Hospital visit.

I recently spent time in the Countess of Chester hospital.

I just wanted to quickly thank Dr Appleby and Dr Bradshaw and all the nurses and “health cares” who took care of me. I cant remember everyone’s name (apart from Blessed, which is a pretty unique name and easy to remember).

It was quite a shock to find myself in hospital, but all the staff there really looked after me and I cant find the words to express my gratitude (and this is me were talking about, and I’m not lost for words often).

While I’m at it, I’d also like to thank the unsung hero’s of the hospital, the domestic staff who made my bed and always had a smile, and the catering staff who made such good food.

I’d also like to thank my boss Tim for coming to visit me, and the 2 cards I got from everyone at work.

Finally since the visit was unplanned the help of Glenn, Steve, Tony, Dan, My brother David and Lee for coming to visit me and bringing me supplies of clothes, chocolate, laptops etc.

I’m out now and feeling much better. I hope to be back at work by next Monday, and my Dr reckons I’ll be able to run a marathon by this time next year.

If your interested in the technical details, the picture bellow shows my arteries before my operation.

The picture bellow shows my arteries immediately after the operation.

The Dr’s let me photograph the x-ray board (I don’t even want to guess what the picture resolution of this thing was !) .

What would my advise be to anyone who ends up in hospital ?.

I’ve broken it into 2 sections. First is some advise I got from mum (an SRN for 27 years) which I garnered from a conversation with her when I was a little boy.

The 2nd lot is from my recent experiences.

Mum:

1. Be polite and respectful to everyone you meet in Hospital.

2. When dealing with Dr’s and Nurses, ask questions by all means, but never argue. They are the experts.

3. Try to remember the nurses names, but if you forget, calling a qualified nurse “staff” will suffice (short for staff nurse).

4. The woman wearing royal blue is the Sister. She will have worked hard for that promotion. Calling her Sister rather than nurse, without being told,  will help to gain her respect.

Me:

1. A fully loaded kindle is essential. An IPhone is useful for text/email (or even for speaking to people !) and can remote record your sky box for things to watch when you get home.

2. On the meal sheet, you are only allowed to choose one serving of afters. If you make a “mistake” and choose something like rice pudding and cheese & crackers, you’ll usually get them both.

3. Take the time to put up pictures and cards next to your bed. Loneliness and isolation are normal (which is ironic, considering your surrounded by people all the time) and comes over you without warning.

4. You need to rest, but the best cure for boredom, is productivity. Always have a pen and paper to hand, and write down ideas (I came home with 15 pages of notes/ideas. The ones I’ve implemented so far, have worked really well.)

Life has now returned to normal, so best foot forwards.