Sunday, April 26, 2009

carry 0n Hospital

I have at last a genuine excuse for blog abandonment and have only just got enough energy to do a post. Unfortunately the last week has been like a french farce of disasters or comedy of errors and if you are squeamish at all I suggest you stop reading now. Like all good Brits I have learnt that you do not go to see a doctor unless you are nearly dead and so last saturday when I unexpectedly started bleeding heavily from my internal I chose to ignore it and hope it would right itself or go away. Unfortunately it persisted and got worse throughout the night , again I thought 'I"ll deal with it tomorrow" Procrastination has never worked for me and this was no exception. At 6.30 am after a sleepless and bloody night I went to tick the children off for waking me but as I passed along the corridor I fainted , fell down the stairs and hit my head on the concrete wall at the bottom.I came to and wondered how I had come to be lying nearly in the kitchen with blood now on my forehead and feebly called for Philip and we drove to the small hospital 5 minutes away. I believe I was the only patient was promptly whisked to a booth and hooked up to several machines including an automatic blood pressure reader. GOD BLESS AMERICA...my head was stapled !! 5 staples and they are still there . The internal bleeding continued and despite everyones best efforts they could not stop it ..by the afternoon I had lost half my blood so I was given a blood transfusion. I was very impressed by the trauma care and felt like I was in an episode of ER also being hooked up to every device known to man. I could not move for wires coming out of my body.
Sadly I as allotted a rather bitter and obnoxious male nurse who chose to lecture me in the midst of my distress on my choice of doctor...he later implied I was pregnant and was cunningly trying to keep it a secret. and I that was having a miscarriage..I could hear him bickering with his colleagues as well. and thought to my self '.theres always one.'
By 7 pm I had been in the ER for 12 hours and my condition was not improving so It was decided I would have emergency surgery and I met my very nice and funny surgeon/Obstreotrician and by nine pm was being tied down in the operating theatre with soft music playing..yes here they tie you down believe it or not.
SO my bacon was saved and I feel lucky to still be here. I was in very bad shape the following day and was unable to appreciate my 5 star hospital surroundings..My own large room .. a nurse at beck and call cable tv...clean and bright but sadly too sick to enjoy it.
One of the blessings about being ill has been experiencing human nature at its best ..all my friends, my wonderful book club friends of Bill, neighbor have literally come to our rescue. Flowers, phonecalls , emails , delicious meals being dropped at my doorstep so I don't have to cook , shopping being done etc etc..the community spirit here is fantastic and I am truly touched and humbled and blessed to have such people around.
After 4 days in hospital I was allowed home and looked like a mixture of Russell Brand (hair) and Rhiannon (beat-up face) only to have to return again 24 hrs later as my arm where the iv drip had been strapped had blown up to 3 times its normal size and got infected and had a clot. By now I am on 1st name terms with the hospital staff and have become quite a regular fixture there. So this saga is to be continued and I am sure the lesson and blessing in it all will be revealed.

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