So my new 'home' Wednesday through to Friday was in a step down type of ward. It wasn't quite as full on as ICU, but it had more closer care than the general ward. There was generally 1 nurse for 2 patients here, rather than 1 on 1 in ICU. My first day in there felt quite strange as there were windows overlooking the lake so I had my first glimpse of the outside world again, and I could tell what time of day it was!
I started to learn the new hospital routine for timings of meals and how the staff shifts worked. Although to start with it doesn't feel like much, every shift change and meal time is something to mark the passage of time passing... when you're still on a lot of medication and pain relief it is hard to hold on to a normal sense of time, so seeing a new meal trolley be wheeled in, or the sun setting outside you can almost figure out whether you're coming or going.... ALMOST!
I still had my lovely magical morphine button, which I could press for a dose of morphine every 10 minutes... I think on the Thursday they increased this time to every 15 minutes as it would appear that while I was awake I was getting a little trigger happy with it... They told me initially not to be too scared to use it, and press whenever I felt I needed it... so I do and they increase the time! Pft!!
Wednesday evening I dozed quite a bit, and I think I was properly settled for sleep by about 8pm... it wasn't long after the evening tea trolley round by any means. By the time the night staff were settled in their spots I was well away, just waaking for brief spells to press my morphine button or have a sip of water. I did get some proper sleep that night, despite being woken early by the start of the day routine... sometime between 5 and 6am.
On the Thursday I had a mass visiting.. firstly I got a lovely surprise visit from a fellow CF post transplant friend. This was a little odd as we had previously only talked online due to infection risks... now we're both post transplant the infection risks aren't as high so we could actually meet! I was also still quite a little 'woo' due to the medication so I probably didn't make too much sense to her! But it was lovely to come face to face with her for the first time, and finally put a face to the name! Later in the day I got mass family visit- my brother and his girlfriend had come down from Scotland to see me, my dad brought them, and then Glen and mum came too... kind of thwarted the 'only 2 visitors at a time' rule but meh... the nurses didn't say too much. It was a bit strange as my brother hates anything remotely medical so it was obvious he was uncomfortable seeing me with all the wires and tubes etc. This was made worse by the fact that the doctors decided it was the right time to try removing a couple of the drains. At the merest mention they were going to do something he was out the room like a shot. Everyone but mum left me (I wanted someone in with me) out came the gas & air (lovely stuff) and first off they removed my neck line and replaced it with a long line in my arm - that was what I mostly wanted the company for as I'd had a LOT of bad experiences with placing long lines before I had my port- after they did that (very gently and almost pain free... well done Will!) it was time for the 2 remaining drains to come out (the other 4 had gone sometime before then, but I don't remember when!) The right side came out ok, but the left one was a nightmare. This was the one that had been leaky throughout the week, and also uncomfortable most of the time. It took more than the others to actually get it out (gas & air didn't really mask it any where near enough!) but as soon as it was out things took a bit of a turn...
The doctor suddenly looked a bit panicked and got the nurse to quickly put pressure on my side. She stepped in a pressed down on the area while he just did a runner, having mentioned something about finding a surgeon. The nurse stood putting pressure on my side but not really saying much about what was happening. I started crying and using the gas & air more to try to calm down, then I was told that it probably wasn't such good idea to be using it so much so they turned it off... Mum was trying her best to stay calm, and calm me down, but wasn't really successful on either front. After a little while (and another nurse and the doctor coming back) I was strapped up very tightly with thick bandages and it was explained that there was an air leak around the drain site and they were waiting for the on-call surgeon to come and have a look to see if a few extra stitches would be enough, or if I'd need to go into surgery to fix it. Things calmed down a little, although I was terrified to move (or really breathe) and once all the paraphernalia had been cleared away the rest of my family were allowed back in and it could be explained what had happened as I clearly looked a lot more shaken and upset than when they left me. I got a visit from Paul (tx co-ordinator) around that time- not sure if it was coincidence or someone had told him to come see me- he made light of the situation and was joking with me that if I didn't start to move and breathe like normal he'd come and tickle me... I gave him quite a strongly worded threat that if he came near me to tickle then he would regret it (I can't remember my exact threat but it wasn't the most friendly as my dad told off later for being rude to Paul!) Paul took it on the chin and just said at least that would require me to move! He left me with a warning that next time he saw me he hoped I'd moved or there would be trouble. After that we all calmed down somewhat. After a while the surgeon came and had a look and it was decided that extra stitches was all that was needed and to just see how things went over the next 24 hours with it- if it continued to weep then it might need more doing to it. Fortunately, once the extra stitches had gone in that was the end of the drain site saga!
That night I was very tired and emotionally drained after the day's events but for some reason didn't sleep as well. I didn't get off to sleep until a LOT later and then kept being woken by one of the other ladies in the ward. She had major issues (I think due to the medication she was on) and kept hallucinating and trying to 'escape' her bed, then lashing out at the male nurse who was trying to help me... the female nurses couldn't handle her as she was quite a large lady. After a rather broken night's sleep it got to Friday and it was decided that I was now ready to be moved to the general ward. They were in the process of deep cleaning a bay ready to open up, so I just had to wait and see if it was going to happen today, or the day following. After the night I'd just had, I was hopeful to get moved!!
As luck would have it, just before lunch I got told the new bay was ready and I was to be moved after lunch... the next thing I know, my stuff is getting put on my wheeley table, and I'm told they're moving me before lunch so did I want to walk or got by wheelchair. As I didn't know where I was going (how far I'd have to walk) I opted for the chair. Glen arrived moments before I was moved so was able to help grab the cards behind my bed and any other bits not thrown on my wheeley table and off we went. I was the first person in the ward so I had the pick of the beds... one bed had already been ear-marked so I picked one in the opposite corner as it had a shelf above it and I figured that made sense to display my cards! Also being in the corner I could keep myself away from people as much as possible in a shared ward! I know that sounds anti-social, but being a CFer I'm used to being in single rooms due to infection control, so sharing a bay was very alien to me and knowing that generally everyone was a LOT older than me, I knew that I wouldn't do well with being stuck with 'old people sleeping noises'!
After a while a lady from my previous room got wheeled in and took the bed next to me as we 'knew' each other- we'd shared a fan the previous evening. This was my first surrogate nanny- Pauline. By the time it got to dinner the room had 4 occupants- me, Pauline, Jean (also from my previous room) and Daphne (surrogate nanny no.2) As it turns out, Daphne & Pauline, despite both being in their 80's, were a real laugh and certainly brightened my time in that bay. We all got on really well and looked out for each other, helping out with things if one of us needed it....
No comments:
Post a Comment