In this series of "catch up" blogs I am now waking up on the morning of Friday 27th November, still in hospital and still attached to an IV drip which is slowly discharging antibiotics into my system.
I may have been woken up by the nurses attaching the drip to me at 5.30am but I had started to feel better. I was on two different IV antibiotics, one twice a day and one four times a day with blood tests twice a day to see the effect one of them was having on my blood as, apparently, it can damage the kidneys if not monitored accurately!!!
I dozed back off to sleep and was woken again an hour later as they removed the drip just in time for breakfast to be served. And I had the beginnings of an appetite again and managed to eat one weetabix and a slice of toast - a result! The most food I'd eaten in about a week. Me thinks the antibiotics were working...
The rest of the day came and went with doctors' rounds, a plentiful supply of tea and meal times that seemed to occur every twenty minutes! And at each meal I was eating a little bit more.
It was mid afternoon that I heard the good news, I could get out on Saturday for my daughter's wedding!!! YIPPIE!!!!!! Now that was good news. And the news got better... I didn't need to come back in, I was being discharged on Saturday morning!! Brilliant news and I immediately sent a text to T and also my daughter to let them know.
The arrangements were soon sorted. My son would pick me up from the hospital at 7.30am on the Saturday morning to drive me down to Dorset where the wedding was being held. T was going down on the Friday evening so that she was there early on Saturday to take pictures of the bride and groom getting ready - yep, we were the official photographers as well :-). I was even given my discharge letter and drugs the night before so that there wasn't any hold ups in the morning.
Last IV at 5.30am on Saturday morning, needle out at 7am and I was dressed and packed and downstairs waiting for Phil by the appointed hour. I was on my way!!!!!
It was a good journey, picking up Becca (Phil's other half) on our way down. We made good time and even had time to stop off at McD's for a breakfast which I ate three quarters of. And soon we arrived at my daughter's house and in plenty of time to get changed and have a good hot cup of tea. Oh, non hospital tea is so wonderful :-)
Now, i shouldn't give the impression that I was skipping and bounding when we got to Dorset. Whilst I was feeling a lot better I was still quite weak and the three hour journey had taken a bit of a toll on me but I had a big smile on my face and was so glad that I had made it. Katie's smile when I arrived was also worth the journey for on it's own!
Suited and booted and flower pinned to my jacket it was soon time for Katie and me to leave for the service. Everybody else had left and it was just the two of us. I was glad when she didn't do a final change of mind and we climbed into the car to take us on the short journey to her future.
Always being different we actually arrived early. Dave, her intended, was there but his family was nowhere to be seen! So Katie and I hid on the other side of the building whilst my ex provide the running commentary about Dave's families progress. Eventually they arrived, only a few minutes after the service was supposed to start but it had caused an understandable panic. Bride or groom not turning up, now I've heard of that but the groom's parents? That was a new one for me!
The music started, and I walked Katie towards her new husband to be, followed by their two little daughters who did it just right.
Ceremony over it was time for photographs. Although I had my camera with me I left most of the work to T as I knew that I wasn't fit enough to be rushing around snapping off those memorable images. I had managed to be at the wedding which had seemed like a distant dream just a couple of days before. I was knackered and needed a sit down and a cup of tea but I still had a smile on my face.
But I was Mr Sensible and Katie & Dave knew that I wouldn't be able to last out all day and into the evening for the main reception so we did the "speeches" around the kitchen table at their house with everyone squeezed in and me sitting at the table with my single glass of bubbly in my hand.
And it was three hours post wedding service that I changed back out of my suit and Phil started the long journey home with me after a long batch of farewells to family and friends. T was staying on for a while with Becca to take some more photographs.
If you have a good memory you will recall that Saturday 28th November 2009 was very very wet. We had been lucky in having great sunshine for the wedding but it had started to rain just as I was leaving. And it rained and rained and rained, the roads flooded and drivers started to play "look how fast i can drive in these bad conditions".
Now the journey back from Dorset to our little home usually takes just under three hours. Five hours later we were just arriving home. What a night!
We'd just walked in the door when I noticed that we had a message on the answerphone. I presses play to hear.. "Hi Andrew, it's Sharry here, the doctor on Urology. I'm afraid you are going to have to come back in for some more IV antibiotics, can you give me a ring as soon as you get this message"
My heart sunk but I made the call. No doctors on the ward when I rang but the sister explained the situation, they wanted me back in for another course of antibiotics, a weeks worth probably. Bum, bum and bum. The only good news was that I didn't need to rush in so I agreed that I would come back to the ward on Sunday afternoon. I wanted my own bed that Saturday night and I wanted to have at least some time on Sunday being normal at home with my beloved T.
It was wonderful that I got to the wedding, it was good that I was going to have at least one night at home in my own bed but the thought of going back into hospital on the Sunday afternoon was not what I wanted. But I knew in my heart it was what I needed. They don't let you take over a bed for another week just for the hell of it. I obviously needed the treatment and so I packed my bags and slipped back into a hospital bed that Sunday evening.
What would another week in hospital bring? More later folks!
Andrew xxx
