding a bicycle — my fingers remember how to do it even if my brain can’t recall the exact motions.

I found a nearby fabric store and went and bought a crocheting hook and a skein of yarn.  I tried to pick a color that went with the very fashionable hospital gown.  I didn’t have a pattern, but I had a good idea of what I wanted to do.  It took me a few hours to finish it (not including interruptions).  I had picked a thicker yarn thinking that it would mean I could use larger knots and therefore make it more quickly.  While this was true, it also meant that it wasn’t as long as a regular skein.  I ended up using the entire length of yarn and it turned out just about right.  Several times while I was working, nurses or doctors came in to check on Angie.  Everyone was surprised to see me crocheting.  More than one laughed and said something to the effect of, “you don’t normally see a man crocheting!”

Once it was finished and we started using it on our walks around the unit, someone always stopped us in the hallway and asked where she got her little telepack pouch.  One of the nurses, when she heard that Angie’s husband had made them, said, “you should sell them down in the gift shop!”

While I was down at lunch the next day, one of the nurses saw Angie wearing it and said, “That’s so cute!  Where did you get that?”  Angie replied, “My husband made it for me.”  The nurse got excited and said, “He should totally make swimsuits!”  Angie didn’t know how to reply to this and the nurse could see the confusion on her face and then the nurse added, “You don’t wear them for swimming, just for sunbathing.  And they put a layer of fabric inside them so you can’t see through them.  But they’re so cute!”

Um… yeah.

The plan is still to go home today, unless something changes, which is always a possibility.  We’ve got oxygen at home now, because Angie’s saturation levels have been somewhat low this week.  The next few weeks will probably be long and challenging and hopefully uneventful.  We have weekly appointments here at Stanford to check up on her condition.  After a month of anti-coagulation, they’ll do the cardioversion.  That will probably hospitalize us for a few days again while she recovers from that.  Here’s hoping and praying for the best.

Thank you all for everything you have done to help us.