The mad dash to the door!

This morning, I was lazily lying in bed, reading the Bible and enjoying the beautiful morning sunshine. My mom popped into my room to tell me she was going to lunch with the neighbors. She then started laughing when she saw me with disheveled hair and still in my pajamas and said, "Oh, I should tell you, the guy from the DME company is coming. He said he would be here in an hour to an hour and a half from when he called." I had heard the phone ring and thought, the guy called almost an hour ago! I picked up the phone next to my bed. According to the caller ID, the guy called at 11:03. It was now 11:45!

I frantically put on my compression stockings and tried to get ready in a hurry. I throw on some pants and shoes. I went to the bathroom and washed my face. I was having a hard time breathing due to mucus which builds up in my trach overnight. I tried coughing and cleaning out the top part of my trach. I felt a little bit better, but I still was having trouble breathing. So, I took out the inner cannula for my tracheostomy and put in a clean inner cannula. I went to my closet to find a shirt to put on. I selected a shirt. I then had to disconnect from my ventilator to put the shirt on over my head. "Ding, Dong!!!" "Oh no! The guy from the DME is here. It hasn't been an hour, yet, since he called! I am on the other side of the house very far from the front door. I haven't brushed my teeth or combed my hair! I am topless and am disconnected from my ventilator!"

I frantically grab my shirt, start wheeling my wheelchair toward the front door and kick my ventilator cart with my feet. The DME guy is knocking at the door. "Oh, don't leave!" I think to myself. "I am coming!" Right before I open the door, I throw on my shirt and connect my ventilator back up. When I open the door, I am gasping for breath, and my heart is racing. The DME guy seems alarmed I am so short of breath. "Let me look at your ventilator. You should not be this short of breath." The guy adjusts the ventilator settings and tells me I should feel better soon. I am too tired and too embarrassed to tell him about my mad dash to the door. No, I let him think my ventilator settings needed adjusting.