A long weekend ahead..

2 minute read time.

Today was a weird day. Alan was in overnight and i cant send him texts as the oncology ward has no damn signal for vodaphone phones. When i rang the ward i had these answers.. 'It's the drug round at the mo can you ring in half an hour' and 'the drs are seeing him now can you ring in a bit' and 'I've just joined the shift i have not seen his notes' . So i got narky and hey presto eventually someone told me how his night went . I went in the early afternoon, he hardly knew i was there i think but it was nice just to be there and talk to the nurses. I came home for an hour then took my daughter back to see him, she was a bit choked at first but i just said he was groggy because he had just woken up. The best thing was i managed to talk to a nurse who had some idea of a plan. They want to keep him in till at least weds. Awful but at least i can plan now. He is in the best place at the moment because it was scary having him at home in the state he was in. Of course nothing ever happens at weekends and bank holidays are worse. The planned leg scan will now be tues. I wish it wasn't like this in the NHS, i wish the day of the week did not matter.

On the way home i popped into tesco and wandered around trying to think of foods he would like. Alan is not a foodie and is quite picky ( and vegetarian ) and i wandered aimlessly about thinking of foods he might like that are soft and nice. I settled on some Mixed fruit in juice tubs and some mousses and some soft breakfast bars. The nurses were surprised that he did not fancy eating and he has lost 3kgs this week. Now he weighs just 60kg. They want me to take things in he might fancy so ill try what ive got tomorrow.

I am hoping in the next few days he will be well enough to read and watch some television. We are going to sync one of our ipods with some tunes for him as being on a ward he is not getting enough rest and some headphones and music may help. Today he was surrounded by some rowdy day patients who all knew eachother who were cursing and joking around loudly. Ordinarilly Alan would have joined in but he is obviously very ill and they would not quieten down, the nurses just said when i complained at lunchtime that 'they would be leaving soon ( However they were still there at 8pm when i left)I don't know why they need to sit on beds they should have a side room with a telly and chairs where they can all chat..it seemed strange to me.

Anyway im going to ring the ward in a mo to see how hes faring then im going to potter about and get the children settled..

 

Anonymous
  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Hi Emily,

    I know the nurses do as much as they can but you still want to feel that your husbands care is as important to them as it is to you. Paperwok and the like have alot to answer for!!!

    I could rant for ages but that isn't what you want to hear.

    I hope hubby feels well enough to come home soon.

    Sending hugs to you and best wishes to all

    Helen xxx

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Hi Emily.I hope the ward gets quieter and that Alan manages to eat something.I hope you are taking care of yourself xxxx

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Hi Emily, I hope things improve soon for Alan.

    It would be so much nicer for all of you if he was at home.

    Will be thinking of you.

    Christine xx

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Hi Emily

    Sorry you have so much to cope with right now, but it does sound like Alan is in the right place for the moment.

    On the subject of food and calories, as an ex-veggie, I always found the range of vegetarian pates really tasty, spread on toast if he can eat it, or soft bread if he can manage that.  They're full of calories (palm oil), which is good.  The mushroom one (Cauldron foods) and some of the other cauldron snack range is good.  Some of the soya milkshakes are really good too, because they also pack in the calories and they are easy to get down.

    I hope you all have a better weekend and that Alan manages to start eating properly again soon.

    Take care

    Ann x

  • FormerMember
    FormerMember

    Hi hope that you and the family are finding time to sit with each other having been in a similar situation I can understand the demands on you, and know it is important to try and find a few mins to collect your own thoughts and relax a little yourself.

    As for foods, my hubby suffered with terrible mouth ulcers and so he found eating very difficult it had to be soup at room temp for most meals, so I used to make the soup in the early morning and then by the time he was ready to eat it was cool enough for him to eat. We found the packet soup you make up with water the best as it made 2 meals and the consistency was perfect when cool. During chemo ginger cake seemed to settle the sickness so I made sure that we had plenty.

    I hope this is of some help with love and hugs x