Good Night’s Sleep followed by bowel issues from hell when I arrived. Poor kp. Once they were behind us, things started to improve with a good breakfast, snooze and a lovely bath.
Ate a full Sunday lunch in readiness for her 2 visitors, Debs and Lydia. She’ll need all the energy possible for them.
Well, this afternoon Karen had visitors in the form of Lydia and Deborah (from work). It was the visit of the war wounded. Marie didn’t know if she should feel more sorry for Lydia or Debs or Karen. It was very good of them to come, given they weren’t 100% themselves. Thanks you two !
Karen’s text messages can be very persuading can’t they !!!!
Anyway, they brought with them everything but the kitchen sink for Karen’s wheelchair. The nurses helped them decorate it. It now has “L” plates, a side mirror, furry dice and some very funny stickers and probably more that I have forgot. “Lost : Husband and Wheelchair, Reward for Wheelchair” – Oh, how I laughed at that sticker !! 
It cheered kp up no end !!! I will take a photo with her in it tomorrow and post it on the blog. Thanks you two. I think the 3 of you work really well together and hopefully you all left cheered up, I know karen was !
Karen had a full dinner tonight, and then slept for 90 mins. I had to wake her up when I noticed that she didn’t have any anti-embellism socks on. I had asked a nurse to get a pair, and even reminded her before I left (“I haven’t forgot”), but still no socks. So she had been without for about 5/6 hours which isn’t good. And she didn’t like being woken from her beauty sleep, but needs must or the bloodclot kills.
We then had a good chat for an hour or so, before I left for the evening.
10am start tomorrow. Fingers crossed that kp can keep herself amused until then with GMTV. 
A couple of things which I meant to mention this morning.
Karen asked one of the Sisters on the night shift when she might go home for a visit. To her surprise, she is going to speak to the Doctor to see if it can be arranged. But, before she can come home for an hour or so, she needs to be able to use the banana slide to get from the chair to a bed etc…. She is looking forward to this as long as she is feeling on the day in question.
Also, one of the things I have noticed is that Karen seems to have less feeling in the left side of her face. She doesn’t realise this herself, but will often have a rice crispie or a bit of gravy on that side and not realise to wipe it off. This never happens with the right side ?!?!?
I mentioned this to her today, and she was quite oblivious to it, but not overly concerned.
Only one blog entry a day during the week now as the new shifts kick in. Weekends will probably be two-parters (1 part per shift).
Well, today was the big test. Would kp be ok on her own until 10am. Would GMTV keep her amused ? Well, the answer (for the first day) is an unresounding yes.
She didn’t miss me at all. Not so sure I should take that as a compliment ?!
We went for the usual bath which she really enjoyed. After the bath, the Ward Sister came to check kp’s buttock wound (the one from the operation). It looks much better. The doctor wanted a look as well, and he came equipped with a torch. I was holding kp up so her wound was facing the doctor, and once he put the torch up I kept peering to see if I could see inside. But being at the other side of the bed, I couldn’t see in.
Doctor:- David, do you want to have a look.
dp:- No, you’re ok.
Pause
dp:- Oh, go on then. It’s not often you can see inside your wife.
The doctor pointed the torch, I peered. Wow ! It IS deep and it really looks well !! The only sloughy bit was near the opening. (slough = dead tissue that needs to come away). She is such a good healer our kp ! I would say it’s about 4-5 inches deep. I put my mouth up to the wound opening and shouted “Helloooooooooooo”. About 2 seconds later, a reply came back.
Unfortunately, the dressings that they stick inside the wound (intrasite conformable) need to stay in there for 2 days at a time to have an effect, which means we can’t have a bath so often kp is a bit pissed at this, but understands. So, next bath wednesday !
After the bath, kp snoozed until lunchtime. She got in the chair for lunch and enjoyed the Steak and Mash. Her appetite is great at the moment.
After lunch, she had another snooze until physio.
Physio was great today. The Occupational Therapist (OT) lead the session today while the physios assisted. We all had some really good laughs during the session and kp was a complete star. We took along cards and kp’s scar healing cream (thanks Lydia) so she could use these items whilst being tested by the OT.
She did the cream first. kp sat upright (with assistance), but maintained the upright position without assistance. The OT put the cream out of her reach, so she had to bend forward to get the cream (without falling over of course). She did it fine.
After the cream, kp and the OT played cards, whilst one of the physios kept moving the deck of cards further and further from kp. kp did really well. Some of the reaches seem very far, and I find myself subconsciously doing the lean before kp attempts it to check it’s possible. I must look stupid. During the card game, kp didn’t notice that one of the cards that was visible on the table was there. It was down and to the left. This emphasises her sight problem. It’s very strange. She can see things if they are down and to the left if she looks at them, but she doesn’t see them generally. When she eats a meal (for example), she will eat the right half of the plate and think the plate is empty. But if you tell her, she’ll see it. Similarly with water. If she wants a drink of water, she’ll look on the table, but if the water is at all to the left, she doesn’t see it until prompted.
Karen gets on really well with this team and they do a superb job of taxing her to the right level. She is knackered after the sessions but feels really rewarded for her efforts. At the end of the session, kp asked when she might be standing. The answer pleased kp.
Main Physio :- We’ll try and get you standing at the end of this week, or the beginning of the next week. You won’t be properly standing, but will be in the standing position but we will bear some of your weight for you.
I think about 4 physios will be involved for that session. Sounds very exciting.
I was telling kp after the session today, that I was looking at her sat there on the bench (unaided) and I could imagine her just standing up from that position. She’ll get there.
kp mentioned her conversation to the physios about going home. The upshot of the conversation is that the OT is going to visit our house to assess it to see if it needs anything doing to it before kp comes home for a couple of hours visit.
That’s about it for today. Marie took over at 4pm and will be staying until 6.30pm. It will be interesting to see how kp fares between 6.30pm and bedtime.
kp had a good night’s sleep and didn’t miss me again when I didn’t come in at 8.30am.
She had mentioned yesterday that she wanted to send some messages to various people and instructed me to bring my laptop in to record her little messages, which I did.
So, at the bottom of this blog entry, are some messages to various people (mostly work colleagues). If you are not listed, it’s nothing personal, and she said she would add more comments as she thought of people.
After we had done the messages, it was teeth and face clean routine. No bath today for reasons stated yesterday.
We both had a snooze until lunchtime. Got kp out of the bed into the wheelchair for lunch at 12.15pm. She enjoyed Lamb and Cider with dumplings, while I tucked into Tomato Soup and Bread. It’s nice to sit at a similar height and have a meal with the wife over a table. Small things !
After lunch, we went outside for some fresh air. It was a bit cool, but we probably stayed out about 10 minutes. On the way back in, kp wanted to go and see the nurses on the Intensive Care Unit. As I wheeled her there, we passed Frank (tha main man who saved her life). I didn’t realise that kp had never met him. She was always “under” when he was around.
I was pleased to see him and got carried away talking to him.
kp:- Who is this ?
dp:- This is Frank, the main man, the one who saved your life !
kp:- Oh Frank, its nice to meet you finally. I have heard so much about you.
kp put her hand out to shake his hand. Frank returned the handshake with the biggest of smiles on his face.
kp continued to thank him for all he had done. Frank said “I am honoured to meet you”. It was a nice meeting, and left all 3 of us feeling good.
At Intensive Care, kp met up with lots of nurses that she knew and LOTS of nurses that she didn’t know, but that knew her (‘cos she was under for the first month or so). They were very pleased to see her and how well she looked. kp enjoyed catching up, and I think the nurses were pleased to see kp looking so well. It was a really nice 10-15 minutes or so. There were a few nurses who kp would have liked to see who weren’t there, but the Intensive Care part of the ward was very busy at the time, and for some reason they put critically ill patients above visiting returnees
For me, the walk down the Critical Care ward brought back a LOT of bad memories, and a lot of good ones too. As I walked down the ward, I saw some relatives crying in the relative room (the bad news one), and I instantly thought back to the time we were in there doing the very same thing. For Karen, it was a new experience and one she enjoyed although I think she was bemused by the number of people who came up to her and said “hello”. She could only remember 1/3rd of them.
After this visit, we went back to the room. She had been out of bed for about an hour and was only now getting twinges, so it seems to be getting a bit better.
We snoozed until physio.
Physio was very tiring today, but all good stuff. They had Karen laying on the firm couchbed thing in the physio room, and basically they got Karen to walk her left leg in thin air slowly, which looked bl++dy hard for a well person, nevermind kp. They never described it as walking, but instead broke walking down into about 3 movements which kp had to practice. It didn’t dawn on me right until the end that it was “walking” but lying on your side. It looked really hard, but kp lapped it up.
She was an hour in physio and the time just flew past. The session ended with kp sitting upright balancing herself. One time she lost her balance a bit and she had to correct herself. I shouldn’t find this funny, but I do. It takes all her concentration to stay erect (I know how she feels).
So………….a cracking day all round today. Marie took over when kp was knackered. I just hope kp can stay awake for a while.
To finish, kp would just like to thank everyone who has sent her a text message (07974736352), she really appreciates them.
Here is the list of messages she got me to type in. She was hoping Lydia or Debs would print these off for colleagues who haven’t got a computer. There are some messages for non work colleagues also :-
Carol (Middlesbrough Blood Service)
Yes, I do remember you. Thank you so much for your card. It meant a lot. Glad to know you are following the blog.
Bill
Bonjour Bill. Comment ca vas ? Tres Bien I hope ! Comment ca vas Saluki le chien ? Bet you’re impressed with me.
Tracy
To my one and only shimmy friend. Not much shimmying going on. Will be glad to get back to get the legs moving.
Julie
Trisha has been off duty for a while. But hopes to be back in session in the near future.
Margaret of the Cairns
You’ve well and truly made me sick this time.
Gabbo
Just remember it was me who called you it first. After Matthew of course.
Mark
Thanks for appearing in the video
Tom
Hope the Health and Safety is going well
Kathleen
How could I forget you ?
Debra + Lydia
Thanks for all the support you have given me and all the laffs. The chair is great. Everyone loves it. The horn is being used well as I toot it when I pass the nurses station on the way to physio each day.
Linda Mac
We must be due for a glass of wine sometime.
Kevin
Hock the Noo, Ninnie the Noo. Hope to see you soon
Ronnie
To my very good friend. Hope you’re feeling better when you get the message. Try and let me know.
Tommy and Eileen
Thanks for everything that you have done for us during this time. It really is appreciated.
Arrived this morning to a keen-to-see-me kp. So keen, she pushed the TV out of the way and displaced the full water jug on her hospital table. The water saturated her and her sheets.
It was very tempting to go straight into the bath routine, but I was flustered by this and wanted a chat before bath, so I cleared up the mess and we chatted for a while.
Two hovis vans were having a race with each other on the A1(M) in busy traffic whilst I was on the way to the hospital. One of them cut me up. Thankfully, I was aware of what they were doing so only had to brake, not swerve. Anyway, I decided to “dob them in” as their vans had those “Let us know how our drivers are driving” stickers on. I couldn’t get the freefone number on the bedside phone Karen has, so had to use the mobile. Half way through the conversation, the Sister walked in. I nearly died (mobile phones aren’t allowed in the hospital). I looked as guilty as Marie when she hears someone else’s mobile phone going off close to her in the hospital.
After our chat, we did the bath thing, which kp really enjoys. She made a point of telling me how much she enjoys them again today. I think this alternate days bath thing is killing her. She understands why, but wishes her wound better so she can get back to daily baths.
Lunch was skipped in favour of a late-lunch soup meal I had brought in.
Physio was hard again today. It consisted of kp sitting upright and reaching to another physios hands in mid-air. This meant kp was really using her torso muscles to maintain her balance despite leaning quite significantly over at times. One side was easier than the other. All of these things I can see are steps that will aid her standing up. It wasn’t a great leap in my imagination to see one of the big leans forward being a prelude to her leg muscles then being used to stand up. Friday is the big day (we think), although it could be Monday/Tuesday next week. kp is really looking forward to “the day”, but is also anxious at the same time about the amount of effort that will be required.
She was really sweating (or perspiring or whatever women do) today towards the end. I could tell it was really taking it out of her. One comical moment came when kp was asked to not bend her arm so much when she was reaching out. She really had to concentrate on straightening her arm, and it ended up with her, as one of the physios said, doing “amateur dramatics” to get her arm straight. I likened it to “Superman” going into flight mode. It was really funny to see. It looked so forced and unnatural. kp was laughing at herself.
It was one of those physio sessions where she couldn’t wait to get back into bed however. When I lowered her back into bed, her eyes were closed before I had chance to remove the sling. LOL !
15 minutes after her eyes were closed, they were open again for her visitors (Michelle, Freddy and Ethan). Ethan (7 year old) was a little quiet at first, but soon picked up. He whisked me up and down the corridor in the wheelchair and then it was Karen’s turn. He was very careful with her (MOST OF THE TIME). Without a bit of attention from us “grown-ups”, I am pretty confident kp would have lost a toe or two by the time she got to the outside.
Unfortunately, one of the lifts broke as we went downstairs (not the one we were in), so this meant there was only one lift to get us back up. As we came back, this broke as well. This left the only way to get kp back to the ward is by the stairs. SUPERMAN to the rescue. Superman = Frank (the chap that saved kp’s life). He just happened to be passing AGAIN ! He rang the appropriate people and in no time the lift was working. (PROBABLY NOTHING TO DO WITH FRANK, but the timing means he can “have this one on us” (ANOTHER FRANK MIRACLE)).
On the way to the “working” lift, we met up with the orthopedic surgeon that did Karen’s initial pelvic ops and her recent “hole” wound. He had a chat to us before going to see the nurse who dressed the wound.
When we got back to the room, kp’s consultant came to see her. He mentioned the visit home “in the next few weeks” and that she may be standing on “Friday”. kp was well pleased that this was being said by kp’s consultant as it made it more official.
So, a good and full day overall. I left kp in the hands of Michelle, Freddy and Ethan who are staying a little while longer. Marie is attending a funeral today
kp had a lie-in today. She didn’t wake up until about 9.15am, and so when I arrived at 10am, she was still eating her breakfast which the staff had very kindly done for her specially.
No bath today. kp had a bit of jip with her left arm today. She feels she must have slept on it or something, but any movement was causing pain. This is the stroke arm and what is weird is she feels pain a LOT more sensitively in this arm, yet she has very little motor function in it. It is hoped that this will improve in time of course.
Most of the morning was spent chatting and snoozing. She didn’t feel like lunch, but instead had some grapes, cherries and a glass of milk. She then started to feel queasy, and about 10 minutes later threw up everything she had ate
She has been doing so well and then this comes along. But she wasn’t too bothered by it. We changed the sheets (cos I wasn’t quite quick enough with a sickbowl) and then it was time for physio. kp was up for it.
30 minutes after the sickness, and she was in the physio room sitting upright. We had some real good crack with the physios today, and kp was doing lots of belly laughing. They make it so much fun and kp really looks forwards to each session. Today’s physio involved the Occupational Therapist (OT) who gets kp to do lots of everyday stuff. Today, she had to put on her nighty (2 types (1 buttoning all the way down and the other buttons partly down the nighty)). She was doing this while sitting upright on the bench. Whilst she was doing it, her face was pointing mostly down at the floor so she could keep her balance and concentrate. Bit by bit, she did her best to get the nighty past the obstacle of her left arm (with a little help from the physios) and got both nightys on. Each time she got a nighty on, she looked up at me with the BIGGEST, BIGGEST of smiles. She was so chuffed with herself. We were all praising her big time.
It’s funny how the simplest of things can be so hard and how they can mean so much when you crack them.
I think one of the reasons kp was pleased was that she has something new to get her teeth into each day now. Formerly, getting a nighty on involved 2 turns on the bed, which she gets a bit sick of and any reduction in the number of turns is also gratefully received.
Sickness aside, kp was in a great postive mindset today, and made a few phonecalls to friends and family. I think everyone she phoned was pleased to get the call.
Marie arrived at 3.50pm drenched to the skin ‘cos her brolly had blown inside out. She had also had her shed burgled last night. So hopefully kp will be able to cheer her up a bit.
That’s about it for today.
I rang the policeman up yesterday to find out the latest on the police proceedings. They have had the chap in for questioning now. I can’t say too much on the blog. Suffice to say he hasn’t been charged yet and the police are still not sure if he is going to be charged with dangerous or careless driving (upto CPS)
Have feet, will stand !
Very Very busy day today.
I was a bit late today as the new change in shifts mean I pick up Friday lunch (normally Marie’s domain). I carefully got everything I was told to pick up and some safety items in case of cock up. Needless to say, even the emergency items were cock ups.
kp:- I don’t like that kind of chicken, I like chicken breast
kp:- I said spiced loaf, not spiced loaf with orange.
kp:- Tomato and Herb Bread ?! (in Peter Kay “Garlic Bread” voice)
etc…
It seems only Marie can do the shopping for lunches ! After a little “discussion” about lunch, we got into our routine.
Bath – Great !
Redressing of wounds
Then it was time for the lunch. Well, I am very pleased to say kp thoroughly enjoyed the lunch.
dp:- So, it’s ok is it ?
kp:- It’s lovely, thanks
dp:- So, that lambasting earlier is taken back ?
kp in fits of laughter :- What the hell is lambasting ?!
kp had a really good laugh at me saying that word and I was laughing at kp’s laughing !
Cracking Stuff
After lunch, short snooze, followed by the discovery that kp’s bed has packed in. This is pretty key
It has buttons for going up, down, tilting etc, which is very important for kp who can’t do these moves on her own. The physios arrived at this point, and they did as much as they could but also couldn’t get it working
When we mentioned it to the ward staff, the estates department hinted it might be Monday before it’s fixed. In karen’s condition, this is really awkward. She needs to sit up to eat, but more importantly if she gets a sickness bout, it’s very hard being sick on your back or side Last I left this, they were going to make it an urgent job, but by 5pm (Friday!) they hadn’t been. Fingers crossed.
Back to the main event. After the physios tried to make the bed work, we got in to the nitty gritty of the physio session itself.
So, the standing first considered running through things with Karen. I took a photo of 2 of the physios running through things with Karen, but when they detected an imminent photo, they retracted instantly from the shot, it was very funny to see.
The next stage involved 4 physios, 1 behind kp, 1 at each leg, and 1 in front. This next set of photos shows Karen going from sitting to standing. It took immense effort on the part of Karen to get there and probably took about 15-20 seconds to do with a few “Owwwwwwws” and “nearly made its” along the way. It needed lots of help from the physios and lots of direction as to what muscles she should be using. There was absolutely no way Karen could have done this on her own at the moment, but this was NEVER expected. The photos below make it look easy, but it was ever so hard for Karen. From an onlooker’s perspective, it looked very awkward, with so many helpers moving body parts to assist, but the end result was kp standing herself. Every half a second or so, her knees would buckle and the physios would have to be there to ensure she didn’t drop.
On the first standing attempt, Karen had her right (good) arm on the table in front, but her left (stroke) arm was just being supported by a physio so it didn’t get in the way. When kp attempted to stand, she really tried to get her left arm on the table as well, but it wouldn’t go when she told it to. This made the standing look very awkward. On the second attempt, both arms were placed on the table in front of her, and it went a bit smoother.
In the following photos, the physios faces have been purposefully masked.
Here is Karen half way between sitting and standing :-
Karen standing (over the moon with herself) :-
Karen standing (dp saying “smile for the camera”) :-
All of the above photos were took on the second standing attempt.
These two attempts completely drained Karen, and the first thing she said after the attempts was she could see how much work it was going to take. The second thing she said was “can she go back to her room to lie down ?”
She enjoyed the experience and it is a great finish to a storming week !
On the way back from physio, Karen bumped into another similarly aged lady who had had a stroke. Karen was keen to know how long it takes from “first standing attempt” to “walking” – the answer in this lady’s case was 3 weeks. I doubt very much kp will be as quick as that given her pelvis, hip, arm complications but I don’t think she has realised that yet.
I didn’t get chance to go through the experience with her as, no sooner was she hoisted onto bed she was doing the “Zzzzzzzzzz” thing.
At about 4pm, Marie arrived with daughter Adele, and Grand daughters, Adele and Abbie.
Came in (8.30am) to a fast asleep kp today. Took her 15-20 mins to come round.
Bacon/Beans Toasted Sandwich for breakfast followed by a 90 minute snooze. I had a 30-min kip myself on the hard floor. She wouldn’t let me get in the bed with her.
She had a really itchy/sweaty back and was gagging for a bath. She is only supposed to have them alternate days at the moment (to allow the buttock wound to heal), but she really wanted a bath despite this, so we did the bath thing.
After the bath, she had the idea of putting her own nighty on. This is a real big thing to Karen, I am surprised at how big. She even rates it over the standing experience yesterday. So I hoisted her into the big chair (with the bed in front of her (for her hands)), and sat her upright and she proceeded to put her nighty on. I helped very little and she sorted it !!
She was over the moon, and I can see this being a regular occurrence (may be a spelling mistake there mother).
Michelle and Adele arrived at 1pm and we had some good crack with them. kp was doing some real belly laughs as we recounted some amusing hospital stories.
We have found a way of making the bed work without the electrics (thanks to last night’s nurses). I gave it a try and nearly projected kp into the room next door. kp and the girls were in hysterics at the speed with which kp went from lying to sitting. Apparently kp’s face was a picture.
That’s it for Part One.
Pizza Night !
kp and I decided to have a typical Saturday night tonight. Pizza, TV and Beer. It was great, just like a typical Saturday night apart from :-
No Beer (driving home)
Having to hoist Karen into a sitting position.
These things aside, we had a really good night. Karen REALLY enjoyed her pizza. It was a 10inch thin crust (onion, garlic and mushroom) and she ate 80% of it.
We had a cracking night !
Arrived an hour early today to kp’s surprise.
kp was in positive mood. Had eaten a good breakfast and wanted a bath.
She suggested I check with the sister that it was ok to have a bath.
kp:- Go and ask X. Say “Is it ok if Karen pops for a bath ?”
dp:- Karen, I know how to ask X if you can have a bath or not ?
Karen started laughing at the fact she had given me the exact words to say. I started practicing to myself :-
dp:- Is it ok if Karen POPS for a bath ? Is it ok if Karen POPPPPPS for a bath ? Is it OK if Karen pops in the bath ?
I left the room to ask X the question, kp was laughing out loud and I could hear her down the hallway !
Needless to say it was ok, and kp enjoyed the bath.
kp now likes to sit up in the chair to put her own nighty on. I was keen to get her to sit upright (no back support).
dp:- Do you want to sit upright or slouch ?
kp:- I’d rather slouch.
dp:- It will be easier if you sat upright.
kp:- I want to slouch.
kp ran into difficulties with the nighty. It was caught on her left little finger, but she kept pulling it as if it was just stuck and needed lots of pulling so I advised her accordingly.
dp:- It might be easier if you sit upright.
kp:- Will you stop going on about sitting upright !
dp:- Why do you have such a problem with sitting upright ?
kp:- Sometimes I just want to do things certain ways and today I want to slouch.
Fair enough ! It was a good humoured conversation and kp said she would explain why she wanted to slouch later in the morning, but we forgot to talk about it.
She dried her own hair today. She forgets quite a lot about her left side, so her right hair was lovely and dry, some would say toasted. Her left side was damp still. I reminded her about the left side and she sorted it.
After this, we went to sleep for an hour. She skipped lunch, simply ‘cos she wasn’t hungry.
Sue (from work) is visiting this afternoon and my dad is coming up also.
kp had a visitor this afternoon in the form of Sue (from work). She brought the tastiest strawberries I have ever tasted, I mean Karen has ever tasted. They were delicious. And the carrot cake looks gorgeous. Can’t wait to go in in the morning to have that with a coffee. If there’s any left, I’ll let kp have some too
She really enjoyed seeing you Sue. It seemed like a Peter Kay show when I arrived. One of the nurses was doing some impressions. Lots of belly laughs all round. kp was using the word “lambasted” every other word. She had asked Marie to look it up in a dictionary, and now she knew it was a real word she was working it in whenever she could.
She is in such a good positive frame of mind at the moment. The mountain will be so much easier for climbing with her spirit in such a way.
She ate every bit of her tea and has been in and out of the chair so many times today. We had a good laugh with Dad when he came.
Altogether a VERY positive day.
Tomorrow the OT is visiting wor house to check it’s ok for kp.
Keep it up Love !
CLICK HERE to go to August’s Chapter
The Occupational Therapist (OT) came to the house today. It is difficult to know what needs doing to the house in the long term as the next few weeks/months will be key in knowing how well she is going to get about, but the OT measured chairs, doorways, steps so a further visit shouldn’t be necessary.
It was clear that kp wouldn’t be able to get from the wheelchair to the settee unless she can transfer herself and that is quite a few weeks off. This means the visit home she had mentally in her mind will mean she has to stay in the wheelchair for the taxi-ride home and the visit itself. After speaking to kp, she didn’t seem very keen on this and would rather wait until she can get on the settee.
For the physio session today, the OT was present and we practiced getting Karen sitting over the end of the bed. The idea being, that if we can get Karen on the edge of the bed, she can wash her face, clean her teeth etc without needing to go in the hoist. This maneuvre needs 2 people, and the first time the physio did it with the OT’s help. The second time, I did it with the OT’s help which is important if we are going to be able to do it at any time of the day.
kp was well impressed with the fact we can now get her on the edge of the bed and the maneuvre feels quite a smooth one.
After the physios left, kp wanted some lunch and agreed to sit on the hard chair and sit upright. This strengthens torso-based muscles without her even realising they are being taxed. She coped really well with it and after 5-10 mins was balancing subconcsciously.
We then had a snooze until Nigel and Terry arrived (2pm).
Nigel :- Hiya Karen, we have brought you some Belgian Chocolates from Asda.
kp :- Nige, you’re supposed to say “we have brought you some Belgian Chocolates”. Don’t be saying which supermarket you bought them at.
We had lots of laughs (and some serious talk) with Nige and Terry, before they had to go and visit Nige’s dad who has just had a pacemaker fitted in another hospital. Wishing you well Mr Gibbs Senior.
That’s it for today. kp is well, a bit tired today generally, but still in a great frame of mind.
kp was tired when I went in today. I was also tired after a bad night’s sleep so we both went to sleep at 10am until 12.15pm. Lovely sleep.
We then had a quick bath before having a Fish and Chip Lunch hot from the chippy down the road. She loved it and nearly ate it all and it was a big portion.
It was then time for physio. The physio session started out with a 10 minute laughing session and no work could be done because kp was in hysterics along with the physios and myself. One of the physios was doing impressions and it was so funny. The physio session couldn’t start because kp started giggling again which started us all off again.
When we finally got down to it, it ended up being quite a hard session of lying on her side and doing the walking action with some painful stretching exercises. Strangely her right leg (non-stroke side) is worse than her left leg, something to do with right legs being the steadying leg and being used more often than the stroke side.
When she got back to her room, she was already starting to ache when being moved, so I think she may be in for a rough night and tomorrow.
Adele arrived to take over the evening shift, and I believe Linda Mac (work colleague) is visiting about 6pm.
Not a good day today.
kp was very “quiet” when I went in.
dp:- Are you alright love ? You seem a bit flat ?
kp:- I am not flat, I am quiet.
She just wasn’t the usual kp of the last few days. She had soup tomato soup and a couple of buns for lunch, but it was not a chatty lunch. Physio soon followed and within a minute of the physios coming for Karen, they asked the very same question I had when I came in.
We went to the physio room as per usual and today was going to be sitting forward exercises. Shortly after getting kp sitting upright, she was feeling nauseous and called for a sick bowl. We had a wretch or two, but no sickness, but the physios asked if she still felt up to physio. She didn’t so we went back to the bedroom where she slept for about 2 hours solid after taking her anti-sickness medication early.
Debs (work colleague) was supposed to visit this afternoon and she asked me to cancel her. Debs was very understanding.
During kp’s sleep, the orthopedic consultant who had worked kp at the beginning and the other week (for the 2 ops) came to inspect his handywork. He was happy with the wound and how well it is healing. He said that it will gradually close from the inside. He tipped us off about the fact kp is going for a urology x-ray on August 15th to assess if there is any bladder damage remaining from the accident. They pump dye into kp’s veins and x-ray her at the same time. He said it is just a precaution, but that there was significant bleeding from the bladder when kp first came in (1/2 pint of blood lost from bladder) and that they want to make sure it’s all ok now. The nurses tipped him off about kp’s sickness today. He said he would check with the microbiologist to see if kp can come off some of her antibiotics. 30 minutes later, she arrived to confirm that she can The idea being that they could be contributing to the nausea.
Abbie and Marie arrived and kp woke up about 4.30pm. She seemed ever so slightly more perky, but not anyway near as perky as she has been.
Let’s hope tomorrow she feels a lot better.
Better day today
She certainly wasn’t as quiet this morning when I first went in.
I was running late and so had rang her to tell her that I would be late. She finished the call by saying that she was in a bad position and very uncomfortable and asked if I could ring the ward to get them to move her. I rang the ward clerk and told her that kp had lost her buzzer and could someone go in and move her. I was told the message would be passed to the nurse who was standing by the ward clerk.
When I arrived at the ward, I started my usual banter to kp but she looked at me annoyed saying how uncomfortable she was. Noone had been in to move her. The message had been passed on but to the same nurse who a couple of weeks ago had forgot (on a number of occasions) to get kp some anti-embellism socks. I was very annoyed and went straight out of the room to find out why nothing had been done. kp called me back asking me to move her first ! We started laughing at the fact I was so annoyed (as I very rarely get annoyed into action).
I sorted kp out and then took issue with the nurse concerned. The ward manager got involved (at the behest of the nurse) and it was all resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. I am a firm believer in the Q.E. being the best hospital in the area. Mistakes happen and the way people deal with it is indicative of the general level of care you receive. Top Marks to Ward 22, Q.E. Hospital Gateshead.
The bath routine was a little different today. I suggested to kp that she sit on the hard chair (sat upright, not leaning back) to take her own nighty off and clean teeth/wash face. She went for it big time and nailed it all no problems. It seemed to be a lot quicker than when i do it.
Bath over, it was nearly lunch time. She had Fish Cakes. I don’t think she will be having them again.
She did very well at physio today. They did the sitting exercises where she leans over (a lot) to pick up cones that are far from her. Some of the cones I would have struggled to get. They force kp to transfer loads of weight onto her feet and her left or right buttock to rise off the bench. This is the purpose of the exercise and is a prelude to standing.
Tomorrow we are going to be doing another stand again. I took a video of the first stand she did, but got loads of the physios in as well. I will try and take some video tomorrow without the physios faces in so I can publish it on the blog (no promises). The photos make it look easy. The video leaves you thinking “how the hell did she do that ?”
Great Day overall. She is back to the usual kp !
Today went from bad to excellent.
I didn’t arrive until about 10.45am as I was picking up a hot chicken and fresh rolls from Sainsburys. By the time we had chatted it was 11.15am. This left us 45 minutes to have a bath before lunch arrived. It normally takes an hour and she still wanted to go for it.
We did the bath thing, but it was disjointed, rushed and every so often in my haste to dump kp in the bath, I would move a limb like it was a joint of beef with the resultant pain. If she was double-jointed, I could have got the bath done in 45 minutes no problem, but no I chose a wife whose joints bend only in one direction. But that’s a 12 year old mistake which I won’t rake over now
At the end of the bath, kp was ratty with me and I was ratty with her. We were ready at 12pm (on the dot) but both had faces of stone. Normally, kp’s room being next to the kitchen, she gets her food first, but today they had started at the other end of the ward (working back to the kitchen) so we had 20 minutes to lighten up our moods. Which we did !
Our last bit of rattiness was how long before the trolley arrived I should butter the bread for the hot chicken sandwiches. Once the chips arrived, we both enjoyed our lunch and the morning trials were behind us. Things got great from there in.
kp had a sleep between the bath and physio and I did some Su Doku puzzles left by Linda Mac.
Physio was awesome ! Marie had come early to see the standing and the 3 physios, Karen, Marie and I were in stitches within seconds of getting in the physio room. The first stage was getting Karen sitting on the edge of the bench and loosening up her leg muscles. The lead physio got kp to stretch one of her legs up in front of her. As she did this, she leant back and had the sensation that she was going to fall on her back. The physios reassured her that this wouldn’t happen, but kp still grabbed out at the physio on her left.
Physio :- Hey, watch my [plastic] pinny ?
kp started laughing at this. Really belly laughing. Her laughter spread round the room and we were all laughing. It took about 5 minutes to calm down. Not at all funny in the blog, but hey.
After these warm-up exercises, it was time for “The Stand”.
kp had told me earlier in the week that she was concerned the stand wouldn’t be any easier than last week.
She needn’t have been concerned.
She went from sitting to standing much quicker (probably about 3-4 seconds, instead of 6-7). All the physios remarked about how much less they had to do this time. She stood for a minute (not 20 seconds) and was over the moon about the fact it was easier than the previous week. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t easy by a long shot, but last week was such a struggle.
After a few minutes of rest after the first stand, she went on to do 2 more stands (1 minute and 30 seconds respectively). The physios were VERY pleased at this and kp was chuffed. After the second stand, she was starting to feel sick, so the 3rd stand was a real bonus.
I haven’t got any video footage as I was the fourth “physio” taking care of kp’s left arm (from the front) with no time to get the camera out.
Marie really appreciated being there for the stand. It is hard to put into words how wonderful it is to see one’s loved one standing after 100 days (tomorrow) in bed. Marie had a side-on view for the stands and she remarked that the physio behind Karen didn’t do anything for the final stand ! All I did was take care of her left arm, and the 2 physios (1 for each leg) probably only help kp lock her knees into place.
So, I don’t think it will take too long to get kp to stand freely herself. She is amazing !
To finish the day (for me), we had some more laughs with one of the nurses. She did some impressions for us and we were all howling. I was in pain I was laughing that much and it is so lovely to see kp grab her belly and laugh till it hurts.
Day 100 – Wow !
Not much to report from this morning. kp in top form. Lots of laughs again. The morning went pretty quickly.
I arrived, we chatted, we were both tired and so slept until 12pm when Yvonne arrived. kp wanted a bath, so I did a few moves to get the bath sling underneath her. One of the moves resulted in a “yelp” from kp. She was aching from the physio from yesterday.
kp:- Stop flinging me around the bed !
Yvonne :- He isn’t “flinging” you round the bed Karen
Karen started belly laughing and in no time we were all laughing.
After the bath, Adele and Abbie arrived and that’s about it.
Karen had a cracking afternoon with Yvonne, Adele and Abbie. Yvonne was demonstrating the fruits of her attendance at dance classes. It had them all in stitches apparently. Certainly, they were all laughing when I returned at 5.15pm.
Once the girls had left for Middlesbrough, Karen and I ordered our Saturday Night Pizza and enjoyed watching American Idol. We were watching it avidly 100+ days ago and I took in the episode we had got up to and we watched it on my laptop. It doesn’t feel like 100 days. We could remember all the singers.
Karen told me tonight that she feels she may have other stroke symptoms. She said that she occasionally wants to say something, but she can’t because she can’t find the words. I explained that this can happen to anyone and may be nothing to do with the stroke, but that she should raise it with the stroke consultant when he gets back off his hols.
Last night one of our German Shepherds, had diarrhoea. A fact everyone probably wanted to know. On Wednesday, we had new carpets fitted (for Karen’s homecoming). You can probably see where this is going. I wrote the blog up last night and went into the living room to be greeted by a trail of poo going 360′ around our dining room table. Thanks Bonnie !
At the time I was livid. It took me about 30 minutes to get it all up and the stain out of the new carpet. Mum is bringing the Vanish today to get it as new.
So, why am I writing this in the blog ? Well, after my annoyance last night, I took a video of it for Karen’s amusement. It was one of the first things we did this morning. Well, Karen couldn’t believe it. Seeing a trail of poo in a near oval is different to hearing about it. The skill of Bonnie being able to walk around the dining room table a full 360′ whilst busy doing other things is “commendable” (probably the wrong word).
It amused Karen.
After this, we did the bath thing at a leisurely pace and then the Sister and Nurse came to do kp’s dressing. The Sister had been away and hadn’t seen kp’s wound for a while and was pleased with the improvement. Apparently it has overgranulated and she gave a cracking analogy of fairy cakes to describe what it meant. It was a bit over my head, but kp got it first time.
This Sister had once said to Karen that she would be sharing a Xmas cracker with her. Karen is like an elephant, she never forgets anything.
kp:- Do you think I will still be sharing a Xmas cracker with you ?
Sister :- No, I think you will be at home by Xmas.
kp was well pleased. In typical kp fashion she pursued this issue further. She was basically trying to get a date and time to book the taxi to go home. The nearest to this she could get from the Sister was end of October, beginning of November.
kp then asked about home visits. Basically, as soon as Karen can sit for 4 hours without being in pain, she can visit home for a couple of hours. This is all good for karen, ‘cos it gives her things to aim for.
Marie arrived for the afternoon shift. Mum and Dad are visiting later on.
kp slept most of the afternoon leaving Marie in crossword land.
When I arrived (4.45pm), she stayed asleep. Mum and Dad arrived (4.55pm), she stayed asleep. It wasn’t until one of the funny nurses came in and started making us all laugh that kp woke up with a big smile on her face.
She was in good spirit for the evening and enjoyed all mum and dad’s banter. They left to cook my tea and kp and I had a little chat before kp got tired. She was soon firing Zzzzzzzzzzz’s.
Good Day Overall
kp had been worried before I got in this morning. She had forgotten that I don’t come in until 10am weekdays now, and at 9.15am (45 mins late in her eyes) was concerned that I had an accident. The nurses were helping her find my mobile number, before one of them said “Doesn’t he come in at 10am now ?”. All was then fine.
When kp relayed this story to me it threw me for the whole morning and all I could think of was the worry she had gone through. I was in a stupor and the bath routine which we went straight into went at a snail’s pace. I couldn’t think of the 101 steps that it seems need to be done to get kp in the bath. After the bath, we went for a long sleep. I laid out on the floor and we must have had a good 2 hours. It was lovely sleep. We were woken by a nurse wanting Karen’s blood.
The physio session today saw the return of the main physio from his hols. He was well pleased with Karen’s progress and spent most of the session assessing kp’s movement in all her limbs (probably about 30 minutes) and then finished the session with some stands. This time there were only 2 physios to help kp.
Karen had to work a lot harder herself today. On the first couple of attempts she got upright but was unable to lock her knees. It seems her muscle contractions (according to the main man) are in more short bursts (on/off) than prolonged sustaining of the muscle action. So from a low sitting position, her stand effort got her to near-standing but didn’t do enough to lock the knees. So the main man had to support kp’s knees. I could see this happening and immediately stood up in front of Karen (so she could see me) and started doing pelvic thrusts to try and get her to thrust her bum more forward. It didn’t work and I looked a pillock so sat down.
He raised the bed so that she was higher in the standing action than the low sitting position she had started in. This time she got to full standing with no more pelvic thrusts from me. Her knees were locked and I got the impression she could have stayed there a while. She stood up for about 30 seconds before controlling her sitting action. The physio said the main point of today was for him to assess her current movement capabilities now he was back off his hols. He was delighted with kp’s progress.
kp’s left arm has been giving her jip today. It has had a constant ache no matter what position it was in. At the physio session, she mentioned this and asked if she would get full movement back in her left arm. The physio was very nice about it and said he wouldn’t put his life savings on the fact that she would get it to the same level as her right arm, but he also said that he wouldn’t bet she wouldn’t either. I came away from that conversation thinking it was unlikely to get to the same level, but who knows with kp !!!!
Another thing that became clear from today’s session was that her left leg (stroke side) isn’t as strong has her right. Funnily enough, I noticed this earlier on, when I asked kp to lift her left knee so I could get the sling underneath her (to hoist her into the chair), it came up and flopped over to one side. Early days, the first 6 months are where most of the improvement comes so fingers crossed.
So, a good physio session.
After physio, the doctor came to see kp. kp mentioned to her that she sometimes struggles to find certain words. The doctor did some memory tests on kp, and she was spot on.
Doctor :- Remember these 3 words, “Cup, Bowl, Spoon”
The doctor checked kp’s Date of birth, Address and a few other things.
Doctor :- What were those 3 words.
kp said them fine
Doctor :- What’s 100 – 7
kp said the right answer
Doctor :- Take away 7 again
kp said the right answer
Doctor :- Take away 7 again
kp said the right answer
Doctor :- Take away 7 again
Doctor :- What were the 3 words I told you earlier ?
I hadn’t a clue !!! kp got it straight away. I have loads of excuses for not being able to get them, but I’ll keep them to myself.
So, no problems there for kp.
kp asked if she still had MRSA. She went away to check. And her last tests show she is CLEAR !!!! of MRSA. Yay !!!!!!!!!!!! Very pleased at that !
All in all, a good day.
Forgot to mention that yesterday the doctor had reviewed Karen’s medication and had moved Karen’s sleeping tablet to the “as and when required” category instead of the daily category. The same goes for the anti-sickness injection in the morning. She didn’t take the sleeping tablet last night, but still had a good night’s sleep which is great. She missed the anti-sickness injection and felt a little nauseous after brushing her teeth but no sickness came so another bit of medication out of the way.
kp enjoyed her bath as usual. It is one of the highlights of her day along with physio. She said she wouldn’t know what to do with herself if it wasn’t for the bath and physio.
Lunch followed snooze followed bath.
Physio today involved them working on Karen’s arm. She mentioned it had been giving her jip. Karen was hoisted from the wheelchair to the bench and she looked really hunched up on her left side. They laid her down on her right side and the main physio moved her left arm in all sorts of directions. He did loads with her shoulder as well. After about 30-40 minutes of these movements (with the odd “ow!”), kp’s movement (without pain) had increased quite a bit.
Towards the end, he was getting Karen to move her left arm in different directions herself. He held her hand so she didn’t have the weight of her hand to move. She did very well. I was uncertain how much the physio was doing and how much kp was doing. I will have to ask kp tomorrow.
We had a conversation today about what the physio had said about her left arm and how it may not get back to full health. She wasn’t overly concerned about it and basically had the opinion on the long lines of “as long as I can still do all the things I used to do”. She thought about it for a few seconds and then said “If I can’t walk the dogs on my own, I will be annoyed.” This made me a little bit sad, because she definately will need 2 arms to walk the dogs, possibly even 3 !
I think, in time, she will realise how much she needs 2 arms and this may get her down, but she is ok for now, and you never know, she could regain enough movement in her left arm to do the things she likes to do, although I personally can’t see this happening, but what do I know : she keeps amazing me with something every week !
I phoned Karen just before I had my tea (7.30pm) just to check all was ok.
It wasn’t. She was very upset and “just want(ed) to go home”. It appears she had got really upset whilst Marie was still there and poor Marie had to leave her at 6.30pm (to get her bus) with Karen assuring her she would be ok and just needed to be alone.
When I phoned she couldn’t get the sentence “I want to come home” out without interrupting it with real anguish and tears.
dp:- Do you want me to come in ?
kp:- No, there’s (sobbing) nothing (sobbing) you can do
dp:- I am coming in.
When I got there and this will sound corny, I could feel kp’s mood lift. I could see how much she had been crying, her face was beetroot red, but she was pleased to see me. We had lots of tears and lots of talking. A couple of things had triggered it :-
We talked these things through. There are no easy answers or quick fixes that can be applied. It will be hard, but I think Karen took solace in the fact that we would get through them together.
We discussed at length home visits and whether she would want them or not. The pros for them are being home, seeing the dogs, a bit of normality and lots more. The cons are leaving the home and more importantly the dogs.
She doesn’t want to leave the dogs. We decided on the fact that she would come home for visits when she can stand up from the bed to get into the wheelchair, and stand up from the wheelchair to a chair that is at any height. In other words, when she comes home, she could get on to the settee, back to the wheelchair, get to the loo etc….
She seemed happy with that for now.
I left her at 10pm tired and more settled than she was. She was very grateful that I had come in, I think especially because she had said to me “you don’t have to come in”. I am starting to understand the female language better the older I get. I now understand that “you don’t have to come in” means “be here within 30 minutes”
Hope you feel better tomorrow love
dp
xxxxx
Karen had slept well considering the evening’s events. No sleeping tablet either. She still feels sleepy in the mornings even without the sleeping tablet, but apparently, it takes a few days to get out of the system.
She didn’t have any dinner the night before. She didn’t have any breakfast this morning. I arrived late this morning (as arranged) and we went straight into the blog comments. Today was going to be Fish and Chip Shop day but she didn’t feel like any lunch when it came to that time. I could tell she was still a bit fed up and couldn’t be arsed with anything.
She was tired, I was tired so we both had a snooze from 11.30am until 1.30pm.
Yesterday, one of the nurses had come into kp’s room to tell us it one of the Sisters last day before going away to get married. She had planned the usual funny things, “L” plates and devil’s horns to wear, rice and gunge in pockets etc etc…
dp:- You should make out you’re getting a stripper in.
Before I knew it, I was the “stripper” ! The nurse was going to bring in elvis gear and relevant music (“You can leave your hat on” (Tom Jones)). Yikes ! I wanted to do it to add a bit of variety to kp’s day, but at the same time, I am no John Travolta.
So, today comes and 2pm is the time we had been told to be ready. The nurses station was where it was going down (a short wheelchair ride from kp’s room). I was sh+tting myself. I had only woke up 30 mins prior and in 30 minutes I had to develop dancing skills and a routine.
dp:- Are you ready to get in the chair ?
kp:- I don’t want to get in the chair
dp:- But, I was gonna do that thing for X, do you not want to see it ?
kp:- Not really
Well, I was mortified. Part of the reason for doing it was to cheer kp up.
dp:- But, I am only doing it for you love. I thought it might brighten your day ?!
kp:- ok then.
I got her in the chair and went in her bathroom to get changed into the elvis wig/glasses, bermuda-style shorts and tee shirt. When I came out of the bathroom, kp gave a lovely smile that made the whole thing worth it.
I asked the nurse that had arranged it all what should I do. She gave me the moves she thought would work and went out to put the cd on. I heard the Sister, who it was all for, running away when she realised what was happening and then heard someone shout “It isn’t a stripper, it isn’t a stripper”. I know karen hates strippers, so I understood exactly what the Sister was worrying about. With that in mind, with the Sister back at the nurse’s station, the instructions from the nurse, the music playing I came out and strutted my stuff. I nearly had a baby when I saw how many people were out there. I expected about 5, there were about 10-15 I think. I didn’t even notice who was there, and the only face I caught a glimpse of was Karen and she was smiling her head off. Yay ! The Sister concerned was laughing which I was relieved at.
Here is Elvis and kp after the event :-
I later found out that kp was howling with laughter (holding her belly jobby) at the whole thing. I wished I had had the wherewithall to look at her during the event more. That would have been awesome to see, but still nice to know she really enjoyed it.
After the strip routine (with no stripping !), kp had her bath and shortly after that Michelle arrived. That’s it for today. Hopefully she will be ok tonight.
Uneventful morning consisting of blog comments and bath. It was Roast Pork for lunch and she ate a full plateful which I was very relieved at. She had also had a full breakfast before I arrived. I am relieved that she is eating ok again.
Physio this afternoon consisted of lots of pelvic/hip movement done by the main physio, followed by some sit to stand crunches where she holds the position halfway between sitting and standing. It is very hard. I try and do one of everything kp does, and my hips and pelvis are A1 (they could bear children they are that good), but this maneuvre is really hard for a fit person. kp did about 5-6 of them in total and was knackered.
We had discussed a question we wanted to ask the main physio and I raised it at the end of the session :-
dp:- X, kp wanted to know if you can give us some idea about when kp can go home for a visit ? She doesn’t want to go and sit in a wheelchair for a few hours, she wants to be able to transfer to a comfy chair and back again. ?
The answer wasn’t what either of us wanted to hear. Of course, it is VERY hard for the physio to answer this question definitively, and we totally understand that it is an unknown to a great degree, but at the same time, kp and I wanted a rough idea. His guestimate was 6-8 weeks. Karen’s mood instantly dropped on hearing this and she went very quiet. It could be sooner, but was unlikely to be longer was the impression we got. I was looking at kp for tears, but none came, but she was definately quieter. I feel sorry for the physio ‘cos we pushed him for the answer.
We left the physio room to go back to her bedroom and on the way passed the patient who is Karen’s age and who was doing really well. Karen wanted to say “bye” as she is going home for good on Friday. I wheeled her in and she talked for a minute to the lady and her friends and then the tears started to flow. I couldn’t see karen as I was in the doorway having pushed her wheelchair just in. But I could tell by the faces of the ladies in the room that something was up, sure enough she was in full flow. kp made her apologies. The ladies were very understanding and I wheeled her back to her room at full speed.
kp had a good long cry about how she wanted to go home. She didn’t want to wait 6 weeks never mind 8 weeks and “why should (she)I have to wait ?. I’ve done nothing wrong !”. It makes me so sad to hear her so upset. It’s at times like this she feels real anger to the driver concerned. Me too. When kp gets back to her room she needs hoisting back to the bed and turning twice to get the sling from underneath her. I asked her if I should wait (till she stopped crying). She didn’t want to wait. So, here is kp crying her little heart out, and my flinging her round the bed getting the sling from underneath her. Very very sad !
After she was back in the bed, we had lots of hugs and I tried to say all the right things, but she “had heard it all before”.
We passed one of kp’s physios on the way back to the bedroom. She could see kp was distressed and thankfully she must have told the main man that kp was upset as he knocked on the door. He was lovely and spent about 10-15 minutes talking through things with kp. kp felt a bit better when he left, but was still not 100% emotionally, more like 50%, compared with 30% before he came.
We didn’t have time to chat further, when Marie, Chris and Ethan (sister, nephew, greatnephew) arrived. They stayed in the day room for a while until kp could compose herself and then she really enjoyed their time when they came in the room.
I left kp in Marie’s hand, getting a manicure. I may go back tonight, dependant on how she sounds on the phone. Fingers crossed she feels better when I ring. She is doing so well.
Picked up a hot chicken from Sainsburys again. By the time I arrived, it gave us only 90 mins for a bath before lunch, so we got straight into it.
It was a nice relaxing bath lasting an hour and by the time we were done, we had time to chat before chicken and chips Just before lunch, the dietician came in. She had come to discharge kp from her care. kp was pleased. It means she is eating ok now and this is no longer a worry. One down.
I had some good news for Karen this morning. I was speaking to Eileen (our ace neighbour) and she was saying that her daughter had been speaking to Karen’s hairdresser (Liz) and that she wanted to visit kp and if she wanted her hair doing, she would do it. Well, this couldn’t have come at a better time. kp has been saying for the past week how her hair needs some style to it. All I do when she gets out of the bath is dry it and comb it. She either gets a side parting or a comb back, because that’s all i can do. When I say to her that “I can comb it in different directions if you like”, she just says “there’s nothing you can do, the style has fallen out of it”. To me, she is speaking a foreign language.
So, I spoke to Liz today and we are all set for Tuesday. kp is realling looking forward to seeing her. I am pleased for her.
Lunch was lovely. After lunch kp was tired, so she went for a snooze. I did some Su Doku before feeling a bit tired myself. kp was asleep by 1pm, I went about 1.30pm. We didn’t wake up until 3.40pm. Cracking 40 winks ! We had slept all the way through physio. According to the physio, she had been and gone 3 times and didn’t want to disturb our beauty sleep.
The “main man” physio was away today, so the other physio came to kp’s room and did lots of stuff with her left arm. Whenever they do work to the left arm, it eases the pain that kp gets when her left arm is moved around. So hopefully tonight she will have less pain.
We had a natter until Marie and Glenn arrived and that’s it for today.
Tomorrow my sister + family are coming up. Only one blog entry tomorrow and it will be late because of the shift patterns.
Good Cooked Breakfast this morning.
Yvonne was on the early shift today. No sooner had she arrived than 2 of the nurses came in to whisk kp away for her bath. When she returned, she chatted to Yvonne for a while before falling asleep.
I arrived at 1.45pm. kp was due a dressing change today, a visit from my sister and family and a visit from the policeman (to take a statement). We had tried to plan everything so it would all happen at different times, but unfortunately, it all happened at once. The policeman was later than planned and arrived at the same time Jane (my sister) arrived, and then the nurse came to do the dressing. The nurse kindly came back later. The policeman didn’t mind Jane being there, so it all worked out in the end.
It was great to see Jane, Guy, Sophie and Jamie. Sophie (3 years old) was very well behaved and wasn’t at all perturbed by Karen being in a hospital bed. Jamie (1 year old) was very tired for the whole visit and was no bother. Karen enjoyed their visit, but it felt very short by the time the policeman had gone. They are returning tomorrow before they go back to Lancashire which is nice.
The policeman took a statement from Karen regarding what she can remember from the accident (not much !) and then filled her in on the next steps. All I can say really is we are waiting on the Crown Prosecution Service to decide on the charge and it SHOULD all be over by Xmas. Karen told the policeman how she was now starting to feel anger towards the driver at fault. She told him whilst he was taking her statement and very nearly wrote it down as part of her statement. LOL. Karen made it clear she was just telling him her opinion.
Pizza night tonight. We did our usual Saturday Night evening, watching American Idol and eating pizza. Lovely !
That’s about it.
One more thing, one of the nurses who had took some photos of the Elvis day, brought them in to show us. I was so pleased she had, because there is a LOVELY foto of kp laughing her little head off which I had been told she did, but never saw.
Elvis is in the building strutting his stuff
Karen amused
Karen being told to “Say Cheese” and yes Elvis did chew gum.
The Sister and Elvis still chewing.
The Sister, kp and Elvis still chewing.
Cracking day today. Jam-packed – very interesting.
I went in at 9.30am to ensure kp was all bathed and ready for the onslaught of Jane (my sister) and her family. We had a very leisurely bath and had the idea of going in the chair to meet them at the backdoor.
We nearly made it outside, but Jane was too quick for us. Rather than go to the room, we went to the cafeteria for teas/coffees and kitkats. We thoroughly enjoyed the time with Jane, Guy, Sophie and Jamie. They were very well behaved and so were Sophie and Jamie.
When they left, we returned to the room for a snooze so we were ready for Angela and Neil. Angela was the other lady in the car accident and has’t seen kp since the accident. We got already for 1pm. At 1pm, in waltzed a patient on the ward and she started chatting to us. This patient is well-liked on the ward, and we invited her to sit down for a chat. She is dead canny. We offered her a kitkat, and my fillings nearly hit the roof when she started eating it through the tin foil. I quickly offered to remove the silver foil.
After about 20 minutes, the lady left just in time for Angela and Neil. It was great to see Angela. She looks a lot better than when I last saw her (at Sunderland Hospital). Angela and Neil stayed for about 2.5 hours and the time flew past. We were all sharing our experiences of the whole thing and kp and I were completely enraptured by Angela’s experiences of going home. It is not as rosy as it sounds, and kp + I will definately benefit from the fact Angela and Neil have been there first and shared their take on it. kp was in the chair from 12.55pm until 3pm. Over 2 hours without a murmur. Distraction definately does the trick !! At this point she asked Angela if she would mind if she got into bed. For the remaining 30 minutes of their visit, kp was in the bed.
Today flew past. A hectic day and a thoroughly enjoyable one. kp was knackered and falling asleep at 4pm. I got her comfy and left. She will be fast asleep as I type this. Just hope she can manage some tea.
Strange day today.
Karen was very sleepy when I arrived. She didn’t feel like a bath and went back to sleep until about 11am. At 11am we did the bath thing, but she didn’t want any lunch. Instead she went back to sleep until 3pm (physio time). At various points upto 3pm I had asked her if she was ok, and she assured me she was (I wasn’t convinced), but that she felt sleepy. She lacked the usual kp sparkle.
Her left arm has been painful a lot of the morning, and I half thought she may be sleepy to try and not be awake for the pain ?! You never know.
The nurse had tipped the physio off about kp’s pain and he went to work straight away on trying to alleviate it. He believes the pain is caused by kp’s right side being stronger than her left side, and this causes kp’s left shoulder to hunch up (which it does). In turn, this causes pain. This chap is VERY good. I watch him looking at Karen, and if you have ever seen “The Matrix”, there is a scene right at the end where the main character (Neo) sees the 3 agents as bits of light (matrix code). This chap looks at Karen and doesn’t see a woman with a bad hair doo, he sees 202+ bones with X hundred muscles. He really does look like he can see through skin. Bizarre and wonderful to watch.
Needless to say, he sorted kp’s pain and finished by getting me onto the bench and showing me how to ease kp’s shoulder if it stiffens up over night or at the weekend.
Within an hour of being back in her room, kp was starting to feel pain again unfortunately. We’ll need to keep an eye on this.
At about 4.30pm, Jane and Michelle arrived. Jane had been away on holidays and within minutes of her arrival we were in stitches at her tales of Tony’s teeth.
Tomorrow kp’s bad hair doo should be history as Liz (Karen’s hairdresser) is visiting. kp is really looking forward to it.
kp back on top form.
Went in early today to get kp already for Liz (kp’s hairdresser). We wanted to have the bath behind us and ideally leave kp hair’s wet for Liz. As it happens, Liz was running late, so we had plenty of time anyway. Liz brought her daughter (Kelly) along and kp was pleased to see them both. Within no time of their arrival, it was as if kp was at the hairdressers. The banter was typical, although I didn’t hear “are you going anywhere for your holidays ?”. But gossip !!!! Never heard as much in an hour. This did as much good for Karen as the hairdoo, which she really appreciated it. Thanks very much Liz !!!! kp was very pleased with the end result.
Liz, kp and Kelly
After Liz and Kelly left, kp and I had some lunch (chicken sandwiches), and then kp went to sleep until physio (2.30pm).
Physio was awesome today.
kp’s arm was feeling a lot better today after tha main man’s mastery yesterday. So no time was lost easing any pain and kp went straight into strengthening her “standing up” leg muscles. kp lied on her back and the main man leant his body weight (not all of it) onto kp’s left foot and kp had to keep him up and not let him fall on her. The same was done with the right, but more time was spent on the left leg, this being the weaker side. There was no additional physio, just the main man, Karen and I.
After about 10 minutes of this, kp (lying down) had to thrust her hip in the air (left side then right side, then both together) – all good practice for standing up apparently.
After about an hour of various other exercises, we thought it was all over and the main man (and me helping) got kp sitting upright on the side of the bench. So then, he got kp to practice “half stands”, where she holds a position half way between sitting and standing. This looks (and is) really hard.
Finally as the “icing on the cake”, he positioned himself in front of Karen (I did nothing at all), and put his hands along her back and kp did the standing motion and he helped her go to full standing. The main man said he had to do a lot less than he thought he would have to do. He got her to hold the standing position for about 45 seconds.
Holding a standing position isn’t as hard as “standing up”, so the fact that kp did so much herself is really good. She was well pleased with the session. I was dead proud of her.
We went back to the room where Marie and Adele were waiting.
They had a tea party all laid out for Karen and we all thoroughly enjoyed it.
A little amusing story to finish on. Marie is known for appearing every day and saying “Hey, I got these shorts for you at (some famous store), 2 for £4″, or “I found this T-shirt at X, only 25p”. Well, I won’t mention the shorts she bought last week which were size 18-20 and you could have fit me and Karen in, but I will mention the cockup I made today of fitting the t-shirt to karen. This t-shirt (see picture above) has a “hidden support compartment” for breasts. Well, within minutes of arriving, Marie was fumbling at Karen’s breasts. I just stood out of the way. After Marie’s fumble, kp looked spot on. Basically I had fitted the t-shirt incorrectly and you shouldn’t be able to see the “hidden support compartment” that is SO visible in the picture above.
We live and learn.