The reason for my recent lack of posts in the last 2 weeks is because my mum has been really ill.
I didn't do a dedicated post to it, I just mentioned it briefly in a couple of my 366 photo summaries as some of the photos were of my mum and the view from the ward she was on.
Mum had an operation on an incarcerated hernia 2 weeks ago tomorrow. She has an incision about 8 inches long (I thought it was about a foot long but I forget she's only 4ft 8" so there's not a lot of her!) and has been in as much pain as you would expect a person stapled back together would feel.
Yesterday she started to get some new pains, which were agonising. Like a stubborn moo she wouldn't go to the hospital, but booked a doctor's appointment. This morning came around and she couldn't bear it any longer. I called the doctors and got an earlier appointment this morning, but mum couldn't even wait another hour, so we went to A&E.
There may be a long and angry post coming up at some point in the future about the local hospital, but for now I'll move on. We waited for around 2 hours or so and she was sent home with 4 different medications - something for the rampant kidney infection she has, something for trapped wind, something for constipation and codeine pain relief.
We came in, she took her meds and within half an hour was projectile vomiting. Because she'd felt so awful she hadn't been eating and the meds just came straight back up. She waited about an hour, took one more painkiller, and slept fitfully for a while. Then she woke up with massive pains again, so we rang the doctors and got an emergency appointment. We went down right away. By this time mum was openly howling with pain and crying in the waiting room. She had a long examination with the doctor and came out with a letter which enabled her to be seen immediately by the surgery on call department at A&E at the hospital.
So, back to the hospital we went, stopping in a bus lane halfway there as mum had projectile vomited again.....and I mean projectile. It was on the windscreen, it was all over her and all over the car. Seeing her in so much suffering made me break down. I wanted to call an ambulance there and then but neither my mum nor step dad would consider it since when she went by ambulance to hospital last time, the ambulance driver was an absolute arsehole who did nothing but go on about how someone more needy could have used it. If having an operation to save your life isn't worthy enough, go stuff yourself, frankly, Mr Paramedic!
Anyway, back to hospital we went, to the conveniently situated (hahahahahahahaha) A&E department which is a mere 10 minute walk from the main hospital entrance at mum's agonising pace. Thus began the ordeal. The waiting room was entirely chock-a-block and heated to about 102 degrees F. The receptionist chose to totally ignore the letter so when (about 2 hours later) mum actually got to see someone, she was told she was supposed to go straight in (fume). There was not enough room to sit in A&E so I alternated between standing there and sitting on an air vent in the hallway for the next 4 hours, as did my step dad. We took it in turns to be with mum.
She got to a ward at about 8 pm. She's dehydrated, nauseous, in pain and feverish from the UTI so they're going to give her IV fluids and painkillers to see if she feels any better. I think a lot of the pain is down to trapped wind (after my op the trapped wind was far more painful than my 8 inch incision and fallopian tube removal!) because she's not eating. Hopefully if they can sort the nausea, she can get eating, farting and shitting (to be very frank!) and will just be able to get on with the business of healing up from the op, which is enough in itself.
The last 2 weeks have been hard on us all, obviously for mum especially!
Carers, I take my hat off to you. I hadn't realised how little time you get to yourself when you're looking after someone - no time to finish a cuppa, no time to cook, sandwiches curling up at the edges before you get to eat them because it's sod's law that the minute you sit down for a rest, the patient needs something and needs it NOW. I've not even been here a week and I feel at the point of exhaustion. Obviously my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia mean the cards are stacked before I start the game, but damn.....my respect goes to people who do this day in, day out.
I'll be going to see mum tomorrow afternoon and I hope she's feeling loads better by then. Anyone who's nursed a loved one through painful times has my utmost respect, it's almost too much for me to bear to see mum suffering so. I'd rather take the pain myself.
I'm sorry this has been a bit of a depressing post but I had to get it off my chest. Hopefully there'll be some brighter news tomorrow.
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