The day where the stitches got removed

Last Night
I am pleased to be able to report that Karen had a much better night. She was much more settled generally and the Diazopam must have been the icing on the cake as well. She did, however, ring Marie at 1.30am to say she had had a bad dream about me. But it didn’t seem to phase her too much.

When I arrived, she was very excited to tell me something. When you visit Karen, you have to put a gown and gloves on and Karen always knows I drop my bag in the room first before gowning.

kp:- Morning, I have something exciting to tell you
dp:- Fantastic, don’t tell me yet, wait until I have my gown on.

Marie and Karen tittered. Karen had bet Marie that I wouldn’t want to hear the news until I had gowned and entered properly. It’s great to be so predictable !

The news was that kp was having all her stitches and staples out today (apart from the trachy ones).

Stitches Out
I watched intently as the nurse took them out. She has about 12-14 stitches from the top of her chestbone down to and below her belly button and about 40 staples across her waistline.

I got a bit bored watching, so asked if I could do it. To my surprise the nurse said “Yes”. Wahey !! Call me Nurse David in future. I only removed about a quarter of Karen’s staples but it was great. When I asked if I could put some staples across Karen’s lips, she said “no”. You can’t have everything I suppose !

Improvement in Care
Today has seen a further increase in the level of Karen’s care. Big thanks to Marie for catching the Head Honcho and speaking to him.

General Health
Karen has been in good form today. She is not eating as much as she should still, but I will read Margo’s comments out to her, maybe that will do the trick !

Further update later…..

Not much to report from the evening shift.

Lydia visited today (as you can see from her blog entry). She had Karen doing belly laughs (where kp holds her belly to stop it splitting). Karen really enjoys seeing friends from work or home as it really helps to break the monotony of a day in bed. Thanks for coming Lydia.

After Lydia, Yvonne and Dave left for the evening, kp and I had a nice bit of private time. Lots of hugs and kisses. And very little talking, because we have said it all. She did ask me to tell her about the worst bits of her last 33 days, but from previous experience I have learned my lesson, and said you can read it for yourself when you’re better. I do hope her eyesight returns.

I had told Karen this morning that when I came back on the evening, I would fit the Continuous Passive Movement (CPM) machine to her legs so that they do physio while we talk. She managed 15 minutes on the right leg, 30 minutes on the left. Thanks to Yvonne and Lydia who helped me get the machine on her legs. Heavy Machine, Heavy Legs and lots of pain if you don’t get the legs just right.

When it came to hometime, kp wanted me to stay the night. She said the dogs will be fine. I am quite tired generally at the moment and need good nights sleep and basically said so. I think she understands. She said she did with a bit of a tut at the end.

That reminds me, the last time I stayed the night (until 4am), kp had the worst of nights. She couldn’t get comfy. I was kn+ckered. I longed for a bed to put my head down. Well, there was a bed there with kp in it and because she was on her side, there was JUST enough room for me to lie beside her. So, I got on the hospital bed with kp. Actually it worked out well because my front was supporting her back. Unfortunately in order for me not to fall out of this SINGLE hospital bed, I would need to put the sideguards up (on my side). So I did.

Oops !!! The button for lowering the sideguard is quite a stretch and is not really intended to be pushed by the person in the bed. So I was kind of stuck in the bed with Karen. Within minutes she was uncomfy and wanted me out. At the same time, I could hear someone outside heading this way. I felt an imminent bollocking from a nurse. Luckily, I managed to push the button and lower the sideguard and swing my feet out before he came in. So he probably thought I was just sitting on the bed.

I would have slept like a log had kp been comfy.

That’s all for now….

Hopefully tomorrow should be an interesting day as kp is getting a newer better bed plus a posh chair that goes from horizontal (like a bed) (so she can get on it) to chair sitting position, the consultants will be doing their rounds, and the physios will be coming round also.

ttfn

dp