The Day with the Awful Ending

I was gonna call today “The Day of Extremes”, and although that name still applies, recent events require a new name.

Great Start to the day. I entered the ward to see Karen smiling sat upright in a chair. Wahey ! Within 10 minutes, Karen wanted OUT of the chair. She was very uncomfortable. I suppose it must be very strange to be sat in a chair after a month lying on a bed. The nurses wanted to keep her in for a number of good reasons (lungs, strengthening muscles etc…) but kp was not having any of it and made herself very clear.

kp:- I WANT to get back into bed.
nurse:- Fine. Bed it is.

kp got her own way and the nurses set about the big task of moving her from a chair to the bed (takes 3 nurses).

kp is starting to get concerned about her eyesight. When we pass her something to look at, she puts it right upto her right eye, so close it is almost touching. It’s disconcerting and saddening. One of the nurses did some tests to confirm the extent of the problem, but we won’t hear any more on this until the Stroke specialists have done a more in-depth study. Apparently, it is not unusual for this to occur and then patients get back full vision in the course of time.

After a snooze on the bed, kp wanted to go back in the chair so we could take her for a coffee outside. The nurses did their thing to get kp in the chair, but unfortunately there weren’t enough nurses free to take Karen for the coffee, so she had to wait in the chair for quite a while. She started getting frustrated. Tut here, Tut tut there, here a tut, there a tut, everywhere a tut tut.

The ICU ward was completely bare of any patients apart from Karen, so we put the ghetto blaster on with disco fever playing. kp started dancing (with her right hand), and asked me to dance. kp knows only too well that I am no John Travolta. But, for the sake of amusing the Queen, I strutted my funky stuff. kp had a good belly laugh, and then asked for a repeat performance when Jane returned from a breath of fresh air, so she could enjoy the pleasures of dance (dp style). What fun we had ;-|

After “Come Dancing”, kp ordered me to Ward 3 to check out her new quarters. I was able to return with a positive report, namely kp had her own private room and that she was moving today or should that be

Just before we went for a coffee, one of the consultants and another member of staff asked to seem me privately.

Consultant :- It’s nothing negative Karen, I am sure David will tell you what its about.

?!?!?!?!

We ended up discussing it in front of karen. It was to do with this blog. It had come to their attention and although they appreciated the good light it showed their department in, they requested that we not mention nurses by name, and not include photos without express permission of the nurses. They were exceedingly nice about it – A totally legitimate request after all. So, sorry to any nurse that didn’t want their photo on the blog. I have removed all offending photos. Let me know if I have missed any. I have also tried to go through the blog and remove name references, but there is a chance I have missed 1 or 2, so please contact me if I have missed one out. I won’t be at all offended and it will be removed.

By the time this chat was over, it was tea/coffee time with kp outside. Yay !! This time, because she was in the chair, we could get her into a courtyard area outside one of the cafes.

kp was in top form and enjoyed her cup of tea.

No sooner were we back at the ICU ward than it was time for kp to move to her new Ward.

We gave the ward a card of thanks and some choccies.

Karen signed the card.

On arrival, Judith (one of her work colleagues was visiting) and had dropped off a film kp’s colleagues had done for her. I had a quick preview tonight and it looks very funny. I will put it on the laptop so kp can see it on a bigger screen. Thanks Judith.

We moved her down, got her settled, sorted visiting hours out but within a short period of time, it became very obvious how much difference one-to-one nursing (ICU) is to one nurse to 12 patients nursing.

When we needed some nurses to move kp to a comfortable position, it was hard to muster support. She hasn’t had her usual bedbath before she goes to sleep and it is a very big culture shock for Karen. For all of us in fact. Karen hasn’t got the strength to move herself. She can’t cut her food up (only 1 arm working). She needs assistance for frankly everything. And the poor nurses there have another 11 patients to deal with each. The next few days are going to be very interesting indeed and this was highlighted tonight.

When we left Karen, she had been moved into a comfy position and had fallen asleep. Within an hour of going home, she was on the phone to Marie and myself in tears. She couldn’t work the phone, the tv and she desperately wanted me to go to the hospital to help her.

Of course, I went straight away and I was faced with the saddest of pictures when I entered her room. I am in tears now recalling it. She wasn’t crying. She wasn’t upset. She was watching TV intently. I watched for a few seconds before entering. I said “hiya love, what you watching”. She said “not sure”. So I looked and she was watching a static picture on the tv saying “Do not use your mobile phones in the hospital”. No sound, no movement. So very sad.

I just hugged her. She was an empty shell.

We got to talking and she said she had to get out of there. I explained as best I could that until her pelvis is healed she needed to be in the hospital.

kp: You need to think “Out of the box”. Phone your dad. He’s good at thinking out of the box. But I can’t stay here.

In the background was the wailing of an old woman crying for help. The stroke ward is mostly full of the older generation.

I was holding back the tears desperately. If I could take Karen home, I could look after her. No, I couldn’t, I need an X-ray machine, drugs etc etc…I also need another person to help me move her. My thoughts were racing.

I couldn’t think of a solution. She was due her sleeping tablets but kp spotted they were going to give her the wrong ones (they hadn’t worked for kp a couple of nights before). I had to ring ICU to find out the right ones.

This was awful. AWFUL !

Poor Karen was in tears. I was so close, and trying to retain some calmness. Karen was saying some pretty negative things (I am not going to elaborate more than that). I was very concerned.
She was uncomfortable and wanted making comfy. I couldn’t find anyone to help in the first 5 minutes. I buzzed the buzzer and a nurse came and told us that we were just one of 25 patients that needed attention and that they would get to us eventually.

I tried in vain, on my own to get kp comfy. She doesn’t know what makes her comfy, so she can’t instruct. She can only say when she is comfy. I couldn’t find the position. She was sure she wanted to be on her right hand side.

Within 15 minutes (but it felt a lot longer), 2 lovely nurses came in and sorted her out. I had the position perfect but they had her on her opposite side. I’ll know for next time. Within 1 minute of her getting comfy (no exaggeration) the sleeping tablets had kicked in and she was out for the count. I tried to tell her “Good Night”, but there was no rousing her.

She is going to wake up in the night and be frightened unable to call anyone because she won’t be able to find the buzzer I positioned right by her. She can’t use the phone because she can’t see the numbers to dial and struggles to get it off the receiver.

I feel awful, so sad, and within 1 metre of the ward door I was in tears. By the time I got to the car, I must have looked like a beetroot.

I am knackered ! I have eaten anything today apart from a pasty (thanks Marie).

I have called a family conference for tomorrow. The only way forward I can see is for the family to pull together to cover Karen’s waking moments with company and to be her oddjob person.

I phoned Jane and Marie on the way home and both were very supportive and came up with some good arguments for kp’s behaviour.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings…………….

I suppose it can’t be any worse. Or am I being naive ?

dp

I will post information about visiting kp tomorrow night after the family conference.
I know some of you asked about sending flowers but the ICU ward couldn’t have flowers in for infection reasons. Flowers are now ok and may boost kp’s morale. The address is

Karen Pollard
c/o Ward 3,
Queen Elizabeth Hospital
Queen Elizabeth Avenue
Sheriff Hill
Gateshead
NE9 6SX

The day after the awful day

Well, its 4pm and I have come home to sort the dogs out. Marie is staying on until I go back about 6pm.

I was hoping today couldn’t be any worse than yesterday and my hopes were realised. kp was feeling more positive today.

Last Night carried on being a negative experience for kp. She needed attending to in the night and couldn’t find the buzzer. She said she had been calling out for help but noone had been forthcoming.

Last Night, Marie asked Yvonne if she could get in for 8am, which she did. It sounds like Yvonne had been quite firm with Karen and not given in to the emotional blackmail that other family members (myself primarily) are so prone to. Karen responded well to this approach. I may take a bottle of brandy in and try to be firm myself

I had told her that we were going to have a family conference and as soon as we were all present, kp pressed the issue and got the conference underway. Present were the 5 sisters (Karen, Marie, Michelle, Yvonne and Jane (the new adopted sister)). We now have a plan of attack which kp is happy with.

Cover is as follows
8am – 11am. Jane.
11am – 1pm – dp
1pm – 6pm – Marie
6pm – 8pm Yvonne
7pm – eyes shut – dp

This should also be good for us, so we don’t get too exhausted for what will undoubtedly be a long haul.

Big thanks to all the sisters who have offered help. And to the “Pretend Friends” !!

The Video
Karen’s work colleagues had put together a sketch to cheer her up. I put it on my laptop so I could show it to her on a bigger screen than the camcorder. Marie brought in a big flat magnifying glass and we all gathered round the laptop. kp was very eager to see it and thoroughly enjoyed it – big smiles appeared on her face. I don’t think she could see the detail of it, but she knew the voices and spotted the odd person when her eyes focussed correctly. I feel sure it will get quite a few replays and will provide many more laughs. Thanks VERY much to kp’s team for this. Little advice for all of you involved. DO NOT QUIT the National Blood Service. You will not be getting acting careers ! If it had been professional actors it wouldn’t have been half as much fun ! Hope noone is offended by that. I’ll find out next time I give blood

MRSA
Karen has MRSA again in her head wound. Her head wound incidentally is pretty horrific. I have seen it undressed and you get the impression if you put your finger in it, you could touch the brain. I have resisted the temptation so far.

So it was barrier nursing today. Gowns and Gloves.

Abbie’s Visit
Abbie, (Karen’s niece’s daughter), visited today. She enjoyed dressing up as a doctor (she is and sneaking up on Karen. Karen was very pleased to see her. I think Abbie may have been a bit surprised at seeing Karen in a hospital bed not looking her usual million dollars. But she braved it well.

So, all in all, a lot more of a positive day. I am feeling a lot better because Karen is. I just hope she gets a good night’s sleep tonight, but I will do another shorted blog entry before bed to report on her evening.

Visiting
If you would like to visit Karen, then we would welcome the visitors and it would keep Karen mentally stimulated. Visiting Hours are 11am – 1pm, 4pm – 8pm. We’ll break the visiting into 1 hour slots, so if you would like to visit, please ring Marie on either 01642-284812 or 07961-346149. You may have to leave a message as Marie is at the hospital a lot and won’t be able to ring back until she is out of the hospital. Please leave your name, phone number and preferred date/time for visiting. Marie will get back to you to confirm its ok.

Thanks !!

Until later…

dp

Went back to the hospital at 6.30pm to relieve Marie who had given kp a good wash and scrubdown.

A consultant had been in and told kp that it may take as long as Xmas to get kp walking properly again. I don’t think Karen was overly concerned at that, her main objective at the moment is to get out of this “godforsaken hellhole” (her words)

They have given her anti-depressants, which is definately a good move.

He is also arranging for a visit from an eye specialist who will try and assess why her right eyes isn’t working properly. Some suggestions he came up with are :-

• Eyes get lazy when people are sedated for long periods. Fixes itself
• Detached Retina. May be fixable
• Stroke related. Could fix itself.

Practical Measures
Today, we started to think of practical measures like money. Tony (Jane’s husband) is very kindly going to look into the compensation side of things. For now, we are ok, but in a few months, things will be tricky. Generally, I am a very material person, but I have learned a big lesson from this accident, and that is, the material things count for nothing. The ones you love come top of the list. I don’t really care if we have to liquidise assets to keep things going. The only thing that matters to me is Karen.

Getting Comfy
Karen has GREAT difficulty in getting into a comfy position. 8 out of 10 minutes are spent readjusting various limbs to try and get Karen comfortable. We are now dab hands at moving kp’s body parts without causing pain, but the trickier bit is finding the elusive comfy position. If you ask Karen, how do you want to be (position wise), her reply is ALWAYS “I don’t know !!!!” (various volume levels dependant on how many times you have asked the question).

dp:- Do you want to be on your left side or your right side ?
kp:- I don’t know.

dp:- Let’s do the left side
kp:- Fine !

dp:- Do you want your leg further up.
kp:- I DON’T KNOW !

You get the idea.

So as carers, we have to know what she doesn’t know herself. It’s like a puzzle with the answer sheet missing. So you try various combinations until you hear :-

kp:- I think that’s ok.

2 minutes later, she will be uncomfortable.

And the cycle continues……

Tonight Marie and I were sniggering to each other. After being particularly demanding, Karen came out with :-

kp:- “You’re lucky I am so patient”

Marie left the room where she could develop the snigger into something a bit more laughlike.

We take it on the chin. It’s not so bad when there’s 2 of you. It doesn’t feel as personal.

Mrs 26 beds
Last night, a nurse was very keen to point out how many beds were on the ward and she would get to us in turn. I had asked for Karen to be made comfy I expect. Now fair play to the nurses on the ward, there are only 2 on for 26 patients.

But tonight Mrs 26 beds was at it again. I asked the simple question :-

kp:- “Could you give us some idea what time the tablets were likely to come round, so Karen could know when she could go to sleep ?”
Unnamed Nurse :- “We have 26 beds and only 1 nurse who can give the tablets out”

Well, I had to bite my tongue. If she does it again, I am going to ask for a recount.

New Bed
Karen is on a better bed tonight. It’s a gel-based one that is better for her bruising and wounds.

Can you just….?
We were warned that kp would use emotional blackmail to get family members to do various things for her. Yvonne had a great approach today and she got away with it. She stood no nonsense and kp responded to it. But at the same time, kp needs to be able to vent her frustrations and I think it is going to be Marie and I who cop it.

Tonight I got a very small dose.

It was hometime for me (10.20pm). kp had been given her sleeping tablets. She was talking rubbish (a sure sign that she is knackered). When I told her I was leaving and would be back at 8am, she said “Can you just reposition my legs ?”, “Can you just fill my water up ?”, “Can you watch Big Brother with me ?”, “Can you…….”

I was firm, stood my ground and told her I needed to go home for the dogs and that I would be back first thing in the morning. I know for a fact that as long as I am there, she won’t go to sleep if she can help it. With no visitors, she will.

I left her calm, serene, tired and probably snoring by now !

Have a good sleep kp. See you soon…

dp
xxxxx

The day we realised kp is not getting the right treatment
All credit to Marie who has been meticulously writing down events that have led us to the conclusion that Karen is not being well looked after at Ward 3.

I have already written about Mrs 26 Beds. Some of the things that Ward 3 have not been doing for Karen are as follows :-

• Moving her on 2 hourly intervals as instructed by the consultant.
• Cleaning up promptly after Karen has had a bowel movement.
• Responding to Karen’s cries for attention
• Emptying kp’s urine collection unit which overflows. (This has happened twice)
• Responding in a timely fashion to requests for help (from relatives). 40 minutes on one occasion.
• Providing a chair bed so we can get Karen sitting up (to help lungs and sores)
• Following barrier care procedures (Mrs 26 beds)

There are others but you get the idea.

The crunch of it (for me) was when she told Marie today “I am a burden to the staff here”. Everything became clear. She is spot on. A patient should NOT feel they are a burden. That ISN’T going to aid recovery !!

We are trying to fix the issue by stepping in ourselves to help, which is the right thing to do in the short term, but we need her to receive adequate care from the staff, which she is not receiving.

I am not picking on the staff personally here. The staff care when she gets it is great, but there isn’t enough of it. The exception to this is Mrs 26 beds who needs some lessons in “Customer Care”. There is a right and a wrong way to tell someone that you will be there shortly. You don’t tell them how insignificant they are. Karen is NOT insignificant.

Weeping Wounds
Marie spotted that one of Karen’s wounds on her rear was weeping quite significantly. She called someone to have a look at it. They were shocked at what they saw and had to go and get someone else to look. That person was also shocked by what they saw and had never seen anything like it before. More confirmation that she is in the wrong place.

Visitors
Today was the first day Karen had had different visitors. It was great to see her interacting with normal people Today, her first visitor was Deborah (from work). Lots of smiles from kp. Deborah was great for kp as she could catch up on work gossip. She also really knows her nursing stuff. I learned quite a lot on how to move kp around and make things easier when turning her etc… Thanks Debs.

Then it was Karen’s relatives, Lillian and Bernard who again lit the smile touchpaper.

Whilst Lilly and Bernard were there, we then had more problems finding available nurses for things that needed doing.

kp eating too little
Karen is not really eating enough in the families opinion. She can manage 1/4 or 1/2 platefuls at best. Today we may have seen the results of this. She was knackered pretty much all day.
We have tried to encourage kp to eat more, but you can’t force the food down. We will address this tomorrow.

Other than that, it’s been a quieter day. Thanks for all the texts and blog comments. They never fail to bring a smile to kp, whose first or second question in the mornings is, are there any blog comments ?

dp

Today has been an exhausting day for me personally. The back of my throat is really sore and swollen. A 6am awakening from the dogs this morning after a bad night’s sleep wasn’t the best start to the day. Couple that with our oven has packed in so hot food is a bit tricky. Sod’s law that it will pack in on the first day of a Bank Holiday Weekend when you can’t get anyone out for love nor money. I also decided to cut the grass (1.5 hours) as it was the first sunny day for weeks, but did so on an empty stomach. So, come 11pm tonight after leaving kp asleep, I was ready to hit the sack and knew I would go out like a light. I was in bed and had just switched the TV off, when………………..

Phonecall from kp at 11pm.

kp:- “David, I need you to come in.”
dp:- “What’s wrong love ?”
kp:- “I just need you to come in”
dp:- “Is there someone there ?”
kp:- “Yes”

Of course there was someone there. She can’t use the phone without help.

dp:- “I’ll be there in about 30 minutes.”

Something was up, I wasn’t sure what.

When I arrived, kp explained that she couldn’t get comfy at all, the buzzer had broken so she couldn’t call for help, and when she called by shouting, noone came. She was really fed up.

I was sceptical about the buzzer being broken, so I spoke to a nurse who confirmed it was and that an engineer was coming out. I even tested it myself. It was well and truly broke. An engineer did indeed come out and replaced it.

Karen was absolutely exhausted and dying to sleep. But she really couldn’t get comfy. The next 4 hours consisted of the following routine repeated every 5-10 minutes.

The routine
kp:- “David, I need moving”
dp:- “Which side love ?”
kp:- “I don’t KNOW”

1. Blanket Off
2. Sheets Off
3. Remove Back Support Blanket
4. Remove Leg Pillow (used for cushioning)
5. Lay Bed Flat
6. Check catheter tube won’t be blocked by intended move.
7. Move kp to correct pre-move place on bed (hard work on own) (if she is being moved onto left side, she needs to be as far right on the bed as possible)
8. Roll up Blanket ready to prop kp up
9. Position in safe reachable place so it doesn’t fall off during move.
10. Put Karen’s left arm (dead one) on her stomach and ask her to hold it
11. Place Pillow between legs at correct angle so it supports kp’s top leg after the move.
12. Do the move itself, which involves supporting kp’s whole back and bum with 2 arms.
13. dp:- “3-2-1″
14. The Move
15. kp:- “Ow, Ow, Ow, Ow”"
16. Position Back Support Blanket in back so she doesn’t roll flat on back.
17. Position Legs in cocked position so they are comfy.
18. Replace Sheets
19. Replace Top Blanket
20. “Is that ok ?”
21. “Yes”

At this point, I would go back to trying to get some sleep, which isn’t easy with 2 chairs, very little space and to compound this routine, it was barrier care still, so I was wearing a plastic pinny and latex gloves which make your hands sweat like hell. Well, they didn’t last long. After about 10 of these routines, I was telling MRSA to “Come and have a go, if you think you’re hard enough”. (No gloves, no pinny).

I dozed a couple of times, but it wasn’t sleep.

If I was getting frustrated, kp must have been going bonkers, yet she remained calm throughout. She didn’t raise her voice once. I better repeat that. She didn’t raise her voice once.

There was just no getting kp comfy. kp said I should get the nurses to try. So, 3 female nurses came in and did the routine. 5 minutes later, I was sent for a specific named nurse who had the knack of getting her comfy. He tried. 5 minutes later, I was instructed to recall the named nurse and tell him “one last try”, kp had an idea.

No Joy !

So, it was back to me to keep trying. I was so so tired. The turning routine which probably takes about 2-3 mins if you’re on form was starting to take longer and longer. I couldn’t remember what to do next. I would stand by the bed and look at what I had done and try and recall what the next step was. The longer it takes the more uncomfortable it is for Karen. But again she didn’t complain. We did get lots of “Ow”s. But never did she raise her voice. When I was getting to my most frustrated later on, I wanted to say “Look, you can’t get comfortable, go to sleep uncomfortable”, but instead I said “I love you” and gave her a kiss. I think kp secretly thinks I was saying the former at times as she thanked me a few times on the night for being there.

By about 3am, it was clear that moves weren’t working. kp was sick of being moved and uncomfortable and just wanted a sleeping tablet to put her out of it. I spoke to the nurse who said the only thing that would knock her out was “Tramazopal” (something like that), but that if she took it at this time, she would be asleep all day. kp said she still wanted it, so he checked with the Doctor, who reitereated what the nurse said. A few more turns, and 20 minutes later kp was “in agony”.

kp:- “I want some painkillers”

I got some painkillers from the nurse and 2 moves later at 4am, kp was sleeping like a baby. GOAL !!!!

I rang Marie and asked her to come in for 8am (I was on that shift) went home, hit the sack, and slept.

Hope she is feeling more settled today.

The day of the complaint
Marie was on early shift today and she took the opportunity to lodge an informal complaint with the Head Nurse on the Ward about the level of Karen’s care.

According to Marie, the Head Nurse concerned was very attentive and sincerely wanted to make things better and assured us he would have words with the main individual. Since this, Marie and I both felt that the care for Karen has definately improved. Let’s hope it is a sustained improvement.

Visit from ICU Outreach Staff
The Intensive Care Unit have a group of nurses who go out onto the wards to follow the Critical Care Patients for a few weeks after they have been in ICU. They visited Karen today, and it was Karen’s opportunity (with Marie assisting) to explain how poor her care had been at Ward 3. At times, she got upset during the conversation. They will take this back to the ICU ward so we may see some results from that.

General Health
kp was still lethargic today and hasn’t eaten as well as she could have. When we try and encourage her to eat, she reasserts that she isn’t a 5 year old. I won’t be pushing on this front again and may need to speak to a doctor/nurse to get them to have a word.

One of Karen’s wounds on the bottom of her back is weeping badly. It needed to be redressed twice today. This will not have been helped by the lack of turns she has been given. A new bed is on order for kp which will help alleviate bed sores, by changing pressure points every so often. She had one of these in ICU and it worked very well.

Visitors
Kevin visited today. He is the driver of the car that Karen was in. Karen was very pleased to see Kevin and vice-versa from what Marie told me. He will be off work for a few more months as his collarbone and ribs fix themselves. Kevin has some photos of the cars involved in the crash. Hopefully on his next visit, he will bring these and if I can I will post them on the blogsite.

Jane and Guy (my sister and brother-in-law) visited also. Karen really enjoyed their company and they brought with them a video of their 3 year old daughter (my niece) saying “Hello Karen. Hope you get well soon. I love you.” It was a bit prompted but this made it all the more funny and good to watch. We got a few smiles from kp out of that.

Karen then wanted to call her great-niece and nephew, which she promptly did. They were thrilled to hear from her.

Loves from Michelle
Karen was in need of a few hugs today. She didn’t particularly get upset but just wanted hugs. Karen doesn’t do hugs as a rule, and she is very choosy who she hugs, and Michelle was the chosen one today.

Not really much else to say today. The big fear for Karen and myself was that she would have another night like last night. To preempt this, Karen was put on a stronger sleeping tablet (Diazopam). I reassured her that this should do the trick and there was no need to be frightened etc….I stayed until she fell asleep and for a bit after. She was very asleep when I left, so, fingers crossed, she will get a really good night’s sleep.

Request for Visitors
Today was a good day overall and one of the reasons for this was a different set of visitors. So, if you would like to visit Karen, please contact Marie on 01642-284812 or 07961-346149 to arrange a time. We would love to see you. If Marie doesn’t answer, leave a message saying who you are, what time etc….

Boggett
Whilst I was trying to get Karen off to sleep tonight, she asked me to talk to her about nice things. I did the dogs, the garden, holidays. She started to get very sleepy and became quieter in voice and asked for me to tell her some more nice things. So I came up with some more. She became even more asleep. One of the last things she asked for was

kp:- Tell me some things about the Boggett.

She meant the blog !

Soon after, she was VERY asleep and didn’t stir whilst I made a racket arranging her buzzer, water etc…

Sleep well my love

dp
xxxxx

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

Awful Night
When I arrived at 8am this morning, Karen was fast asleep. This could mean 2 things. She had either had a cracking night sleep or an awful night sleep.

It was the latter.

She had been in agony overnight and in tears. The nurses were great and responded promptly to her buzzes. They discussed pain relief and Morphine was even mentioned as a possibility, but thankfully, they opted for Metadopperlopperforzymylinepopper (or something like that) which she is taking every 4 hours. We will see today if it does the trick. They have arranged a visit from the Pain Relief Nurse Specialist tomorrow to discuss suitable pain relief systems.

Oooooohhhh Matron
About 9am, the Matron and the Stroke Nurse came in to discuss the issues we had had over the weekend. They listened as I went through all the issues and then kp piped up that things were ok now and if things carry on as they were, there was no longer an issue.

Knackered dp
I was knackered for the visit today. Had slept through my 6am alarm. And today Karen asked if she asked me to stay the night would that be ok ? I said I would stay the night if at all possible but that I also need my rest. I explained that I was exhausted and that I need to be strong to be able to look after her on a night and not in my current state. I think she understood.

Physios
The physios came round today and did some exercises on Karen’s limbs. She has quite restricted movement of her left arm and hand (stroke side) and her right leg. Karen found the exercises painful, but this pain is necessary to stop the limbs ceasing up.

Some Laughs
Later in the morning, we enjoyed a few good laughs.

I have started recording (on my phone) key events of the day, because I have an awful memory. I speak into the phone and it records what I am saying.

After speaking something into the phone, Karen said :-

kp:- Alan Partridge

I laughed as did kp. (If you don’t know Alan Partridge, that won’t be funny to you)

Another laugh we had was when the physios were doing their thing. One of the physios was exercising her left arm and holding it skyward in the air.

kp:- “To infinity and beyond”

Lol !

Finally, I was explaining how bad the traffic was this morning, and how big the queues were. I mentioned that it would have took me a lot longer if I wasn’t on the motorbike.

kp:- Did you get your knee down ?

Well, this was so out of the blue, it floored me and I was giggling for ages.

Love you kp. See you in a few hours.

dp
xxxxx

PS – Here is a photo with Karen in her new head attire which aims to keep her bandage on the back of her head in place until they can shave her head later today.

Wee Willy Winky !

Not too much to report from the evening shift. Marie had done the day shift and she caught the consultants visit. She reported that kp may need an operation on her head to clean up the head wound. It does look awful.

Changing Rooms
Karen has changed rooms today. She is now in a larger private room. The other one was a little hard to navigate round. This one is much more roomy. Marie had the unenviable task of doing the move and had to move 60+ “Get Well” cards from the wall in the old room to the new. Shame I missed that job. Marie, you didn’t get them as straight as I had them in the old room.

When I arrived for the evening shift, Marie was like a woman possessed. She had been reborn as a cross between Hitler and Mother Theresa. I have never heard so many orders issued to me in such a short space of time, all in the best interests of kp, so I didn’t mind !

Visitors
My mum and dad visited this evening. Karen was not really in the mood for company today, and it was Mum and Dad that were the unlucky visitors. They thought she looked great compared to a week ago, but I could tell she wasn’t her usual chirpy self.

Pain Patch
kp has a patch on that lasts 3 days that gives her a constant supply of pain relief. It is much smaller than a nicotine patch and is transparent. It looks like the kind of thing they stick on Oranges. In fact, I think it may well be. They are probably doing it cheap and just hoping for the placebo effect.

Tired Eyes
Karen was very tired tonight and fell asleep constantly. Some days we can’t get her to sleep for hours because we are forever looking for the elusive comfy position. Today, there are a lot more positions that are comfy, and she had no problems sleeping.

When I told her I was going, she said I should stay and talk to her. I told her she was falling asleep all the time. I stayed and talked to her about some topic or other…It went something like this…..

kp:- Can you get me some lipbalm ?
dp gets the lipbalm and puts it on kp’s lips.
dp:- Do you know when you were sedated, I would say “purse your lips” and you would !
kp:- Was…………………..?

Gone !

Fast Asleep !

Cracking Conversation kp, thanks !!!

G’Night

dp

xxxxx

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