The ward was emptying fast; most people had been sent home and as it was a bank holiday there were no new admission. The remaining four of us all had a bad night last night and kept the night shift busy with our buzzers as we sought extra pain relief and made regular trips to the loo. We still required assistance getting up in the night Even though we were all mobile as our feet were velcroed into compression booties (I have no idea what the real technical term is) which inflated and deflated during the night to stimulate blood flow and prevent DVT.
I was feeling a little subdued and ridiculously tired and achy. The most vocal (for vocal read annoying) lady on the ward was discharged in the morning which left just three of us and the atmosphere lifted a little as we released we were no longer going to be subjected to her random singing and extensive demands (never mind the sporadic racist and homophobic comments!). As our beds were in opposite corners of the ward we had to shuffle closer to each others beds if we we wanted to chat, which was great as we were encouraged to get up and move around every hour if possible.
In bed 10 was Mary aged 83 who had already been in for 6 days since her knee op. She told me that she'd been an avid cyclist back in the day, before the roads got choked with traffic. She lives on Barry Island so I recommended the free Tai Chi lessons down there and told her that I would hopefully see her there in a few weeks time.
Christine in bed 13 was in her mid 60s and had just had her second knee replaced, so she knew what she was up against. I bemoaned to Christine that I was supposed to be at Bearded Theory festival this weekend and that I sadly would also have to forego Glastonbury this year too. She surprised me by saying that she had been to Glastonbury twice as she used to play in a Samba band and her friend asked them to play in their tent in the Greenfields to lure people in. She then regaled me with a tale about having a makeshift cold shower when a naked ginger bloke came to join her and how she shocked was to find herself in her 50s naked in a shower with a twenty-something fella.
Lunch was cheese pie. Basically a bowl of mash with a layer of crusty cheese on top. Still no vegetables in sight. They offered me some baked beans to go with it but I declined as I knew I was only going to eat half of it anyway. My appetite was still the size of a sparrows.
Physio got me off the zimmer and onto the crutches and taught me how to do my standing exercises. My thigh was still very tight and tender, so I didn't move that much, but I must say that the stretches did help to relieve some of the pain.
My friend Sarah turned up in the afternoon and brought me a gorgeous hamper of little treats from Marks & Spencer. Hand cream, sweets, chocolate, sugar free gum, nuts & seeds, chocolate covered raisins etc. She also bought some figs and bananas to try and get my bowels moving. The nurses had started giving me Senna tablets and Laxido sachets. None of the remaining patients had managed to have a poo yet and we gave each other the thumbs up for encouragement whenever we went to the loo; only to exit moments later with a sad face and a thumbs down. Mary was the first to succeed and Christine and I gave her a round of applause as she returned to her bed looking like a new lighter version of herself. I was so jealous.
Weekend visiting hours were 2.00pm to 8.00pm so Sarah sat with me whilst I ate dinner. I finally got some vegetables on my plate. She said that the colour came back into my cheeks within minutes of finishing it. Hallelujah!
I was over the worst and felt ready to go home. As long as I could pass the 'stair test' tomorrow and the consultant was happy then I might get to sleep in my own bed. Nobody bothered putting our inflating. booties on so I was able to get up in the night without buzzing for a nurse. I don't think I even saw the night shift's faces. Every time I went to the loo they didn't appear to even glance up from their phones. Despite that all three of us had a much better evening and I slept for a good six hours.
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