Tag Archives: room mate leaves

Wednesday 3rd August 2016 – AFTER MANY VICISSITUDES …

… I’ve finally made it back to my little room, and how nice it is to be here again.

Krystof, the male nurse, came to see me at about 09:30 to confirm that I was on my way, but I had to have a perfusion of something to take the water off my legs. “It won’t take long”, he said.

He was right, too. After about 15 minutes, it was all done. “You just have to wait for the doctor now” he told me.

The doctor turned up at about 11:00. The blood’s okay, the infection is under control, the kidney details have been passed to the specialist, and there are no side-effects. No reason me for me to stay, so they would do the paperwork and then I can go.

And so I waited.

And waited.

By 18:00 i’d given up. I imagined that they had either forgotten me or changed their minds, especially as I saw her a-wandering up and down the corridor a couple of times. But at 18:45, just as I was starting to settle down for the evening, they arrived with all of the paperwork.

They had a couple of prescriptions for me, including an injection that I need to buy and bring with me for my next appointment, which is on Thursday 11th August. There’s also a letter that I need to give to my doctor in Pionsat – if I can remember where Pionsat is these days.

But then I was off. Up to the car park to check over Caliburn and give him a good run around the car park to warm him up and keep the rust off the discs, and then a pleasant walk back here in the cool evening breeze. It was pouring down earlier but it stopped for my walk home, and started again just after I arrived here. For once, the Gods were on my side.

I was pretty well loaded up for the return journey so I ended up leaving most of the clean washing in Caliburn. I’ll bring it back down here after my next visit to the hospital.

So I’m hoping to have a better night’s sleep tonight. In fact, it wasn’t all that bad last night. I was asleep by 23:00 last night and awake at 04:00 and, more permanently, at 06:00. I did manage to drop off again but the 07:30 clatter brought me back to earth.

And my room mate left today as well, so I could have had a decent sleep there too – maybe – but I do have to say that he was one of the quietest people whom I’ve shared a room with. No complaints there.

But it’s good to be back here, and I can go back into my old routine.

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Friday 29th July 2016 – LAST NIGHT …

… was very much like the other nights just recently. Going to sleep fairly early and then waking up at regular intervals during the night. This is wearing me out and how I long for a really good sleep.

I did however fit in a little nocturnal ramble somewhere. I don’t remember too much about it except that it involved FC Pionsat St Hilaire, a shot at goal that hit the post and rebounded back into play and then the backspin on it that took it just over the bar and onto the roof of the net.

And I learnt something new about my room-mate – not only does he snore occasionally, he talks in his sleep too. But then I shan’t be troubled by any of that tonight because he left hospital this afternoon. I’m on my own tonight so I hope that I’ll be able to take advantage of it.

07:30 was when I awoke this morning, thoroughly exhausted, and it took me a good hour or so to come round. I had my breakfast much later than everyone else – apparently they wanted me to have a blood test this morning.

Hermione the doctor came to see me a little later on. The infection is going down now so they are going to keep me on the antibiotics until Monday. On Monday I can have yet another session of Mapthera and provided that there are no unpleasant side-effects, I can go back to my little room in town.

Talking of little rooms, the girl from Social Services came to see me a little later this morning. And she had quite a job because, as tired as I was, I was absolutely stark out. Well and truly crashed. She’s come up with another option of a place to stay. It’s further out from the centre where I want to be, but it seems to have private facilities (and kitchenette) and it’s slightly cheaper than where I am now. I shall follow that up in due course when I’m out of here.

I managed a good lunch, except for the diced swedes that were in a cheesy milk sauce and the soup which tasted of nothing but salt. I seem to be eating a little better now, which is good news.

This afternoon I had a chat with Liz and with Rosemary on the internet. Rosemary has invited me to England for a few days which is really nice of her. But I’ll need to be in good shape if I go. I don’t want to take a pile of microbes and viruses with me.

Later on after tea I crashed out again, only to be awoken by a nurse who wanted to take my temperature. This is what usually happens when I make myself comfortable – someone always comes along to spoil it. And I had a couple of attacks of nausea this evening. I don’t know why that was.

And so I’m on my own tonight. No room mate to distract me, keep me awake or to awaken me after I’ve dropped off. What this means in real terms is that there will be half a dozen nurses coming along to awaken me instead.

That’s what usually happens, isn’t it?

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Tuesday 31st May 2016 – IT’S NOT GETTING ANY BETTER.

Well, maybe the sleep thing did last night. I seemed to have something of a (slightly better) night and when the nurse came to take my blood pressure and temperature at 07:40 I was dead to the world. In fact the sudden shock of waking up completely dislodged every last detail of wherever it was that I was a-wandering, which is a shame.

After breakfast, I had a couple of visits. Firstly, the nurse came in to change the needle in my chemotherapy port. And I know the nurse from my other visits to the hospital – she’s quite efficient and she didn’t hurt me half as much as any of the others have done. And that’s something, I suppose.

And then I had the doctor, and she brought me some more depressing news (if that could be possible). Firstly, the biopsy on my kidneys is postponed until tomorrow and I don’t like that idea – I just wish that they would get it over and done with.

But secondly, she told me that they have now officially decided that chemotherapy isn’t working as it is supposed to. Like me, they were expecting to see something positive in the way of results by now and they are a little bewildered. As a result, they are going to take another sample of bone marrow on Thursday – and how I will detest that (I can still feel the last lot) and see whether that will give them a further clue. But this isn’t the news that I was hoping to hear – not in the least – and I’m starting to become a little concerned.

The third visit that I had, after lunch, was only guaranteed to increase my apprehension. It was the surgeon who is going to work on me tomorrow. He wanted to tell me – in great detail too, about what he is going to do to me, and I almost had to sit on his head to stop him. I’m useless in hospital and I don’t want to be hearing about things like this. It just drives me into a cold sweat and then I spend all night worrying about it and that’s horrible.

Other news is that my room-mate has been discharged. This could be good news (I might end up on my own for a while and I’m much better on my own as I’m sure that you know) and it could be bad news, because my previous companion was quite good, quiet and didn’t snore. I’m not sure that I’ll find another one so companionable. I bet that it’s unlikely.

And so apart from that, I’ve been chatting to Liz on the internet and doing some work updating my blog and not very much else. As I have said before, it’s very hard for me to summon up the enthusiasm right now.

But we’ll see what tomorrow brings. I’m not looking forward to it, or for the following day either. And the results will be even worse, I reckon. But I must stop thinking like this. Focus on the positives – I mean, I haven’t spent a single cent in over a week and that’s surely something to celebrate.

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