waiting...

so now the wait begins...
i have been told that i can go home, hurrah!
however, i now have to wait for some medication to come from pharmacy. this can take some time...
last time i was in i was hanging around for several hours and ended up in the rather soulless 'discharge lounge'. fortunately no one seems to be in a hurry to get me off this ward, so it looks as if i will be able to 'enjoy' my lunch any minute now!

there has been some interesting developments over which antibiotics i should be taking, with calls to micro-biology. last night the dr on duty was about to put me on doxycycline, which i was on for a couple of days last week and which made me rather unwell. reading the small print i discovered that it shouldn't be given to people with lupus! apparently the whole thing would be a lot easier and the elbow would have cleared up weeks ago if i wasn't allergic to penicillin. all i can do is give what they take me, which seems rather defeatist, but i've seen so many drs here and they all say something slightly different that i think it will be easier to go back to my gp and just have one dr tell me what to do.

anyway i'll get back to waiting...

evening update

unfortunately my superduper bedside tv/ phone/ internet screen thingamebob has not been playing ball for most of the day. this has meant that i have been unable to comment on the minutiae of life on trauma 2. so the entries on cleaning/ visiting/ today's meals/ fellow residents/ the nurse's new puppy will have to wait for another day or hopefully another hospital stay. (or indeed never!)
i will report that matthew has managed to break the visiting hour rules every day, by visiting at lunch time and overstaying in the evening. this evening his boss kept him late at work wanting to talk about the royal cornwall show, so he only arrived at 8pm, when visiting officially ended.
i can also report that the food today was typical hospital food. they try and source some local ingredients, so my potatoes have been enhanced by trewithen farm butter pats and i had a langdale farm yoghurt, which i have never heard of and sounds more yorkshire than cornish, but the menu said cornish and i implicitly trust the menu.
please spare a thought for the bloke on the ward who has been waiting since 8am for an op and it is now 10.15 - i think it was the lack of cigarettes that has been annoying him more, but it must be frustrating.
anyway my elbow is still improving, so i'm all set for release tomorrow. in the meantime i'm showered and in my pj's waiting for my evening meds and then it'll be time to say goodnight.

morning all

i can report that things were a lot quieter in sideroom 8 last night and as a result i slept a lot better. i was awake every few hours, but soon dropped off again. i am supposed to have the antibiotics every 12 hours. with having had the first dose at 1am the nurses said that they would set me off on the next dose about 11am. needless to say it was 2pm when i had the next dose, so i was expecting a late night drip again. but after the 2pm drip i had reacted slightly with a slightly swollen arm, so at about 10.30 i was given the good news that i would now be taking tablets instead of having the drip. this meant i had a much earlier night. though i was really getting into my book (the help a christmas pressie from my MIL).
have already seen the consultant, a different one from yesterday, elbow is again much improved so we agreed that i should stay one more day and get this cracked and all going well i shall be going home tomorrow!!
it is now 10.30, i am up, showered and hair washed. i have spoken with matthew, finished the book and chosen my food for tomorrow, now hopefully destined for the next occupant of sideroom 8. action packed morning so far!!! i will now go for a little walk to the shop and get a paper.

good morning- day 7

greetings from sideroom 2, it's coming up to 8am and i'm awaiting breakfast in bed. unfortunately i didn't sleep too well last night, my brain couldn't shut off and because the height of my exercise routine is a walk to the front entrance and back (and please bear in mind that roskear is the 2nd closest ward to the entrance) my body wasn't particularly tired either.
anyway i am hoping that today is to be release day - so far my 'obs' are fine which is good news.
once i've breakfasted and dressed, i shall wander down to the shop and get a paper and then the waiting game will begin. i don't want to tempt fate by packing, but then again it shouldn't take too long to pack and in the meantime i've thought of a couple of things to keep myself amused whilst waiting.
so here's hoping that everything can be sorted and i can be ready to leave by lunchtime (as this best suits matthew's diary for the day).

rare sighting of 'lesser spotted consultant'

i am happy to report that this elusive creature has finally been seen in sideroom 2! it was around 4.15 this afternoon and in his honour both the door and curtain were used.
it was a generally positive meeting and offers the very strong possibility that i could be home tomorrow!!!! i am to reduce my current steroid dose over 6 weeks and see him in outpatients in a couple of weeks. in the meantime the 14 year old dr has taken a blood sample that will be sent to Bristol, hopefully get the results in 2-3 weeks and somehow this will determine what future medication i can go on.
i notice that no-one has volunteered a time slot for this sighting in my latest sweep-stake, obviously the prize of a hospital meal was not a big enough incentive...
the next sweepstake could be either the time i leave or when the canula will be removed (it isn't currently needed, but is being kept in 'just in case'), though there is always the possibility that both will happen more or less simultaneously.