Archive for July 7th, 2006

Day 438 – Friday 7th July 2006 – Part One

Well, to my surprise, kp had a good night.

She is still on the morphine drip, and therefore still very tired all the time. She can manage the odd conversation,  but more often than not, she falls asleep mid-sentence, which is quite funny. It happened with the staff today.

Waitress :- Do you feel up to any breakfast ?

kp :- No, thanks

Waitress :- How about a cup of tea ?

Silence !

The lady looked at me as if to say “that’s a no then”

The physio came round and gave kp some tips as to how to do deep breaths (a problem at the moment). And another way of coughing which doesn’t involve “coughing”, but “huffing”.

I gave kp a bedbath this morning, put her ted socks on yesterday, and did a semi-turn this morning. All the old skills are coming back ;-) This morning, I spent an hour or so asleep by the side of kp’s bed, and did my old “scare the shit out of a nurse” trick on a number of occasions, when they saw a pair of feet sticking out past the bottom of the bed.

So, kp generally ok today. They are planning to decrease the morphine later and are talking about getting her out of bed tomorrow, but kp is scared sh+tless about that. The slightest movement hurts like hell :-(

I ordered her tea for tonight, because she couldn’t even face the thought of food. This is one area the hospital is better than NHS. They give you a menu of about 5 starters, mains and desserts.
I chose Galia Melon strips with forest berries for starter, Sirloin Steak, Mushrooms, Onions, Tomatoes and Chips for main course and there was about 5 lush desserts to choose from. They even allow you to choose how you want steak cooked. I ticked “rare”, because I don’t think kp will be up to dinner ;-)

Day 438 – Friday 7th July 2006 – Part Two

I was at the hospital 8.30am until 1pm and 5.45pm until 7.45pm. I blogged after the first visit. Here is the update for the 2nd visit.
kp no longer has the morphine drip on and is a bit more with it, although you can tell it’s still not quite out of her system. When I arrived, she had had her starter, which meant it was perfect timing for me to eat her main course. I knew she wouldn’t want it, which she didn’t.

Unfortunately, the nurses had felt that a steak would be too much for Karen and had cancelled that part of the order. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

After Karen’s melon (starter) and fruit salad (dessert), she wanted her cup of tea sitting up. With the nurses in the room, we got kp sitting upright on the side of the bed (it’s tricky to go to a chair with the stomach drain and the catheter bag). She was scared of the pain that may come about, but the nurses were loaded with good tips. Basically, kp had to consciously relax her stomach muscles as when they tense up is when it is painful.

So, as we (3 of us) got her sitting upright, all you could hear was kp saying (outloud) “Relax”, “Relax”, “Relax”, “Relax”, “Relax”. Quite funny.

We got her sitting. The nurses left the room and then she wanted to try a stand. She managed a bent stand for about a second. We were well chuffed.

Getting back down was not so easy or pain-free :-( With the nurses back in the room, we got her tilted back, but she must have tensed her stomach muscles and WE KNEW ABOUT IT !!!

I tried to take a photo of her sitting up, but it was forbidden under Karen’s Law. I had to settle for a picture of her lying on her side. Even then, as soon as she heard the click of the camera, she woke up and gave me WHAT FOR. I know what it must be like to be a cameraman in Iraq, or Afghanistan. Always teetering on the edge of death etc….

I didn’t dare take a photo of her a second later when looks would have killed.

No Morphine Here !

I forgot to also mention that today, she wanted to have a look at her new look flat stomach. It was my first proper peek, so we lifter her nighty and it looks awesome. kp wasn’t that impressed. I don’t think she had the angle I did. It is hugely improved. There’s a cat in hell’s chance that I’ll get a photo of that for the blog, but suffice to say, it is vastly improved !!







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