DAY 2 Thursday 13th surgeon 2 (S2) popped in. He too mentioned tricky op. He too mentions oozing. I still don’t know what he means . Never mind. He also remembers to tell me he and surgeon one are in fact away for the weekend. So they have organised a cover from their team. Clearer headed I cottoned on to the multifarious blood tests that seem to be arranged.  

After 6am bath nurses have the sense to turn on R4 above my bed. That’s amazing drifting from Farming today to Today to Women’s Weekly or daily or whatever that is…its mindless wonderful .

Breakfast is brought but ushered away. That menu I filled in at check-in, despite my saying I would not need it. still had to fill it in remember J you-are-only-the-patient how would you know it is nil by mouth for a few days?

Lovely L  popped into CCU after work. Helped me with some communication brain and typing fingers not quite wired up. She sent my dictated message to my brother,  our comms guru. What we set up some years ago is this: D sends him updates by text. He out there in North America then jollies up the message and ensures a positive spin is applied. He then emails my list of close friends. He does not send emails to our panic struck parents but speaks to them on the phone.This is a practice we adopted right at the start of all this in 2009. D finds all the texts and phone calls too much to cope with, wouldn’t we all? So he has three to contact. My brother, his mother in Scotland and our children. My brother M is as batty as me. So I gather his messages are as crazy as mine might be.  I do not see his messages.

But extracted from mine phone :

I am okay. Morphine making me dopey. Thank you for all messages. I am going to room on ward soon, hurrah!

  D and G arrived as nurse B came to tell me my haemoglobin had been dropping all day. Blood transfusions have been ordered. Did I consent to that? Dunno what any of that meant I just agreed.  D keeps telling his joke that I’m like athletes done for doping because they are getting more blood cells to make them run faster. I get confused. So he tells me again. 

I was also to be moved to the ward, but  with my very own two CCU nurses. too. How amazing was that? The hospital was closing CCU and all but one ward due to Consultant holidays. So off we trooped…G and D worriedly trialled behind my roller ball bed and carried my only possessions- wash bag and drugs!

D keeps telling his joke that I’m like athletes done for doping because they are getting more blood cells to make them run faster…….

Again I was asked for transfusion consent…’It’ll make you feel so much better’. As I didn’t realise I wasn’t feeling better actually I felt high as a kite and great.  Better than what? What is the baseline? In any case I readily consented. Was I meant to check something before I did. Dunno. Is that just Jehovah Witnesses? Even in my groggy state I remembered that pre-op blood sample. ‘Click and collect’ I called it. Still cannot remember what that cross matching thing is. Anyhow I did need it after all. Uh Oh.

D keeps telling his joke that I’m like athletes done for ……arghhhhh

Haven’t eaten anything, desperate for a g&t!

I have rotator massages on my legs ( L-the-uclh-Physio …knows the correct terminology )and no-one has spotted my bright red toe nail varnish. My superstious nod to major op number. …. Dunno 5 ? 6? GA number? ….30 frrrrrrrrrrrnooooooooooo My bed is an air bed, which feels a bit like a water bed. I have less lines, so more room to dance! Not much has happened in my day. (L typing Mums words (Personal PA!) Tuesday 13th)

Surgeon 1 nips in later. He had seen D and G leaving. Said he is surprised and confused at haemoglobin count. Oh well that made two of us. Said he is away for a week from now because of holiday. But has organised R to cover as Surgeon 2 also away until next week.

Food: nil by mouth. 2cm water only! Tastes like nectar. Really.