Not a good evening for kp. An afternoon of mostly snoozing meant kp hadn’t taken her painkiller gabapentin. Tonight she suffered for it

I think she put on a brave face for Michelle, Adele and Yvonne, but within 10 minutes of them leaving, kp was in tears.

kp:- I am sooo fed up of this. I feel like I am back to the state I was in on Ward 3.

It was heartbreaking

I tried to reassure her that it was just down to missing the medication and I think she knew this played a part, but she was concerned that it may be due to something else we haven’t thought of.

She was so upset, I went for the nurse. She found it a little strange that just one medication missed could cause such pain, but offered her Diclofenac or Tramadol. kp didn’t want Tramadol as she feels it has no effect, so took the Diclofenac and 2 Paracetamol (from earlier). 30 minutes later, she was no better and started getting upset again. So I went for the nurse, but instead found the Sister who came in and persuaded kp to try the Tramadol, which she did. A further 60 minutes later, she was getting some relief.

During all this time, she could only be on one side for 10 mins before needing to be turned. The turns hurt kp themselves, so it wasn’t a nice time for her. In between turns, kp couldn’t sleep and all she could do is shut her eyes and hold my hand which I think gave her some comfort.

After this 90 minutes of turns and nurse visits, I noticed her lips go into a sad face. This is a sure sign kp is asleep. I was very relieved for her. I gave it a further 10 mins, said my goodbyes and left for the evening. Hopefully, she’ll have a good night. Bath tomorrow with a bit of luck.

Couple of funny incidents out of all this pain. I think I may be losing my marbles.

Whilst kp was crying (of all times), I saw Sam (friend of the family) go past kp’s door, see kp and me and say a big “Hi !!!”. I said “Hi, come in Sam!”. She came in. kp looked at her with a confused face.

dp:- Grab a seat

Which she duly did. We chatted for a while. kp didn’t say a word. I explained why kp was upset. Sam explained that she was doing some Bank work (nurse temping) to get some money for a flat and various other things. All of this I found very strange, as I thought she was going to do some more law degree, but maybe it was a Summer job. She talked for a while and I started to look confused at some of the things she was saying.

dp:- Sorry, can I just stop you. Who are you ?
Lady:- I am Lorna (name changed to protect identity)

Well, I was gobsmacked. She looked the spit of Sam and talked like her as well. I apologised profusely for dragging her in the room, explained why and she duly left

dp:- Sorry love, I thought she was Sam. She was the spit of her
kp:- She looked nothing like her !

Well, I felt so stupid. kp was in such a state, and here’s me inviting a temping nurse in and asking her how she is etc…..

One last incident which shows how spaced I really was tonight. One of the nurses was in at some stage, telling kp about a party in the park there was in Newcastle. She was saying “They had Meat Loaf on”.

dp:- I love Meat Loaf

She carried on a bit more, and then it was clear she meant the band and not the food.

dp:- Eeee, I am sorry. I thought you were talking about a buffet they had on, I meant Meat Loaf the food.

Doh !

kp gave me a stern look.