Update on Dave...

I no longer follow the ambulance up to the hospital when they cart him off. We both know it’s going to be two or three hours of tests in A & E and then he’s shipped off to the MAU ward. I did phone of course, to find out how he was. I arrived around 2 o’clock to find him in a bed opposite the main nurses station in the MAU ward. Obviously so they could keep a close eye on him.

He looked a lot happier when I arrived. I had struggled to the ward with his bag of tricks… pajamas, wash things and a book he was reading. Why was it so heavy? Gawd knows… but it kept slipping off my shoulder. My handbag appeared equally heavy hanging from my other shoulder. Why are hospital corridors so long? Why isn’t there a chair placed strategically half way down the corridor?

I found Dave and told him to get off the bed, I could do with a lie down! The doctor arrived to take some more blood. I’m surprised he has any left now… they’ve taken so much! It’s never easy for Dave as being diabetic and with his heart problems, he has blood taken so often, all his veins are rather hard to get into… poor soul. It can mean a lot of prodding around, and he used to be afraid of needles!

After a while they moved him to a bed at the other end of the ward… out of harms way! Good. So he is no longer considered an emergency. They thought he should be able to go home after the consultant had seen him. I pulled out the crossword book I keep in my handbag. It helps kill time while waiting around for appointments when we get to the doctors surgery or the hospital waiting areas.

Nursed floated by every now and again. Dave told me they had put him on a Nebulizer when he was in A & E. It had really cleared his airways and made it much easier to breath. He has a slight chest infection. They also found that his dose of Warfarin wasn’t strong enough. It wasn’t thinning his blood as it should do. He was also put on more water tablets… so he was dashing off to the loo every now and again. I continued to do a crossword!

It didn’t look as if he was going to be let home so I went to find a nurse to see what was happening. Dave was getting very tired and really needed a nap, but his airways blocked up when he lay down. So the nurse put him on the Nebulizer again.

It was only after the consultant had seen him, that he’d be allowed home. She couldn’t say if it would be in an hour or more till his visit. So, Dave suggested I go home. But first would I get him a couple of things from the shop. I was dying for a ciggie so off I trotted, back down the long corridor and into the shop. Got a few things and popped out of the main entrance to see parking places empty in front of the hospital. I had parked quite a way away when I had arrived. But now that visiting times were over, the place was quite empty.

Off I went to the car… Got in and lit a ciggie. Then started the engine up and drove off to the parking places in front to the hospital. I turned into the one-way section only to be blocked by an ambulance parked parallel to another in the ambulance lane. And there was a large white van the other side. So there was no room to pass. Then traffic was behind me. Also a couple of people returned to their cars waiting to back out… But I couldn’t move… No one could move!

A quarter of an hour later – time for me to have two nicotine fixes – the ambulance driver came out and drove off. By the time I got back to the ward, Dave thought I’d just gone home! I stayed another half an hour and as the consultant still hadn’t come round, I did leave and go home.

I poured some Bailey’s into a cup of coffee and sat down to phone Dave’s son, his friend and a couple of other people. To update them.

Dave phoned me. He will be allowed home tomorrow. I should wait till he knows when they’ll let him out so that I don’t have to hang around too long. I was going to write something here but I had got quite tired and just sat and relaxed watching TV instead.

Dave phoned this morning. He has to stay in another day… So he won’t be home yet. He asked me to cancel his doctor’s appointment for tomorrow. I also needed to let them know he was in hospital… I didn’t get around to calling them yesterday. I just forgot.

I’ll venture up to the hospital soon after taking some tablets to bind me. I can’t just rush out of the house these days without taking them. I might have an accident. If I need a loo, I need it right then. Count to 5… any higher and I’m too late! The boring thing is that if I have had to take these tablets over a couple of days, I end up with a dreadfully uncomfortable swollen tummy. It’s a vicious circle and prevents me doing a lot of things I want to do away from the house.

Any readers that have been following my blogs, will know I’ve had a load of tests. I am still waiting to hear from my consultant to see what – if anything – he can do. I must chase this up, but not till dearly beloved is sorted and back home safe and sound.