Recovery - Day 6. Ramblings from the Room

In the spinal cord unit, I have a cellmate.
I'm not a very social person to begin with, and I'm in a situation that is making me even less cheerful and outgoing, so I don't really know her well.  But I do know the  sound and tone of her moans, whimpers and groans (not the "late night" kind of moans and groans).  To give her credit, she is 65 and has just had three lumbar spine fused and has some new rods and pins in her back.  That's not easy.  But must every move be accompanied by a moan, groan or sigh?  Every move.  She has much more mobility and independence than I do, so I sort of resent her "woe is me" sighs.

I need decent coffee
In a patient-friendly move, this hospital decided to give lunch and dinner food options to each regular diet patient.  A very sweet lady comes around with her laptop and her questions for the day.  Would you like chicken or fish? Mashed potatos or green beens? Tart or fruit? Coffee or Tea?  It is a nice gesture, and as much as hospital food sucks, if you've been given a choice, you feel like you have some control over what you're eating.  But what's up with the micro-cup of coffee for breakfast?  Have you met me?  1/2 cup of coffee at 8:30am just ain't doing it for me ...I'm a two-big-cups-in-the-morning coffee kind of girl.  I'm just glad the pain pills also off-set the headaches of caffeine withdrawal.

Codes through the night
It's a little disturbing to wake up to the code announcements in the middle of the night.  "Code Blue in Cardiac", "Code Blue in Cardiac".  I know code blue ... I think everyone knows code blue. But yesterday I heard "Code White in Zone 3", "Code White in Zone3".  ??  What is code white? After a quick google I found it on the hospital website:   Code Blue - Cardiac Arrest. Code Red - Fire. Code Green - Evacuation. Code Orange - External Disaster. Code Black - bomb threat. Code Brown - Hazardous spill. Code White - Violent Situation.  Code Yellow - Missing Patient.

I want a wheelchair
Not, like, for the rest of my life.  But I'm stuck in a hospital room, living in a space that is maybe 6' x 10' and no way to get out of it unless Physio dude comes to get me.  So, I figure, if I could steal, beg or borrow a wheelchair, I could gain some independence and go for a zoom around the hospital. Put on my street clothes, escape the sighs of my cellmate, explore the halls, get sympathetic looks from the able-bodied,  find the coffee shop and see what's out there. Maybe I would accidentally kick a few random people with my flailing leg and I could be a real Dr. House, terrorizing the doctors and nurses.  Play Nicky Nicky Nine Doors on patient rooms, steal a staff badge and zoom into places where I'm not supposed to be.  It could be fun !

But with my luck my fun would be ruined by "Code Yellow in Spinal Unit", "Code Yellow in Spinal Unit".