Friday April 21st.
I rang the ITU when I woke up and the nurse said that Val was stable and had slept a little. This turned out to be the highlights of Val’s first night in UTI as her temperature had apparently spiked at 39 degrees and they were concerned about a possible chest infection necessitating an x-ray and a chest scan. The morning call to ITU became an important part of the day as it enabled me to send a text message to family before they left for work or otherwise started their day.
Our sons, Jason and James, and I have decided to cover visiting Val between us to avoid Val becoming over tired and hopefully less exposed to infection. Despite Val asking for it, we have also decided to only return her mobile phone to her when she is moved back to Ward 10.
Jason went to the hospital for the start of visiting at 12.00 and then I took over after the Quiet Period at 3.30. Jason and James have been brilliant and we communicate well. We have decided that whoever visits at 12.00 will determine if anything needs to be brought in at 3.30.
When I saw Val she seemed brighter than the day before but still sleepy. We are happy to let her sleep while we sit there and just feel grateful to still have her. All the staff in the ITU are so kind and I really cannot praise them enough. While I was there Val was brought a cup of tea with a straw which I helped her with. Val is not a great tea drinker but I could see that she really enjoyed it as was the case with the few spoonfuls of jelly and ice cream I was able to help her with. The plan is to get her out of bed tomorrow.
So far so good.
Saturday April 22nd.
Another good day! Val was again described as stable when I rang and had slept well. James visited from 12.00 and I went in at 3.30. Val was asleep when I arrived so I sat quietly and also took the opportunity to talk to the staff nurse who was caring for her. She said that Val was doing well and had been very chatty and cooperative.
The plan now is to get her up tomorrow and she is being encouraged to drink more. At the moment she is being “flooded”, the doctor’s word, with fluids and some of it is ending up in places that are other than those intended. This is causing some puffiness particularly noticeable where her hands and fingers are concerned and so she was encouraged to elevate her hands and to flex her fingers. As Val drinks more, allowing them to reduce the IV fluids, and starts to move more then the puffiness will subside. It is also likely that her epidural will be removed today.
Val enjoyed tub of ice cream while James was there and some plus jelly when I was there and was drinking more water. Thankfully she is not experiencing any pain or discomfort.
James had been for a bike ride and returned to ITU at 4.00. As he was going to drive back to London late afternoon, he suggested that he and I went for a coffee. We decided to push the boat out and went to the Red Cross cafeteria on the ground floor.
There was very little food available and we decided to have a piece of shortbread each. The lady behind the display case was tiny and this meant that I either saw just the top of her head if I looked over the top of the case or I had to look through the case if I wanted to see her face. She brought our shortbread to the till and a brief muttered conversation took place with the lady who was operating the till who then looked at me and proceeded to warn me off our selection as it was very hard. We chose a piece of flapjack and she then asked me if we wanted a free sandwich as she wanted to get rid of them. I chose cheese and pickle which turned out to be an interesting choice – full of pickle but no cheese to be found. Still it provided a little light relief. When we returned to Val’s bedsise we found that the cannulas in her left wrist/arm had been removed.
Her surgeon had been to see Val, as he had the day before, and was pleased with her progress, as we are, although we are not getting carried away.
Sunday April 23rd.
My morning phone call to ITU produced the pleasing news that Val had slept well and was stable.
Val was asleep when I visited at 12.00 but soon woke up. I thought she seemed a little confused at times but on the whole she seemed bright enough. The staff nurse kindly brought some soup for Val but it was vegetable soup and with her autonomic problems Val cannot tolerate fibre but I manged to help her with a couple of spoonfuls that were just liquid. Happily she had no problem in finishing off a tub of ice cream.
The staff wanted her to drink more and so myself and later Jason kept prompting her to drink the cups of water that were provided. Some of her puffiness had gone and she continued to do her exercises.
During the morning the staff got her sitting on the side of the bed but as she felt a little dizzy they did not try to get her standing. Tomorrow they want to ty her sitting in a chair. Also the epidural is still in place and she says that she is not in any pain or discomfort. Val is strong both mentally and physically and since her illness in 1990 there has hardly been a day when she hasn’t had to endure discomfort and pain so she will handle these when they occur far better than I would.
A doctor from the consultant’s team came to check on Val while I was there. I offered to step outside while he checked her over but Val wanted me to stay. This was the first time that I saw the extent of the surgery carried out disguised as it was by the dressings. From what the doctor said, it would seem that the stomach drain has done its job and very little is draining away now and he confirmed that her kidneys are functioning although he stressed that they want her to drink more.
Jason visited during the second session and he rang me later to say that the staff nurse told him that Val was brighter during his visit than she had been in mine. I think the effort of sitting on the edge of the bed had tired her. I also think that her blood pressure is a little on the low side. They had taken her off the drug that had been maintaining it and will need to monitor it.
Slow and steady progress – another good day.
Monday April 24th .
Overnight Val had slept well but there were some concerns that her blood pressure was a little low so she was having a drug to maintain it. A doctor explained that the epidural has a tendency to lower blood pressure and things should improve when they removed it later in the afternoon. Once again the physios had got Val up and sitting on the edge of her bed
Val seemed brighter in herself when I visited at 12.00 I took her in two individual crème caramels and she quickly followed by a tub of ice cream. She is being encouraged to try some soup but despite Val telling staff that she would like some but it had to be free of fibre, she once again got vegetable soup. I was able to give her a couple of mouthfuls of the stock but I was able to contact Jason and he would bring a packet of chicken cup a soup in later.
The visiting is working well in that restricting it to just the three of us means that she is hopefully not too tired. It also means that, as with the chicken soup, if anything Val needs is identified by whoever visits at 12.00 can be brought in by whoever visits at 3.30 and anything they identify can be brought in by whoever visits at 12.00 the following day.
In preparation for the removal of the epidural, Val’s pain relief started to be changed and she did start to complain of some discomfort although she said that she wondered if she was being a little hyper-sensitive. I told her that she must let her staff nurse know so that her drugs can be tweaked to give her the right balance.
During the afternoon Val’s central line and epidural were removed – more progress.
Tuesday April 25th
The news from the early morning call was that Val was stable and had had a reasonable night.
When I went to see her at 12.00, I found her sitting in a chair and eating mash potato and a piece of breaded fish. Val seemed in good spirits although her sight seems to have been affected by one of the antibiotics they are giving her but she has been assured that it is nothing to worry about.
Val had been visited by a diabetic nurse specialist and it had been agreed to put her back on her own insulin pump. Setting up her insulin pump is something that Val has done hundreds of times but a combination of her poor eyesight and slight confusion meant that it took her much longer to do than would normally be the case.
The stoma nurse also saw Val and changed her bag. The puffiness in her arms, wrist and fingers has gone but as she sat in the chair her lower legs were noticeably puffy as a result of the fluids in her body pooling in her lower limbs but again this is not anything to worry about.
I was with Val for two hours and this was the first occasion where she didn’t fall asleep during my visit as she was chatty and interested, if a little confused, by things. She was also pleased that I had brought in her mobile phone and earphones for her.
The surgeon and his team had visited Val earlier in the morning and were pleased with her progress and the plan is to move her back to a general ward and this will possibly happen tomorrow.
Val was tired by the time that I left at 2.00 and was ready for a nap. Things had changed a little by the time that Jason visited later in the afternoon as Val was slightly sick but he said she was still bright and cheerful.
Wednesday April 26th
When I rang ITU at 7.00, I was that Val had had a disturbed night as she had been sick a number of times. I was allowed to speak to Val herself and she assured me that she was now feeling alright.
Val was asleep when I arrived for visiting having got little sleep the night before. When she eventually woke up she seemed bright enough but was reluctant to eat or drink due to her feelings of nausea. I spoke to her staff nurse and to a doctor and in fact they are very pleased with her progress and told me that she would be going back to Ward 10 later that day. They told me that the nausea is caused by a combination of anaesthetics working their way out of her system, the antibiotics for a yeast infection and the pain relief she is being given. The worry for me is that as a result of her other health conditions, she cannot eat or drink in “normal” quantities and therefore if she doesn’t get fluids and nutrition then she will start to regress.
Her eyes are still not focusing and again this is as a result of the antibiotics that she is on. Although the doctors stress there won’t be any long term damage, it is not helping Val as she cannot see clearly and therefore cannot read or even see the ward clock to tell the time.
By the time I left Val she was very sleepy and ready to settle down for a nap.
At 9.00 I was telephoned by the ITU sister to say that Val had just been moved back to Ward 10 – and so another chapter in her recovery begins.
