These Boots

So I arrived at ward 64 in the Lincoln wing with my dad and was pointed to bed 15, which (it turned out) was to be mine for the next 2 weeks.  I went through the usual new arrival administration with one of the nurses and then had to wait for a doctor to see me.  My dad went home with instructions to phone him once I had seen the doctor.  Luckily, I had had the forethought to take my Sony ereader with me and I started to read while I waited for the doctor.  The bedtime drugs trolley came around and then went, the lights went out (at which point I drew my curtains so that my nightlight wouldn’t disturb anyone) and everyone fell asleep.  Still no doctor. Finally at about 11.45pm the on call night doctor came to see me.  My notes had not been found (and never were) so she had to take a full medical history from me which took about an hour.  I then had to wait for a canular to be put in my arm and a drip attached to get me hydrated.  After all of this I phoned my dad to let him know what was going on and eventually at about 1am I was ready to sleep.

Tuesday 20th January and I was rudely awoken at 7.30am by the light going on and the morning drugs trolley going around.  I was not happy.  As breakfast came around (which I could not eat) I awaited the arrival of my consultant at rounds.  At around 10am he came to me and said he needed to wait for my notes and I was to stay on my drip and nill by mouth. (It turns out they had said I would be operated on IF there was a cancellation)  So I went to the bathroom to freshen up.  When I got back to the bay the cleaners were in and I couldn’t get back to my bed because my neighbours bed was in the way.  Katie, as was my neighbours name, told me to perch on her bed while we waited.  We began to chat and I started to get to know everyone in the bay.  The rest of Tuesday passed relatively uneventfully, chatted to the nurses, socialised with my neighbours, saw my dad and Tom, continued reading, topped up my drip and then went to bed as I was very tired from being kept up the previous night.

Wednesday 21st and my notes still had not surfaced, the consultant informed me that if I really could not manage to eat, it would be best to have a feeding tube inserted up my nose.  I was reluctant at first as I was concious of the fact that I could not work in a microbiology environment with a direct microbial access to my stomach stuck to the side of my head.  This caused me great concern as it would mean lots of time off work with only state sick pay.  The consultant left me to think about it and I discussed it with my dad and Tom.

Thursday 22nd and it was decided I would be put on the list for my NG feeding tube.  Joy of joys.  The nutritionist came to see me and wrote my feeding schedule.

Friday 23rd and my feeding tube is inserted, it was not a pleasent experience but it was by far, not as unpleasent as if it had been done by endoscopy.  I was started on my feeding and at night started to feel very queesy.  I was prescibed an anti-sickness drug called cyclosine which the night nurse decided to give me through my canular.  (I later found out that most of the day nurses will not give it this way, the reason for which I will now tell you)  I was warned I may feel light headed and have palpitations, but we proceeded anyway.  As the cyclosine was pushed through my vein it began to burn.  I do not mean lightly, I mean like flames erupting up my arm, it was so painful I had to clench my teeth and close my eyes.  I instantly felt light headed and put my head back on my pillow.  The nurse drew the curtains and left me to my light headedness at which point my palpitations erupted.  No wonder this works as an anti-sickness drugs, I thought as my heart raced, its because you think your about to die from the palpitations!  It all passes and I am fall into a wonderful sleep (from the Tramadol I was also given for my headache).