Special Guest Star: post from my dad
Hi Amy, I’ve had a ‘just ducky’ week.
They cut my throat on Monday which was horrific! It was in a hospital which made it a little less horrific. Thankfully before they cut my throat they gave me needles … which was more horrific.
Which part don't I want to talk about first?
After I got out of surgery (throat cutting – thyroid lobectomy)
I was doped up for a while with a drip in the arm (big straw-sized needle which is held in there with duct tape). I was still in pain during the night so a nurse (who I thought was a great humanitarian a few hours previously) came in and jabbed a pethedine tipped harpoon into my thigh. Just "BANG" like that. I can still feel the force and hear the prick of it busting my skin.
Now that knocked out the pain but foolishly, later on when I was still having pain and sat up sweating, coughing and woozy, I rang the nurse button again.
Guess what! She did it again! No 'there'll be a slight pain' .... she just walked around the other side of the bed and WHOOFA!
I think at that stage I threw the nurse call button out the window and hit myself over the head.
Well that was Monday!
I'll save Tuesday until a little later as I'm breaking out into a sweat thinking about it.
How has your week been?
regards,
Dad
Hi again,
I think I have recovered enough to tell you about Tuesday.
I was quick out of bed on Tuesday morning, the doctor came round and gave me the okay to go home. I wasn’t going to argue with that as I was looking forward to a needle-free day.
I felt pretty good at home until around 6 in the evening. I was having a little difficulty swallowing, and breathing wasn’t as easy as I would have liked so Meg rang Wyong Casualty and they said to bring me in.
At the hospital they took me into a small room for observation and a lovely young nurse kneeled beside my bed, looked up at me with her relaxing blue eyes, stroked my arm and told me not to worry … ‘Let us do the worrying’ she said and proceeded to stick a needle in my left wrist. The first one didn’t go into the vein (I think my veins were running scared) so she went to my right wrist. The vein there chickened out as well so she went higher up. (This is the harpoon type needle I’m talking about – the one that stays in and they use for a drip entry) That one thankfully went in at the elbow as, I figure, my veins were exhausted and had run out of places to hide. They taped that on.
Oh dear... I was feeling woozy then and developing a great empathy for sieves.
Anyway to cut a long story short they admitted me through Casualty and I stayed that night for observation. Well I did plenty of observing!
I stayed awake and read Dan Brown’s Deception Point until 3:30 when I was almost certain I was safe from having my hide needled. After setting a number of booby traps around the bed I guess I must have dozed off for a couple of hours. When I awoke it was early morning so I took the sign I had written (NIL BY SKIN) off my forehead and sat up looking my wellest.
I was well pleased to get the drip needle out of my arm and the okay to go home again at around ten a.m.
Let me say that the health care in both private and public hospitals was excellent and I commend each and every nurse and doctor on the wonderful job they did in looking after my health.
But rest assured I won’t be getting sick EVER again. I certainly won’t be putting my skin through that level of care again. Not ever!
They cut my throat on Monday which was horrific! It was in a hospital which made it a little less horrific. Thankfully before they cut my throat they gave me needles … which was more horrific.
Which part don't I want to talk about first?
After I got out of surgery (throat cutting – thyroid lobectomy)
I was doped up for a while with a drip in the arm (big straw-sized needle which is held in there with duct tape). I was still in pain during the night so a nurse (who I thought was a great humanitarian a few hours previously) came in and jabbed a pethedine tipped harpoon into my thigh. Just "BANG" like that. I can still feel the force and hear the prick of it busting my skin.Now that knocked out the pain but foolishly, later on when I was still having pain and sat up sweating, coughing and woozy, I rang the nurse button again.
Guess what! She did it again! No 'there'll be a slight pain' .... she just walked around the other side of the bed and WHOOFA!
I think at that stage I threw the nurse call button out the window and hit myself over the head.
Well that was Monday!
I'll save Tuesday until a little later as I'm breaking out into a sweat thinking about it.
How has your week been?
regards,
Dad
Hi again,
I think I have recovered enough to tell you about Tuesday.
I was quick out of bed on Tuesday morning, the doctor came round and gave me the okay to go home. I wasn’t going to argue with that as I was looking forward to a needle-free day.
I felt pretty good at home until around 6 in the evening. I was having a little difficulty swallowing, and breathing wasn’t as easy as I would have liked so Meg rang Wyong Casualty and they said to bring me in.
At the hospital they took me into a small room for observation and a lovely young nurse kneeled beside my bed, looked up at me with her relaxing blue eyes, stroked my arm and told me not to worry … ‘Let us do the worrying’ she said and proceeded to stick a needle in my left wrist. The first one didn’t go into the vein (I think my veins were running scared) so she went to my right wrist. The vein there chickened out as well so she went higher up. (This is the harpoon type needle I’m talking about – the one that stays in and they use for a drip entry) That one thankfully went in at the elbow as, I figure, my veins were exhausted and had run out of places to hide. They taped that on.
Oh dear... I was feeling woozy then and developing a great empathy for sieves.
Anyway to cut a long story short they admitted me through Casualty and I stayed that night for observation. Well I did plenty of observing!
I stayed awake and read Dan Brown’s Deception Point until 3:30 when I was almost certain I was safe from having my hide needled. After setting a number of booby traps around the bed I guess I must have dozed off for a couple of hours. When I awoke it was early morning so I took the sign I had written (NIL BY SKIN) off my forehead and sat up looking my wellest.
I was well pleased to get the drip needle out of my arm and the okay to go home again at around ten a.m.
Let me say that the health care in both private and public hospitals was excellent and I commend each and every nurse and doctor on the wonderful job they did in looking after my health.
But rest assured I won’t be getting sick EVER again. I certainly won’t be putting my skin through that level of care again. Not ever!
regards,
Dad
4 comments:
Ohhh....would have enjoyed Old Dad's gripping story of needlement, but too too teared up to read.
damn.
I'll bet it was gritty and visceral and yet warm and humane. I'll just bet that the tension built nicely, and there was humor and irony and wit, and gratitude for a painful journey at an end...
too many tears between me and the screen...
bugger
oh well
Hi Terry
No tampering with the ironic droll gland I see.Ageing!!!! (I only use this because I know it's spelled with an 'e') we trust the people who go before to gently guide us through the process, and I was not disappointed....the illustrations were a bit graphic though! Thanks for details about needles..
Take care!!!
Love
Lynne
Hehehehe. I can see the Carolan family all have a flair with words. Guess that answers the 'where did she get it?' question.
As for the experience, rather you than me!!!! I have ahd my fair share of hospital rooms and needles the size of hollow broomsticks... But WELL DONE on the stiff upper lip. :)
Poor Dad! Sounds very awful.
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