And the week from hell is drawing to a close.
It amazed me how quickly I adapted to a new routine. Get up, feed the cats and the fish, go up to the hospital. Come home, do some of the myriad things that need doing (only some, but still). Sweep the bird seed off the veranda, feed the birds. Go back up to the hospital. Come home, make phone calls, flake. Wake up, repeat. Second verse, same as the first: just a little bit louder and a whole lot worse.
My smaller portion is still doing it tough. He now has fluid on the lungs to contend with, and is very, very short of breath. Two or three words have him coughing and a sentence leaves him stuffed. So the physiotherapists are torturing him with deep breathing exercises. Which make him cough. Which pleases the physiotherapist. And while I can see the necessity it breaks my heart to see his eyes bulge and the perspiration break out from the sheer pain of coughing through multitudes of stitches and tubes. He is back on oxygen, but at least the catheter and one of the drainage tubes has been taken away. The bruises on his arms where they have been inserting things are spectacular.
He believes he will be coming home on Monday or Tuesday. I really, really hope he is wrong. I don't want him home until they are on top of the infection, his breathing is OK and he is eating again. And until he/we have learned how to manage the colostomy. And of course I couldn't track the doctor down today. So presumably will have to go to the hospital at the crack of dawn on Monday. Sigh.
Still, as I said in an earlier post. I can do anything if I have to. And that philosophy hasn't let me down yet.
And on a completely unrelated note. I have been rereading Mary Poppins on the buses and while waiting for medical procedures to finish. I didn't think she was the epitome of sweetness and light as portrayed by Disney. And I was right. Bad tempered, conceited and self confident to the point of egotism. Much more interesting..
I'm so cynical these days when it comes to physiotherapists. I hope what they are doing really is helping him. It sounds like hell. For both of you. I swear, sometimes I think it can be worse for the person who is not in the hospital bed, in a different way. I've experienced it from both sides, and, truth be told, I found it somewhat less frightening to have emergency major surgery myself than watch my partner go through something similar. That feeling of helplessness and watching someone you love go through something like that is a torment.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you're in a decent place with a medical system. The comment earlier from the American about debt was so sad. Something like this could easily bankrupt an American family, even with medical insurance. At the very least, you'd come out owing several thousand dollars. It's quite brutal here.
At any rate, I hope things will stabilize and improve soon! Thanks for letting us know how things are going. Thinking of you! xo
Paper Chipmunk: Thanks. Yes in some ways it is harder to watch. I believe the physiotherapy is helping because they do need to clear his lungs but it is soooo painful.
ReplyDeleteAnd we have private insurance, but have opted not to use it this time. If we had, we would have owed money (not sure how much, but several hundred). Since this was an emergency by going in under our public insurance (Medicare) he will leave the hospital with no bills to pay. Medicare is funded through our taxation system and while it doesn't go far enough (doesn't for example cover dental work) it is a good system.
I will be thinking of you and your class next week. Good luck.
I agree it's just has hard to watch a loved one go through this than to have it happen to yourself. My thoughts are with you during this difficult time. Thank you for taking the time to document the process. It helps me to know what is going on, rather than worrying about it.
ReplyDeleteDJan: Thanks. Perhaps tooo much information but I need to get it out or it will fester inside me.
ReplyDeleteAm hoping the best for you & your boy.
ReplyDeleteGlad you are ON to that scoundrel Mary P!
Aloha from Honolulu
Comfort Spiral
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Speedy recovery to the near and dear. Mary Poppins the book is a mite different indeed from the movie.
ReplyDeleteI hope things get better for your guy soon. Don't forget to look after yourself as well. You will need all your strength when he comes home.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to have to read Mary Poppins!
I'm going to have to read that Mary Poppins book.
ReplyDeleteMy physio makes me cry. He keeps trying to make my muscles do things they've never done before, like move.
Cloudia, Mitzi, Karen, River: Thanks. I have been to see him twice today and the rotten toad has stopped eating. I am unable to convince him that they are unlikely to release him until they know his new plumbing works.
ReplyDeleteHis breathing is still bad, and he is still on oxygen. No physio over the weekend. And I think he would like to cry at the things they make him do as well.
And yes, rereading Mary Poppins as she was wrote was interesting. Still magical, still miraculous, but vain and bad tempered too.
That you would remember my measly little class at a time like this is so sweet. Thanks. I think it will be ok. They actually want me to do more... which is good and.... well, we'll see what the body thinks.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of such, I keep wondering (and worrying) how you are holding up. You didn't exactly have a restful weekend going into this. :-(
As a side note, I can't tell you how bizarre it is for an American (and how envious it tends to make us) to see someone referring to emergency medical care as a right for which you won't be billed anything. When we had our respective emergencies, we were actually billed extra because we had to be rushed to the hospital after hours.
Alas, I hope with all my heart that things improve soon. Thanks for letting us know how it's going. In this short time you've been in Blogland, you've made, it appears, quite a few people aside from me really care about you. We're thinking of you from around the world.
Paper Chipmunk: Of course I remembered your class. Apart from anything else it looked like one I would really like to try. I hope that your body behaves sufficiently for you to do the extra as well.
ReplyDeleteWhile we won't pay for the emergency surgery and the subsequent treatment/medication/x rays etc, we will be charged for the ambulance. Private health insurance should cover that though. One of the problems though is the definition of emergency. Things like hip replacements which severely impact on quality of life but are not in themselves life threatening don't usually qualify and the waiting list can be looooong. Years sometimes. I suspect that an ideal health system would be an amalgam from a lot of countries.
I am struggling a bit and my eyes are leaking, but I can do anything if I have too. Thanks so much for your kind words/thoughts.
[cyber hug]...
ReplyDeleteGoodness, I hope they keep the small portion in until he is well and truly ready to come home rather than rush him home which seems to be the want of the medical profession nowadays.
ReplyDeleteSending you positive thoughts and cyberhugs, wish there was more I could do. xxxx
My thoughts are with you both. EC, I'm so glad you have this blog as an outlet - you need to be strong and brave and competent, not to mention positive and patient, during this crisis, so it's nice you can come here and vent a little and get some much-needed and well-deserved virtual hugs and shoulder rubs from your blogfriends! All the best to you.
ReplyDeleteKakka: Thank you. Fingers crossed.
ReplyDeleteTwo Tigers: Not certain that all those virtues are achievable. Sigh. Certainly not all the time. Thanks a lot for the virtual hugs - they have meant a lot.
Poor small portion and poor you. They are odd, aren't they, the routines we build at such times. I hope he is soon home with you, though yes, I understand not wanting it to be too soon.
ReplyDeleteTake care. xx
Oh Elephant's Child! The last time I checked in I was chuckling at the sight of your cats' new playground but so much has happened since I locked up the house and left the country...
ReplyDeleteI hope that the pain he goes through now (and you, too) will end up making life and healing more comfortable later. What a truly terrible time for you both: makes me feel like a right old sulky pants at my own miniscule 'problems'....