What is it with hospitals? Patients need rest to recover from their illnesses, injuries or operations; so they are woken up before 6.30am every day. Hmmmmm. Clearly Baggy's body-clock adjusts very quickly because even though it was still dark, at 6.30am she was awake. Her first night at home went okay. Even though the bathroom at the house is downstairs, down a very steep sixteenth or seventeenth-century staircase with Victorian handle-holds for safety, a challenge for a fit and healthy person, Baggy had negotiated the stairs twice in the night. She managed not to break her neck in the process. But the lack of pain relief over night meant that her tummy was very sore and tender. And worse, the dreaded wind had built back up. So she toddled downstairs once again. Walked around for a while. Got some of the air to leave her person as she was wandering behind the sofa. Rude! But good.
Clever Bird suggested that as she did when she was in hospital, she should take her painkillers with a cup of tea. By now, all of the furries except one (her husband) were awake. She let Minty Mutt, her loyal, handsome, seven-stone German Shepherd out to do his morning ablutions. Then there was loud meowing as Hinge and Bracket, the tortoiseshell sisters, begged Furry Mama to let them out too. Whilst the three of them were dodging blowing leaves, Baggy resumed her wandering which was much easier now she had only furniture to negotiate, not furries. A little more wind departed which was also easier because all the witnesses were either outside or fast asleep. Furry Mama heard a scratching on the door and let Mint back in, although he had to race the cats who'd decided it was too damp and windy. She fed them all. The Number 1 furry of the house, Calum, still hadn't appeared despite half-an-hour of banging and crashing. So when the Hinge cat who is as wide as she's long decided to jump onto Furry Mama's lap, sticking her paw into the staples in Baggy's stomach in the process (blooming ouch!) Clever Bird suggested that maybe Baggy should return to bed for a while.
At 9.30am Baggy Blimp was back. She was in so much pain that fifteen minutes later she still hadn't managed to get off the bed. As she thought that Calum would by now be up and about, she called him. Then yelled him. Then screamed him. No response. So she started banging on the floor. now normally any slight bang or tap sends Minty Mutt into a paroxysm of barking to protect his Furry Mama. This would of course alert Calum to Baggy's bangs. But no. Today not a whimper. More yelling still had no effect. By now Baggy was desperate to get to the bathroom. Through much swearing and groaning she finally managed to roll herself off the bed. As she let herself out of the bedroom to lean against the wall to once again negotiate the steep stairs, a tired little voice called, "Bubba, are you okay?", "No, I'm really not!". Silence.
Baggy made it to the bathroom with a bemused Clever Bird wondering where her Baggy's nurse was. Half-an-hour of walking about, then sitting down, then walking about some more later, while alternately trying not to trip over the dog or let a cat jump onto Furry Mama's lap, saw a slight improvement in the "wind" department. But it also had Baggy exhausted. So back to bed she toddled. As she headed up the stairs she heard the snores emanating from the spare bedroom. A glance in, showed her exhausted nurse, Calum was sparko! Five days of worrying about Baggy in hospital while he sorted out the house ready for her return on top of the previous two months of stress had clearly caught up with him. So Baggy let him sleep and went back to bed once more.
At 11.00am she finally got up properly. Calum too had emerged and showered. He cooked Baggy bacon and eggs while she phoned and arranged a Doctor's appointment for four in the afternoon. Then came Challenge 2 of the day. Have a shower. Now, she'd had a shower yesterday at the hospital but her wound had had a dressing over it. Before she was discharged, this was removed. Now she had an unprotected stapled stomach. Clever Bird had so far resisted looking at Baggy's wound, but there is a full length mirror just outside the shower, so it was difficult not to look at it. Rightly or wrongly Baggy isn't a fan of tattoos or body piercings (even though her gorgeous hairy biker husband is covered in the former) but now she found herself staring at a row of body piercings. While she tried not to faint she admired them twinkling in the spotlights.
Having figured out that the shower was actually lovely as long as the high-pressure water spray was not directly anywhere near the wound, she felt ready for the day. It is amazing how much help Baggy needed to do anything. She couldn't get her medical support stockings on. She couldn't open the heavy drawers to get her clothes out. She couldn't lift a full kettle. She couldn't bend down to get her boots on. For a normally fit and active person constantly having to ask for help is difficult. Thank goodness for Calum. He's a gem. Although he may need to brush up on his nursing skills a tad. Helping to dry Baggy after her shower he rubbed her thighs so vigorously with the towel that she nearly clumped him one. There's a reason why Baggy Body is so-named. The vibrating skin had a ripple effect up the body to the nice tender "piercings". Ah well, he meant well.
Challenge 3 was the car journey to the Doctors. It's only about eight miles, but still. Pillow under Baggy's bum. Pillow over her wound to protect it from the seatbelt. Mission accomplished. Yet another lovely Doctor who was reading Baggy's notes as Calum entered the office and Cal said, "Don't worry, she's behind me" and said, "Careful how you totter in". A chat. A stethoscope. A fingers on wrist-pulse approach. A confirmation that Baggy definitely has heart arrhythmia. Lots of typing. A promise that a nurse will call to arrange for a 24-hour ECG to be fitted......
No comments:
Post a Comment