Wing Update #2

I am still in the hospital.  It has been 5 weeks.  If all goes well I will be discharged on Friday afternoon, pending my doctors evaluation.  I feel good though.  The Abilify made a huge difference in my mood and actually feel more like myself than I have in a long time.  So hooray!  maybe I'll get back into writing my art blog.  I have a new picture to draw based on a friends suggestion.  The only clue you get is: TACO.  What will this picture become?  What characters will appear in it?
Wait and see!

The hard thing about being in the hospital this long is that people come and go daily.  You meet cool people and make friends, then they are gone in the blink of an eye.  I am happy they got better, but it is hard not to feel a bit of a loss when they leave and a bit selfish that they aren't there with you anymore.  About 3 weeks ago, for a week, we had the most amazing group of people.  I remember one moment in particular where we were sitting out on the patio and "Sam" was playing guitar and singing.  "Ralph" was drumming on an upside down garbage pail.  The little fountain behind us was making water splashing noises, and it as just the most peaceful moment I can remember in a long time.  Everyone got along. We were all friends.  And not just "hospital friends" but real friends I want to keep in touch with outside of this setting.  Out in the real world.  We are planning a get together party but they are just waiting on me to get out.  If Friday happens, then maybe we will have our get together the next weekend.  Anyways, these amazing people I've met made being in here for so long tolerable and it is always bittersweet when they leave.   

Time for a vitals break.  Like I mentioned in one of my other posts, they love to do vitals all day long.  Because of the new medication I'm on, they do mine even more often.  I have good blood pressure always, but my resting heart rate is very high.  Guess it is just my normal. 

Ok, back to the post:  I have been reading Harry Potter again.  There isn't really much to do around here so reading books has been my answer to boredom.  I have read about 7 books in the past 4 weeks.  That's a new record for me I think.  We are watching Pitch Perfect 3 tonight as our movie.  Probably will start it up in half an hour.  I'm listening to the best of Andrew Lloyd Webber while I type this.  Music keeps me distracted from voices. 

I have high hopes for this new medication (Clozapine). It is sort of a last resort medication when treatment with other medications hasn't worked.  I started on it last Monday and have noticed a slight decrease in the voices, but it is still too early to tell how it will work.  It has worked wonders for many people, so I am hoping it will for me too.  The downside is that you need to get weekly blood tests to watch your white blood cell counts.  The medication can lower them and leave you without any defense against infections which can be deadly.  So they just monitor it closely.

Anyways, I'll update you from beyond the hospital bubble when I get out. I don't even know what the date is, and i only know it is tuesday because we had tacos for lunch today = taco tuesday!

Thanks for reading!