Category Archives: hospitals

hospital etiquette

23 Friday May 2008

Posted by in culture, health & happiness, hospitals, rants

≈ 13 Comments

Now this is my idea of a hospital room!

In fact, probably the only good thing that the private hospital had going for it was that all the rooms there are private, painted a pretty yellow and have an extra bed in case a friend or relative wants to stay with you.

At the general hospital where I ended up there are two patients to a room. My room was pretty basic, but there was a balcony with a nice view and it would have been quite tolerable if my roommates had had better manners. . .

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on pain

22 Thursday May 2008

Posted by in health & happiness, hospitals, life stuff

≈ 17 Comments

I’m no stranger to pain, what with my dodgy back and all (have had seriously painful sciatica/lumbago episodes since I was 22). And when I had a hysterectomy in December 1999 I experienced a totally different sort of pain. But I have to say that this latest operation has opened up a whole new world of pain to me.

The main thing I noticed while I was lying in my hospital bed was how isolating pain is. The whole rest of the world disappears and all that exists is a pain-wracked body that you happen to be attached to. This is accompanied by fear and an awful sense of helplessness … but again it all comes down to you you you.

I hated that. And I still hate it on bad pain days (like yesterday) when absolutely everything else stops mattering. All you want is for the bloody pain to stop. And all the recently made resolutions to be a better person and focus on what really matters go right out the window. No chance for positive thinking as thinking in any clear manner at all becomes impossible. It’s a very lonely place to be.

What are some of your experiences with PAIN?

back home again…

19 Monday May 2008

Posted by in friends, health & happiness, home, hospitals, life stuff

≈ 12 Comments

my-bed.jpg

… and it sure feels good. 🙂

Well, except for the PAIN bit and not being able to do much before feeling exhausted and having to lie down. But of course it’s much better going through all that here – I think another night in the hospital would have driven me bonkers.

So I guess this is what you call one of them thar life-changing experiences. And once I get a bit more energy I’ll share some of my hospital stories as well as other stuff I went through with you guys. It’s actually relatively comfortable sitting on my wheelie chair in front of the computer.

But for now I can only manage to sit upright for short periods of time and I do think I kind of overdid things when I got home this afternoon because I was suddenly so knackered that I just flopped into bed with the cats and didn’t move for ages. And I’m about to do the same thing now.

In general I’m feeling as well as can be expected and the hospital staff were quite impressed by how quickly I recovered (well, at least enough to go home within a week). A nurse will stop by the house every day to change my dressing and other than that it’s just a question of taking things very easy. I’ve been cut from about six inches above my belly button down to my pubes and had almost a metre of my colon removed … sooooo lucky I didn’t end up with a colostomy bag, which was what I had been told the outcome was going to be. But I think the recovery is going to take quite awhile and once the pain subsides I plan to use this ‘time off’ for much reflection and positive change. I know I’m still not ‘off the hook’, but again, I shall remain as positive with my todays as I can and get the most out of every moment.

[I know I’ve used this photo before but it really says ‘home’ to me, this one.]