Two days after my surgery I was transferred to a general ward, which I still believe was too early, but can only surmise that pressures on bed space could have been the reason. The week in the general ward was not easy. At first I was fed intravenously but slowly was introduced to clear liquids, then onto other liquids and finally onto some more solid food. I hardly ate anything. The food simply was not to my liking and I had very little appetite anyway. I couldn’t get out of the bed without the aid of a nurse because of all the tubes that were attached, so trying to get a little bit of exercise by walking around the ward was difficult. During my time in the hospital I had to have regular blood tests which became another problem because of my shy veins and invariably a very experienced nurse of some sort had to be enlisted. The time came however when I was deemed fit and all the tubes had been removed but I was not allowed home until I could satisfy the physiotherapists that I would able to cope in my home environment and could walk unaided both up and down a flight of stairs. At every opportunity I insisted that I be helped out of bed and walked circuits, adding one more every time, around the nurses station until I could fulfil their criteria. I wasn’t going to stay any longer than was absolutely necessary. I was on my way home two days later on the 5th August.
The speed and the meticulous care I had been given right from the start of my original diagnosis had been amazing and had been as good as I would have received anywhere in the world. Perhaps anybody reading this will understand more why I feel so strongly about giving something back to all those wonderful and hardworking people who saved my life and are saving lives every day of the week, month, year.
A major problem then, as it is now, is that any ‘after care’ is not automatic and not joined up. It was up to us to arrange for district nurses to visit to clean and re-bandage my surgical wounds but the calls on their services were such that they weren’t always available. This is not acceptable, and politicians need to put aside their party differences to put together a comprehensive plan that operates in a similar way to the rest of the NHS. Yes, it will cost and it probably won’t be perfect but the care of the people of this country should be paramount and should not be fractured and fragmented as it currently is. Pressures on families, especially carers, are already high without having to spend time trying to organise help that should be easily accessible to them. Whilst trying to raise the funds for “Queen’s” is my specific goal, raising awareness of this issue is also very important to me.
During the time I was hospitalised Mr Mukherjee and his team visited me every day and Mr. Boulton and his team every few days. Given how precious the consultants’ time is I felt very privileged. Pat had visited me every day despite me protesting it wasn’t necessary. The journey to and fro to the hospital was tiring but at least she had some time at home when she could get on with other things and even have a rest for a few minutes now and then. It’s hard to imagine how she kept going but things for her were going to get harder not easier.
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