overall today has finished off better than it started, possibly going home tomorrow and some lovely visitors today. i've had a shower and am now in bed.
however i'll be signing off tonight on a slightly more serious note.
as i have said before roskear ward is a cardio ward and tonight one of the male patients arrested. it was all handled very well and with very little fuss. it was just after visiting so the remaining visitors were asked to leave and the crash team arrived with very little fanfare. you heard the defib warm up, someone said 'clear' and you heard the shock. it was successful but arrangements were then made to take him to coronary care (to do this a swap of patients was made). from the discussions and telephone conversations it appears that he had come in for a pacemaker and had, up until then been doing quite well.
only once have i been on a ward where someone has died, it was a young mother who had taken an overdose and again it was all handled very discreetly.
today we are removed from death, it is no longer something that happens in the home. however we still think of hospitals as places where people go to get better and the vast majority probably do, but as tonight has shown there are near misses and failures. even today my consultant reminded me that when i arrived on friday i was in a life-threatening situation.
so although i'm making the best of a bad situation and trying to find humour in my circumstances and the people who surround me here, i also respect them for the roles that they perform and the treatment and care that they have shown me.
thank you
Wednesday, 31 March 2010
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.
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.
bowel movements
i have been threatening this post since i came to sideroom 2, and now here it is, with a warning that you really need to read the two previous posts about privacy + modesty first.
for some reason there is a fascination around your bodily discharges and when i arrived here i was dehydrated, but a saline drip soon sorted that. i have been spared the indignity of a 24hr fluid balance (ie measuring what goes in and what comes out), however there is also a concern about not being constipated, and even though they have different ways of asking, i get asked every day if i've 'been'.
i don't know about you but when i go somewhere new, it takes my body a day or two to feel comfortable and in addition when i arrived here i hadn't eaten much in the previous 2 days, was confined to bed and aware of the limitations of the curtain ie you could be heard and not seen.
initially it was a case of using the bedpan. for a woman this means raising oneself enough to allow a nurse to place a moulded cardboard tray, in a plastic tray underneath you. you then gently lower yourself onto the pan, convinced you will fall off or break it, and then try and relax your muscles. you then have to lift yourself up again in order for the pan to removed, all the time convinced that you will slip and the contents of the pan will spill over the bed.
next stage is the commode! this is wheeled down the ward to your bedside, the curtains swished and on you get. now you are sitting, in your backless gown, very aware of the limitations of the curtain and again you have to will your muscles to relax.
now i am happily installed in sideroom 2, with it's ensuite wc, all i will say is that things are a lot more relaxed!
for some reason there is a fascination around your bodily discharges and when i arrived here i was dehydrated, but a saline drip soon sorted that. i have been spared the indignity of a 24hr fluid balance (ie measuring what goes in and what comes out), however there is also a concern about not being constipated, and even though they have different ways of asking, i get asked every day if i've 'been'.
i don't know about you but when i go somewhere new, it takes my body a day or two to feel comfortable and in addition when i arrived here i hadn't eaten much in the previous 2 days, was confined to bed and aware of the limitations of the curtain ie you could be heard and not seen.
initially it was a case of using the bedpan. for a woman this means raising oneself enough to allow a nurse to place a moulded cardboard tray, in a plastic tray underneath you. you then gently lower yourself onto the pan, convinced you will fall off or break it, and then try and relax your muscles. you then have to lift yourself up again in order for the pan to removed, all the time convinced that you will slip and the contents of the pan will spill over the bed.
next stage is the commode! this is wheeled down the ward to your bedside, the curtains swished and on you get. now you are sitting, in your backless gown, very aware of the limitations of the curtain and again you have to will your muscles to relax.
now i am happily installed in sideroom 2, with it's ensuite wc, all i will say is that things are a lot more relaxed!
amazing who you meet
was sitting in my chair, thinking about matthew, when one of the cleaning staff came in to change my bin bag. he was singing 'all glory laud and honour', so i made a comment about that being last week. i must have shocked him as he took a minute or two to think about what i had said, before asking me if i went to church. he then told me that he goes to the cathedral, even though he was baptised a methodist, and then i more or less got his life story. i've always admired those who can sit and listen to anyone, having time on your hands helps, maybe i'm just too busy. anyway, thank you howard for talking to me and i hope you continue to enjoy your bell ringing, and that you have a great holiday in vienna.
sudoku - update
having taken so long on the sudoku, i am pleased to report that the codewords was a much quicker affair. once i'd cracked 'coleslaw' i was away. i was going to time it, but it would have looked woeful as it was interrupted by an x-ray and lunch.
it will be a few days yet until i attempt the crossword.
so far i've had visits from the in-laws and karen, thank you for taking the time to make this afternoon interesting.
it will be a few days yet until i attempt the crossword.
so far i've had visits from the in-laws and karen, thank you for taking the time to make this afternoon interesting.
tomorrow's menu
just had my lunch of chicken and bacon lasagne - interesting idea, not sure i'll replicate it at home.
tomorrow's choices
lunch
lamb in cider with dumplings, carrots mash
bakewell tart + custard
evening
orange juice
egg mayonnaise salad
ice-cream
whilst it is easy to mock hospital food, things have moved on. gone are the days when your food was plated up in the kitchens that were strategically placed about as far away from the ward as you can get. the trays would then be put in trolleys that managed to both cool the hot food and warm the cold food, at the same time. meaning that by the time your food reached your bedside, it might of been edible but you just didn't want it.
here we make our order from a selection of dishes, some of which have been created by celebrity chefs (though we are not told which ones). the orders are then collated and the whole wards order is sent down (not too sure how that bit works, but i did hear the healthcare workers total the number of portions for each item)
then around midday or 5pm a mini serving counter is brought onto the ward. on roskear all available members of staff queue up with trays and a couple of people then plate/ tray up your food and bring it to your bedside! therefore the hot food is hotter than i used to remember and the cool food is cold, though if it's ice-cream i would still recommend that you have that as a starter.
i had my chest x-ray this morning and saw the trolley of food for this ward come off the lift as i got on! also getting out of the lift were andrew, helen, isaac and joseph - which will only mean anything if you know them - but they had just been for an appointment. we managed a quick chat before i was wheeled off to x-ray.
it is now nearly visiting hour, so let's see who comes today...
tomorrow's choices
lunch
lamb in cider with dumplings, carrots mash
bakewell tart + custard
evening
orange juice
egg mayonnaise salad
ice-cream
whilst it is easy to mock hospital food, things have moved on. gone are the days when your food was plated up in the kitchens that were strategically placed about as far away from the ward as you can get. the trays would then be put in trolleys that managed to both cool the hot food and warm the cold food, at the same time. meaning that by the time your food reached your bedside, it might of been edible but you just didn't want it.
here we make our order from a selection of dishes, some of which have been created by celebrity chefs (though we are not told which ones). the orders are then collated and the whole wards order is sent down (not too sure how that bit works, but i did hear the healthcare workers total the number of portions for each item)
then around midday or 5pm a mini serving counter is brought onto the ward. on roskear all available members of staff queue up with trays and a couple of people then plate/ tray up your food and bring it to your bedside! therefore the hot food is hotter than i used to remember and the cool food is cold, though if it's ice-cream i would still recommend that you have that as a starter.
i had my chest x-ray this morning and saw the trolley of food for this ward come off the lift as i got on! also getting out of the lift were andrew, helen, isaac and joseph - which will only mean anything if you know them - but they had just been for an appointment. we managed a quick chat before i was wheeled off to x-ray.
it is now nearly visiting hour, so let's see who comes today...
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