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Show 256 R2-D2 He is a young nurse, apparently making a stop in the nursing profession on his way to medical school. It is unusual for me to be assigned a male nurse - there are usually many male patients whose assignments he normally receives. But tonight he has requested to have me in hopes of providing his mathematical expertise in helping to make some sense of the overdose and underdose cycle. "I like statistics," he is saying, sitting by my bedside in a chair, clipboard in hand. He smiles as he is saying this. He will stay by my bedside all night. I am his only patient because at either extreme of this medication continuum, I will require immediate and very intensive care. "I'm lucky if I can make my checkbook come out right," I comment. I am glad there are minds that enjoy math. "My statistics class was for language majors," I add, knowing that from this information, he will probably appreciate the literary emphasis in that particular statistics class. "I've made a few graphs," he is saying modestly, holding them up for me to see. They look professional. There are colored lines indicating the levels of Baclofen, the exact time and amount of any changes made to the pump, the numbers of overdose and underdose, the amount of antidote given, if necessary, and how long the pump was off between overdose and underdose. I can tell on the key at the bottom of the page that there is also a color assigned for the presence of a Baclofen bump in my back but so far it has not been used. He has taken this information from my |
