feeling a bit low tonight, might have something to do with just saying goodbye to matthew.
the night shift is starting, i was due another drip this eve but the canula is b******d, so the call has gone out for tonight's on-call 12 year old (sorry dr) to come + put in another one. maybe i'll start a sweepstake on his arrival time (it is a bloke, he was described as the one with beard).
unfortunately the rare 'lesser spotted consultant' did not put in an appearance today, nor did any of his team, so still no news about release dates.
otherwise i'll keep taking the medicine and hope for a good night's sleep tonight.
Showing posts with label hospital life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hospital life. Show all posts
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
cleaning
sideroom 2 has been on the receiving end of some high level cleaning this morning.
the cleaner arrived and the room was swept and wiped to an inch of it's life, even the bed was raised and all the bars and levers given a wipe.
soon after she left another lady, a supervisor i think, came and inspected the room, even getting onto her hands + knees to see under the bed. all was going well until she went into my ensuite. she came out tutting and told me that she was getting the cleaner back, and whilst she was waiting, she took the bin out of the frame and inspected the underside of the frame!! eventually she got impatient and went to fetch the cleaner, and the 2 of them disappeared into the toilet, something was pointed out and after a short discussion they both left.
a few mins later the supervisor reappeared with another bloke and they both went into the ensuite, before leaving.
a few mins later a chap turns up with a hoover and apologises but he needs to get into the ensuite to hoover the air-vent!
as he leaves thank him and tell him that i'm sure the rest of my stay has been improved by his hoovering. he laughed and told e that they had finished early and were now being found 'silly little jobs to do'.
suffice to say the supervisor has been back and sideroom2 is now fit for habitation again!!
when matthew reads this he will probably comment that our house should be so lucky to get this degree of treatment!
the cleaner arrived and the room was swept and wiped to an inch of it's life, even the bed was raised and all the bars and levers given a wipe.
soon after she left another lady, a supervisor i think, came and inspected the room, even getting onto her hands + knees to see under the bed. all was going well until she went into my ensuite. she came out tutting and told me that she was getting the cleaner back, and whilst she was waiting, she took the bin out of the frame and inspected the underside of the frame!! eventually she got impatient and went to fetch the cleaner, and the 2 of them disappeared into the toilet, something was pointed out and after a short discussion they both left.
a few mins later the supervisor reappeared with another bloke and they both went into the ensuite, before leaving.
a few mins later a chap turns up with a hoover and apologises but he needs to get into the ensuite to hoover the air-vent!
as he leaves thank him and tell him that i'm sure the rest of my stay has been improved by his hoovering. he laughed and told e that they had finished early and were now being found 'silly little jobs to do'.
suffice to say the supervisor has been back and sideroom2 is now fit for habitation again!!
when matthew reads this he will probably comment that our house should be so lucky to get this degree of treatment!
privacy and modesty
one of the things you have to surrender when entering hospital is some of your privacy + modesty (p+m). you are constantly being examined and scanned and a lot of that happens when you are in a flimsy gown, that only has two ties on the back, gapes and is generally incredibly unflattering!
i always remember a friend of mine telling me about her experience after a c-section (though i believe in childbirth you have to really give up your p+m), she had got so used to the drs and nurses wanting to see the scar, that when a friend was asking about it, she didn't hesitate to whip back the sheet and her gown to show her. it was only the look on her friends face that made my friend realise that a friend didn't need or indeed want to see that!!
having said that, i have to admit that the staff here have been lovely and most helpful in helping me maintain a degree of p+m, even when i was in the backless gown, struggling to breath and being transferred from trolley to machine and back again.
there is a moment in your treatment when you realise that this is it, your p+m are gone. for me this was at 5.30am, when there were 3 (male) paramedics in our living room, i was in my dressing gown, struggling to breath and they wanted to do an ecg. one of them attached the pads on ankles and wrists and then looked at me with the remaining pads, asked me if i had had one before. i nodded. so you know where these go. i nodded. he looked at me as if to say 'you ok with that?' i nodded. he very gently undid my dressing gown, fortunately i had kept my bra on overnight as it helped with my breathing, i think he was quite relieved. but for this particular bout of ill-health, that was the moment when i realised my p+m were being left behind.
perhaps the most fortunate thing about losing your p+m in these circumstances is that you are usually desperate for someone to help you and too ill to care!
i always remember a friend of mine telling me about her experience after a c-section (though i believe in childbirth you have to really give up your p+m), she had got so used to the drs and nurses wanting to see the scar, that when a friend was asking about it, she didn't hesitate to whip back the sheet and her gown to show her. it was only the look on her friends face that made my friend realise that a friend didn't need or indeed want to see that!!
having said that, i have to admit that the staff here have been lovely and most helpful in helping me maintain a degree of p+m, even when i was in the backless gown, struggling to breath and being transferred from trolley to machine and back again.
there is a moment in your treatment when you realise that this is it, your p+m are gone. for me this was at 5.30am, when there were 3 (male) paramedics in our living room, i was in my dressing gown, struggling to breath and they wanted to do an ecg. one of them attached the pads on ankles and wrists and then looked at me with the remaining pads, asked me if i had had one before. i nodded. so you know where these go. i nodded. he looked at me as if to say 'you ok with that?' i nodded. he very gently undid my dressing gown, fortunately i had kept my bra on overnight as it helped with my breathing, i think he was quite relieved. but for this particular bout of ill-health, that was the moment when i realised my p+m were being left behind.
perhaps the most fortunate thing about losing your p+m in these circumstances is that you are usually desperate for someone to help you and too ill to care!
good morning
it's tuesday 30th and i'm still here...
a relatively quiet night, a drip @ 10.30 and another @ 6.30am. i am now up, showered and dressed. though have to admit to feeling a bit weaker this morning. probably as i am now no longer having intravenous steroid and have been given tablets today - 6 uncoated ones (they taste foul) and the tablets take a bit longer to kick in than a drip.
unfortunately i didn't get to see the consultant yesterday, so i'm crossing fingers and touching wood in the hope he comes today... and then i may have more news about a release date!
i ad some lovely visitors yesterday - so thank you for finding time and money for the carpark - is is appreciated.
today i will keep you updated and do a spot of reading and maybe a spot of snoozing.
a relatively quiet night, a drip @ 10.30 and another @ 6.30am. i am now up, showered and dressed. though have to admit to feeling a bit weaker this morning. probably as i am now no longer having intravenous steroid and have been given tablets today - 6 uncoated ones (they taste foul) and the tablets take a bit longer to kick in than a drip.
unfortunately i didn't get to see the consultant yesterday, so i'm crossing fingers and touching wood in the hope he comes today... and then i may have more news about a release date!
i ad some lovely visitors yesterday - so thank you for finding time and money for the carpark - is is appreciated.
today i will keep you updated and do a spot of reading and maybe a spot of snoozing.
Monday, 29 March 2010
view from my room
thought i would set the scene and describe my room/views.
in my luxurious sideroom there is a locker (standard issue), an electric bed (luxury, actually acquired from the high dependency ward as when the nurse who transferred me saw that i was abut to get a bed with an air mattress, she decided to swap the beds as she had been looking for an air mattress for another patient in hdu!), a rather uncomfortable chair (fake black leather - seat splitting and showing the foam underneath), a bedside trolley and joy of joys an ensuite toilet!!!
this is especially cool as the majority of patients are male and one of the things i see a lot is the men in the neighbouring bay shuffling across the corridor to the unisex bathroom opposite. i'm happy to shower in there - not so happy to share the toilet...
other views down the corridor include the nurses station and the staff going about their business answering calls etc. they also store the trolley with the patients notes near my door, so i get to hear hushed conversations about patients. all very exciting but i don't know who they are!
i do have a window with a view to a wall with more windows, but if i get up and have a look i can see grass and a road (can't quite see the helipad). i am also above a+e and if there are several ambulances in place, i get to hear them arrive and unload their patients.
so there you have it. although siderooms are a luxury they can be a bit lonely as there is less interaction. hence my enjoyment of a slightly wider view of the world through the internet than the physical view from my room.
in my luxurious sideroom there is a locker (standard issue), an electric bed (luxury, actually acquired from the high dependency ward as when the nurse who transferred me saw that i was abut to get a bed with an air mattress, she decided to swap the beds as she had been looking for an air mattress for another patient in hdu!), a rather uncomfortable chair (fake black leather - seat splitting and showing the foam underneath), a bedside trolley and joy of joys an ensuite toilet!!!
this is especially cool as the majority of patients are male and one of the things i see a lot is the men in the neighbouring bay shuffling across the corridor to the unisex bathroom opposite. i'm happy to shower in there - not so happy to share the toilet...
other views down the corridor include the nurses station and the staff going about their business answering calls etc. they also store the trolley with the patients notes near my door, so i get to hear hushed conversations about patients. all very exciting but i don't know who they are!
i do have a window with a view to a wall with more windows, but if i get up and have a look i can see grass and a road (can't quite see the helipad). i am also above a+e and if there are several ambulances in place, i get to hear them arrive and unload their patients.
so there you have it. although siderooms are a luxury they can be a bit lonely as there is less interaction. hence my enjoyment of a slightly wider view of the world through the internet than the physical view from my room.
hello from sideroom 2
goodmorning. it is monday 29th march and you find me in treliske hospial (officially royal cornwall hospital) where i was admitted last friday, showing signs of a severe chest infection and possibly a clot on the lung. fortunately no clot. but a nasty flare up of my lupus attacking the lining of my lungs (pleurisey) combined with a chest infection.
i have received large doses of intraveneous steriod + antibiotic. yesterday i was moved from the high dependency ward to a cardiac ward (lots of old men) and deep joy the outside world via the internet (limited).
i got onto facebook yesterday but was unable to status update so i thought i would create a blog and see if i can update facebook this way.
i would also like to point out that the keyboard is at the same height as my head (hard on the arms) and doesn't like it when i type too fast. so please forive lack of capitals and abbreviated sentences. thank you!
i have received large doses of intraveneous steriod + antibiotic. yesterday i was moved from the high dependency ward to a cardiac ward (lots of old men) and deep joy the outside world via the internet (limited).
i got onto facebook yesterday but was unable to status update so i thought i would create a blog and see if i can update facebook this way.
i would also like to point out that the keyboard is at the same height as my head (hard on the arms) and doesn't like it when i type too fast. so please forive lack of capitals and abbreviated sentences. thank you!
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