Thursday, March 6, 2008

Done!

Well, now I look like half of "The Mummy", swathed in bandages as I am.

Knee Arthroscope and my wrist plate out all in one is the way to go, though I haven't tried showering yet, while keeping the bandages dry.

It was fairly unremarkable, with a pleasant anesthetist who promised to administer pain medication before I woke up, and did!

After waking, my lovely nurse and I had to work hard to get my habitually low blood pressure up to the level she wanted. 80 over 40 was not good, she said. Lots of drinks, drips and feet higher than the head over a few hours and she could be heard tripping happily up the corridor to her nurse mates saying, "She's up to 92!" And them clapping for her.

I thought I had bed bugs in the night, with some sort of reaction to medication happening and found myself scratching madly like a dog with fleas. Bed bugs don't happen in posh hospitals.

Finally fully awake at 6am, there was lots of activity in the distance in this upmarket 'private' hospital, but nowhere near me. No-one came in with a morning cuppa, or a wet flannel and towel, and breakfast finally wandered in at 8.15, but put on a trolley far from my hands by a stranger on a mission elsewhere. I had to get up and hobble round to get to my cold, hard toast, and cornflakes, which I hate.

By the time my assigned morning nurse finally wandered back in and asked me if I had had a shower, I was ready to tear her throat out. I responded to this ridiculous question with a cool, "How can I, with no towel, and bandages all down one side?" I think she knew she was in strife, because she began to fuss around me like she had been there all the while, but still no wash. I told her I would have a 'degrease' when I went home.

My surgeon came and treated me like an idiot, which got my hackles up even more.

By the time my man came to get me, I was muttering, "get me the f.... out of here!"

Back home now, I have just let the sheep out, and decided that walk was too far for my leg and crutch, so I am imbibing in a pain killing champagne, and feeling much better.

Off to the doc's next Wednesday for more of the same............

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not my thing, but I am sure the champagne will have great medicinal properties Patsy.

Robyn Rinehart Art said...

Always my medicine of choice. I don't have Patsy's figure, sadly, or her beehive hair..........

But I do love Joanna Lumley.