I got to the hospital early again today, but had breakfast before going up to the ward. When I arrived at 9:23am, Elaine was on duty. She was on duty on Clarke Ward the day that Heather went for her operation and she remembered us.
I was told that she was going to have an MRI screen at 2:30pm today. I was also told that her kidney was now OK and that the sepsis has gone. Heather’s sister, Nicky, arrived just after 10am so I left her with Heather while I sorted out another weekly car parking ticket.
At 10:45am, we both spoke to Elaine about what was going to happen next. She told us that after her MRI scan, she would be moved to Treble Ward, which is a neurological ward. As Heather no longer has a kidney problem, it’s inappropriate for her to be on the urological ward. Nicky had brought a toy dog for Heather that resembled her own dog, Barley. It was a very soft toy and Heather seemed to enjoy holding it (much better for her that playing with her lines)
I had a coffee break at 11:45am and sat at the table in the coffee bar almost in a daze, thinking about possible futures for Heather and I after this is all over, some good, some bad.
Nicky left just after midday and I kept vigil over Heather. She had a fluid line added at 12:49pm. Her food bag had run out overnight and nothing had been put into place to replace it. At least, she would be getting some fluids into her system now.
I went to lunch and came back to find Heather still fast asleep.
She went for a CT scan at 2:11pm, which only took a few minutes. She was then taken down the corridor to have an MRI scan, which is a lot more detailed than the CT scan (both this one and the one she had on Monday haven’t shown up anything of interest or concern).
However, at 2:50pm, the MRI nurse came out and told me that the MRI scan wasn’t done in the end, as Heather couldn’t fit into it. So, they had to take her back up to Clarke Ward. I don’t know why she was returned there and not taken to the neurology ward.
At 3:36pm, Heather’s Mum Margaret arrived. Ten minutes later, Rob from the neurology team told us that in order to get an MRI scan done, they would need to take Heather to a hospital with a bigger MRI scanner. Sites that have a larger device include Reading, Weybridge and Harley Street. I hurriedly texted that family and made a phone call to Mum while Margaret called John to fill him in with the news.
At 4pm, we found out that Heather wasn’t going to be moved today at all. All that talk of being on the wrong ward for her condition and they are going to leave her there!
Margaret and I organised a drink of lemon tea, as she looked thirsty. As I was trying to help her drink (not with much success as I made her choke), Dad and Jan arrived. After quite sometime, I managed to get her to drink through a straw. Dad had a word with Emma the nurse to find out what was going to happen next. I seems that when Heather has her MRI scan at another hospital, she’ll be coming back the same day, so it would be like a trip out.
At 6:20pm, Margaret left and we talked to Heather about her “day out” saying it would be nice. Heather actually replied “Yes” twice!!!! And she spoke clearly too. I almost cried, I’ve been waiting to hear her voice for over two weeks. Admittedly, it wasn’t much and she didn’t say anything else afterwards, but it’s something. Dad and Jan left about the same time.
Heather had been indicating that she had a headache, so I got some paracetamol organised for her. I managed to move her bed back a bit, so she could see the TV and left as the nurse was checking her blood pressure.
Although, I’m glad to see she is making yet more progress today (such as acknowledging pain when the physio moved her legs and using her arms to help sit herself up), she is still very much dependent on us to do things for her. In my mind (and other minds), it was a mistake for her to be moved out of high dependency and into a ward not suited for her condition. I’ll be going in early again tomorrow, so I can speak to the doctors during their ward rounds and express my concerns. If that fails, I’m going to arrange for family members to meet with doctors/consultants on Friday morning. They are not telling us as much as we’d like and I want some answers. Heather was perfectly fine when she came into the hospital (save her kidney problems). I want to know why she has been so unresponsive since her operation.
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