hospital

Well That Was An Experience

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

Fighting every urge to rush back to work, I’m instead listening to medical advice to rest for 48 hours, backed by the fact that my insides feel like someone’s had a good rummage in there. Which I suppose they have.

I had a double procedure yesterday to investigate my stomach issues. I had both an endoscopy (camera down the throat) and a colonoscopy (camera up the bum) with sedation. The surgeon was happy with how it all went, saying there were no nasty surprises, so that’s a relief. He did remove some polyps but was reasonably sure they were non-cancerous and he took some biopsy samples as well. All are being sent for testing, which should take a couple of weeks.

The experience was, as far as these things can be, relatively good. Having done the laxatives and fasting, I checked in and did the usual checklists of medical questioning to double check against what they already knew. For me there was a joy that there’s a bluntness to conversations with the nurses and doctors so we could relax into joking and not dancing around the terminology and details. It actually helped relax me.

I dutifully changed into the requisite gown and backwards disposable pants, took infacol to settle my stomach/get rid of bubbles in the guts, and then we were into it with, I have to say, the most painless cannula fitting I think I’ve ever had! I honestly didn’t even feel the needle and as a veteran of these things I have an appreciation of the skill that can take.

I was going to be sedated, which was a mercy, and it kind of worked in that it knocked me sideways briefly enough for the actual insertions. Being me and awkward like that, I kept waking up. As you do. Apparently this is not uncommon as they try to keep the sedation light. They had mentioned it before the procedure so I was more bemused than alarmed. They added more sedation a couple of times but again it was brief periods of being out.

Rather than feeling any worry, I instead watched the screens with fascination and switched to gas and air when they’d done with my throat. I remember admiring my own internal gut structure and it certainly all had a healthy glow as far as I could see. It reminded me of some of my organic flowing artwork, truth be told.

And then we were done, they wheeled me back to a recovery bay to observe me for an hour so I sat up with my phone and let people know I was okay. It meant I could coordinate my release with Lady M so I could walk out the door, wander round to the car park and meet her coming up from the car.

But I’m exhausted. My throat is fine, not a hint of soreness, but stomach and guts are aching gently as they wake back up and are reintroduced to food and drink.

So that’s a new experience. It’s not one I’m wanting to have again any time soon but at least I now know what to expect and that’s therefore another fear thrown in the bin. Time for a rest.

Well That Was A Week

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

Somehow it has already been a week since Lady M had her surgery, and I’m pleased to say she is generally recovering well. She still keeps wanting to dive back to work, which tells you everything you need to know about how unwell and uncomfortable she was that being immediately post major surgery she was feeling well enough in comparison to think all was okay.

A slow pace has been enforced, marked by cups of tea and sessions playing on the xbox. There has even been embroidering on a cosplay on one slow evening. The smile is back, the giggle is back, occasionally there is a wince.

So, so far so good

She’s Home

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

Lady M is home, ensconced on the sofa with an xbox controller in hand, fed and watered, meds all taken, and a big smile on her face. On both of our faces to be fair.

I have made it very clear, with support from her boss, that she is to have a few days off to recover from what is categorically major surgeries rather than rely on her insanely high pain tolerances. There was a show of reluctance and then relief.

She looks and sounds healthy, and from reading the surgical notes is bouncing back from a complex and involved series of procedures with a velocity that would not be unexpected in a rubber ball.

I might be able to sleep properly tonight.

And still we wait…

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

Something continues to be going very wrong in the arranging of MRIs for Lady M, which now leaves us in the position of feeling like Shrodinger’s patients twice over in terms of when a scan will take place and what is being scanned. If it wasn’t so serious, you could write a great farce out of it all.

As things stand I’m going to work tomorrow as usual and Lady M may or may not get an Uber to one of two hospitals for either one, two, or no scans. If that doesn’t happen then there may be an as yet to be determined number of MRIs on Monday.

No wonder we’re exhausted.

I’ll be working with the public as a rest from all this tomorrow. At least it will be a good distraction, whatever the day brings.

She’s Home

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

I wasn’t expecting it but finally got the call from Lady M that she was going to be allowed home while they waited for an MRI slot to become available. That could take a couple of weeks. Then they can make an informed decision on how to proceed.

They’re talking surgery, but until the MRI shows them exactly what they’re dealing with they’re not leaping to conclusions – which given the range of possible diagnoses we’ve had this week as they tested and tested is a relief.

So she’s back, she’s sleeping, and I’ve been able to relax for the first time this week.

And Then It Went Sideways

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

Lady M was working from home as usual yesterday when suddenly she doubled over in pain. Calls to 111 and various discussions with doctors had me taking her in to St Peter’s Hospital.

Its never easy to hear all the potential diagnoses before they settle on the “right” one, and I hope people will forgive the minor flailing on social media while they zeroed in on the root cause.

Lady M is being kept in and is being treated over the next few days and will be fine. Its just been a massive shock and we’re all exhausted by it all.

The Waiting

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

I’m currently waiting to hear from Lady M, who I last saw being helped into an ambulance after chest pains started in the early hours of this morning.

The good news is that the paramedics are reasonably sure from their tests that she hasn’t been having a heart attack but may have torn some of the muscles between her ribs.

That said, they want to be sure, obviously, and have taken her for a blood test and monitoring. Due to Covid restrictions I’m not allowed to accompany her, so I’ve put the thickest book I could find, and her phone charger in a bag to keep her from getting bored.

And so now its the waiting game. Its been a very rough night so I might catnap a bit.

Things The Cub Says: The Bag

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

So, the cub has a very strong sass-game, inherited from his mum, that combines with the natural sense of wonder at the world that a young lad has anyway to produce some amazing moments from time to time.

The backpack that he wears to school looks a bit like a cartoon monster. It’s a bright lime green, has big eyes and felt teeth along it’s fold down edge. At the beginning of term, Lady M taught him to treat it like The Monster Book of Monsters from Harry Potter. This involves gently stroking its spine (the top) before opening or closing the clasp. She even made the bag shuffle and roar while he wore it to emphasise that he needed to take care of it or it would fight back.

Fast forward to this morning and I get a message from Lady S that she has made a packed lunch for the cub, and try as she might she can’t get the bag to close. The cub walked up, took the bag off her, stroked it’s spine, and closed the bag without any problems.

He then looked her in the eye and said: “you don’t show this bag the love and respect it deserves.” He then added: “Jo knows how to treat my bag.”

To say that Lady S was a bit gobsmacked is an understatement. We have been teasing her on our group chat, saying we can’t imagine where he gets his sass from…

A Long Week

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

This has been a bit of stressful week, all told, as we’ve continued to try and work out what has been making Lady M so unwell. As journeys go, it has been a mixture of fear, worry and boredom in various ratios from day to day – largely because we’ve been navigating the bureaucracy of our local hospital.

After a combination of CT scans and lumbar punctures, and the insistence of a frankly amazing neurologist, we have at least determined that the recent pain and disorientation experienced by Lady M are not life-threatening. Considering that for a while we thought we were dealing with an aneurism, that’s a great relief.

We’re still not entirely sure what has been at the root of the problem. Our neurologist’s best suggestion has been a thunderclap headache with an unusually long lingering echo. 

There are some issues with medication that still need to be reviewed for other issues, so there is a possibility that there was some toxicity and/or stress involved – but for now the joke that Lady M needed to be rebooted seems to have some currency.

So, a quiet weekend is planned. Well, quiet-ish anyway. As quiet as we ever manage to wrangle…

A Long Day

Tim MaidmentLeave a comment

I had such plans for today – mostly being at work and dealing with things like appraisals in between customers.

Then, before we opened the doors to the public, I got a message saying my GP needed me to take Lady M to A&E (or the ER for US readers)

Nearly ten hours later (and one lost CT Scan recovered) we now know the issue isn’t immediately life threatening or likely to be cancer, but we do now need to consult a neurologist.

So, uh, yay for Lady M still being alive, but not so yay because we don’t actually know what caused the issue in the first place.

Wonderful