Post 151: Two units of your best, please.
After a week of tension, the day finally came for a boost of super-human blood at the Medical Day Unit — if only I could find the ward.
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Waking up early to catch the worm was the plan, and for once it worked. By 08:30 on the dot I was there.
Thanks to renovations (I later found out), this very mobile unit has moved no less than four times this year. Still, this was my first time, and it was as welcoming as ever I had anywhere. I was quickly given a seat and a bed for the day, tucked into the corner like Jack Horner. The nurse announced — in classic estate-agent fashion — that I’d be in the window bed. Technically true… except the “view” was nothing but a windowless tower of cladding thirty yards away. Not exactly sky or scenery, but never mind.
I wasn’t there for pleasure or a weekend away. First job: show my veins.
The blood test — to confirm I was indeed short on red blood — was the only hiccup. My first vein did a disappearing act, so the other inside elbow was recruited, and all was well. Results would take a couple of hours. By then my Darling had already headed home (at my gentle nudge) so she didn’t have to watch me snooze and catch up on the sleep I should’ve had last night.
The unit itself was a hive of activity, patients constantly coming and going for shorter treatments, while I sat quietly in the corner, watching it all from my prestigious window location.
By 11:30 the results were back. Yes, two units were needed. The first little red bag was hung and set dripping — three hours of it. Thankfully I’d gone for a leak beforehand, so I settled into my routine: horribly tricky sudokus, then drifting into very easy naps. I alternated between the two quite happily until the second bag was finished, inching my way towards 6pm.
That’s when my Darling returned, chocolate snack in hand and a big smile, relieved all had gone well. She’d even brought a box of celebratory Celebrations for the team who had looked after me so kindly, all day.
Once unhooked and de-canulated, I was asked to rest fifteen minutes in case of any colly-wobbles — there were none — and we headed home through the rainy showers that had apparently plagued the locale this very day. I wouldn’t know. My view had been cladding and the inside of my eyelids.
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So there it was: a great day for me, and for my body.
Tomorrow I’m off to Goodwood, powered by freshly improved bodily fluids. With luck, I’ll dodge the showers and enjoy a brilliant day out with my Pal.
Still happily aboard the bus, and hoping for a bit of extra spring in my step.
Today was great. Tomorrow will be perfect — as long as we keep dry.
