The thief on Christmas night

This was going to be the posting the day after Christmas but obviously the pathology report took precedence.

OK, here it goes...........

After returning to the rehab hospital from my Christmas leave I settled into my bed and Dave left to go home. My evening nurse reported to me that she was going to put up my foot rails and turn on the bed alarm which meant that I needed to use the call button if I wanted to get out of bed. I let her know that I had yet to have an alarm activated while at the rehab hospital. She said that I should of had it on the past few nights and to use my call button if I needed to get out of bed. I was not thrilled & she knew it. I told her that I drink a lot of water which in turn meant a lot of calls for potty breaks. Later the nurse tech came and I asked her to ask the nurse to please come to my room for I had a question. I was totally tired by this time from the Christmas events at home. The nurse came and I asked her "What is your philosophy behind the alarm and rails, did a therapist or doctor order it?" She asked, "What?" I realized my voice was weak but I wanted to understand why the bed alarm was necessary. She concluded to tell me that since I was on anti-seizure meds the possibility of me falling out of bed was high and most patients have their alarms on at night. I didn't have the strength to challenge her to let her know my anti-seizure medicine, Keppra, was only for precautionary reasons.


I called Dave crying letting him know I was in bed jail for that is what it felt like. He calmed me down explaining that I was a liability (thank you, Safety Dave) to them and a previous patient most likely fell out of bed. It made sense, yet I still didn't like it for I had freedom the nights prior. It was Christmas night of all things. She was my joy robber, aka: thief of the night.

For the record, the alarm did go off at 1am on 12/26. I was trying to figure out how to adjust myself so I could lay prone. I ended up sitting where my feet belonged to throw a pillow up towards where my head would be and at that moment the piercing alarm went off. I was in shock! Hospital staff came running into my room and I explained that I wasn't trying to escape, just adjusting myself to be able to lay on my stomach. They said that the alarms are sensitive to weight shifts. Thank you very much - Big Momma here with a weight shift in bed. My new nurse whom I had before told me that he would leave the alarm off and return around 3 am. I was relieved to hear this. Oops! At that moment I realized it was 1:20 am. The clock in my room was difficult to see in the dark. Go figure. I propose it should be placed in a different locale. Glow in the dark qualities would have been nice. Ooooooooooo wouldn't that be cool? I am sure it is not in the hospital budget. Can you tell I am a mom of boys?

The next morning, I told the doctor on call that I didn't appreciate being restrained in my bed as I told him what had conspired the night prior. He agreed that it was unnecessary. "If a patient on anti-seizure meds would be a risk at falling out of bed there would be padding on the side rails."

"Do we see that here?" I responded with a "No." He affirmed my thoughts on the Keppra being precautionary.

It was better for the nurse to be more safe than sorry is where I can now stand on this issue. I didn't think this on the day after Christmas.

Really............ I was not trying to escape.

For a couple of nights following this incident the bed alarm was activated but I wasn't as livid. Thankfully on my last night the doctor made sure no alarms would be activated with a note in my records.

So glad my master bed at home doesn't have an alarm. Maybe that is why I couldn't fall asleep the first night. I have been traumatized. Just kidding!

kate