Patient Suffering
At the request of the hospital, an excerpt has been removed from this blog entry relating to another patient who cried out constantly and caused kp (and others) a great deal of distress over the past few days. It was felt it was best to tone the entry down to avoid any distress that this may cause to the family of the woman concerned. The lady died today. Our thoughts are with her husband and family.

Cracking Morning
kp had a good night’s sleep last night. She only woke up a couple of times and was snoozing when I arrived (8am).

She had a good breakfast (by kp’s usual standards). Full glass of milk, whole weetabix, and a quarter of a slice of toast after which she felt a bit sick but wasn’t.

After breakfast, I gave kp a bedbath. I am getting better & quicker at this than my first attempt. The quicker the better as far as kp is concerned, as it really tires her out. My first attempt couldn’t have been worse. I was using the wet wipes to wipe her down, but was doing the armpits before going onto her stomach with the same wet wipe. kp was not amused. Armpits are a separate wet wipe (for anyone out there who wants to do a good bedbath !!)

I got her into a nice new nightie (freshly laundered by Marie) and she looked great.

Then it was time for a turn to get her comfy before the physios came in.

I have got the turns down to a tee (if I say so myself). But I have a habit of talking through each move as I am doing it. The idea being kp knows what I am going to move next.

kp:- Will you stop telling me everything you are doing ?! You just can’t stay silent can you !

Well, there was a challenge ! So for the rest of the turn maneuvers, I didn’t say a word, and kp started giggling because she knew I was biting my tongue at every maneuver. I had a bit of a giggle myself.

She was right of course. About 5 maneuvers later, I told her my next move.

Doh !

Physios
Then 3 physios came in to give kp her workout. The family have been doing all the things they have taught us to do and the physios were pleased with the amount of movement had.

The physios however know how to give pain (all in the best interests of kp of course). Where I would stop a movement at the first “Ow !”. This physio went beyond the first, second and third “Ow !” and held her limb until kp was trying to stop the physio from holding her arm and quietly screaming. They took kp to the brink and she was very nearly in tears when they stopped. But it is all making her better.

They have set a goal for kp that she must get in the chair for lunch and dinner. kp hates the chair because she was kept in it too long on the last occasion. They assured her they would get her out after an hour this time.

After the physios left, it was time for ……….

Wash and Set
The Sister (who is lovely and I would love to name but can’t for reasons stated in earlier blog entries) came in to redress kp’s head wound. The Auxiliary who came in with her (also lovely) suggested washing kp’s hair at the same time. Well, kp loves having her hair washed. 20 minutes later, she had lovely clean looking hair, a redressed head wound and a nice new Wee Willy Winky stocking on the top.

During the wash, the Sister said she felt like “Toni and Guy” (hairdressers) and she went on to add that she wasn’t sure if “Toni and Guy” were male or female. This tickled kp and we got a big smile.

Her head wound is healing very nicely. She has such good healing skin. It is amazing.

Compliments
kp told me today how much she liked the way I moved her around the bed and that “noone could do it like me”. Thanks kp. Bet she tells everyone that !

Doctor’s Rounds
The doctors/consultants came around at lunchtime. They are going to get the Pain Specialist Nurse in to work out if there is a different form of pain relief that kp can be given that won’t make her sick all the time. They are also going to try kp on yet another type of anti-sickness.

They were pleased with her progress so far.

Sitting in Chair
The physios returned at lunchtime (as promised) and got kp upright in the chair. Within minutes of achieving the position, she was sick. Poor kp. She does look great sat in a chair however.

Marie took over with Michelle and Jane to assist. I’m back at 6pm.

Good News, Bad Evening
The good news came from Marie over the phone. Karen can read !

The physio had done Karen a timetable of physio for the next week, indicating what she must do at different times of the day. When I arrived for the evening shift, Karen was keen to show off her reading skills. With the aid of Marie holding up the magnifying sheet, Karen read out the physio plan.

kp:- 8am – David must pamper Karen with a bedbath and a massage.
dp:- I don’t think it says that love does it ?!

Nice try ! Smiles all round.

She did read it out correctly after that.

8am – Bedbath + Arm/Leg Exercises
10am – Passive Movement Machine (20mins each leg)
12pm – Get into chair for lunch
1pm – Get out of chair
3pm – Go to Pub. I have forgot the rest.

It’s just what Karen needs and has been asking for – Goals.

The physio is very switched on and is very good for Karen.

I have just remembered something from earlier today. When Karen was moved into the chair (quite a feat, involving lots of bodies), she is moved into it by lying her flat on the bed, sliding her over, and then the chair (in bed position) moves into a chair position. When she was moved into the chair position and sitting upright, she saw herself in the wall mirror for the first time, and the biggest of smiles appeared on her face. It was lovely to see.

This evening wasn’t a good evening however.

kp was sat upright for dinner, but it seems for the past few days, movements like this make her sick, and sure enough, she was. I am getting a dab hand at plucking a sick bowl from nowhere and whisking it in front of her. Unfortunately, tonight, I was that quick I nearly dislocated her jaw as my aim was a bit off. Sorry kp.

The evening continued in much the same way

After the sickness, all Karen could eat was a bite of a breadbun with lurpak on. But it didn’t sit well on her, and she had the most agonising of stomach pains. She was in a lot of discomfort. She felt like she needed a bowel movement, but couldn’t. She was lining me up for an overnight stay as she felt that unwell.

She got a little bit upset and wanted a hug. I obliged.

She is in a bit of a vicious circle at the moment. She can’t eat, because she feels nauseous all the time (despite the new anti-sickness drugs). She can’t have a bowel movement because she hasn’t eaten enough. When she does try to move her bowels, she gets exhausted because she hasn’t eaten enough. We need to break the sickness problem and I think everything will fall into line. New sickness drug tomorrow – fingers crossed. It’s a strong sea-sickness type pill which should alleviate the sickness when she gets moved.

Eventually we found a comfy position and she got an hour’s kip. Then the evening tablets came round (6 of them, but 8 to take because the bigger ones are broken up to make them easier to swallow). She got to tablet 4 and promptly threw up again.

She couldn’t face any more tablets after that.

She eventually had a bowel movement and was exhausted and gagging for sleep. The nurses changed her nighty (which was stained from the weeping wounds where her staples were) and she looked very settled and comfy.

We’ll know tomorrow if she had a good night’s sleep.

Hope so !

dp

PS – Thanks for all the flowers everyone has sent. She received a wonderfully exotic bouquet today from Sue Brady (ex work boss) which cheered her up.