Not MORE surgery

Once again we would both like to say a big “Thank You” for all your good wishes over the last seven weeks – yes, it’s seven weeks to the day since Marie was admitted.

Marie’s wound is showing no sign of sealing up. It’s only a trickle plus the occasional rush, but even a trickle means no going home. So they’re trying a different approach.

It would seem that you need muscle to mop up the fluids, and to replace muscle damaged by the infection, the next step is a muscle graft. There is an expert in that field available, but he works in Durham, so there is a possibility of a transfer to another hospital on the horizon.

John

Stairway to ...

... nowhere at the present.

We've got a stairlift. Well, actually we've got two. If you know our house you will understand that we have two staircases, one long and one short, with the bathroom between them. Since climbing stairs is the one thing Marie won;t be able to do for the foreseeable future we looked around and I found someone who would rent stairlifts for a very reasonable price. So on Friday, Gordon The Tattooed Engineer came and installed them. This is the bottom one, modeled here by Thomas.



On the medical front it's a waiting game. Once Marie's wound stops leaking she can come home. Trouble is, you get one very good day with very little coming out, the the next morning it's Niagara Falls down the leg. Actually it is slowly getting a better, but the Consultant has given the wound a deadline. He said that if it wasn't healed in the next two weeks, then he will do something about it. You can imagine Marie's response when he said two weeks ...

Back from theatre

Just a quick note to say that Marie had her surgery yesterday, and they gave her wound a “good wash-out”. Everything seems to have gone well, and Marie was in good spirits last night. She was tired, but there was none of the sickness that she often gets with anaesthetics.

Of course we’ll have to wait and see if it has been successful. If it has then we’re looking at getting her home round about Tuesday or Wednesday of next week. Maybe ...

John

D-Day Monday

On Monday the Consultant will decide whether to leave Marie's wound to fix itself, or whether to go in and give it what he calls a "proper wash-out". Ant it's looking like the latter is the more likely course. The wound is still bleeding, but just a little. This is fine except that by yesterday the original site had healed, but it was bleeding from a slightly different place.

On the positive side, Marie has a new little friend. Thanks to Jenny and Chris, a package arrived the other day, with this little fellow.



Marie reckons his name is Frank, because he has blue eyes. He's cheered Marie up no end, so many many thanks.



John

Setback

Marie saw the Consultant yesterday. It looks as though the infection has not gone away so it’s on to some new antibiotics and another week of wait-and-see. Of course, being the NHS, the antibiotics took eight hours to arrive.

And if that doesn’t fix the problem it may be a trip back to theatre for another, more thorough wash-out of the wound, which could add another week.

Needless to say we’re not at all happy, considering how close Marie was to getting home. It will be five weeks on Thursday since Marie was admitted.

John

Almost, but not quite

On Friday the doctor told Marie that if her wound stayed dry for 48 hours, then she could go home on Monday.

So what happened. It stayed dry all day Friday, then started weeping on Saturday morning. Actually it started with quite a gush. It's clean blood coming out, no pus or other unpleasantness, but still enough to delay things.

Today things were a little better with very little coming out, but still enough to keep her in. The Consultant will be round in the morning so we'll see what he says then.

John

Post Op

Marie has had her surgery today and all seems well. When I arrived at just after 6 this evening she was sitting up in bed eating her dinner.



Latest news is that - all being well - she hopes to be home sometime next.

And finally, Marie sends a huge "Thank You" to everyone for their good wishes.

As expected

The surgeon decided to go in and have a look at why Marie's wound has not sealed up.

The operation is scheduled for Wednesday. As there is a risk Marie may still have an infection she is on last so they can give the theatre a good scrub down afterwards. So lots of waiting around for Marie. Thankfully it's only expected to take 30 minutes so hopefully she will be back by visiting time.

John

One step forward – Two steps back

First the good news.

Marie has been passed as safe to go home by the physiotherapists. In the time available they can’t really do much more. It’s going to be a case of exercise and practice at home. She did however manage to walk a few steps with elbow crutches instead of a Zimmer frame yesterday.

Also, the visit to the Occupational Therapist went well. They are satisfied Marie is not a danger to herself, and they can assist with some equipment to make life a little easier.

On the down side Marie’s wound is still leaking. Just a little, and from one place only. No doubt caused by the anti-clotting drugs.

The consultant is taking a look today and if he’s not convinced it will stop then he’s going to “go in and take a look” which could put homecoming back by a week.

Progress

At last – Marie is rid of the line in her neck (cvc or central venous catheter if you want to be correct). It was very uncomfortable and made resting difficult. It also meant that she was hooked up to antibiotics for several hours, usually late at night or early morning.

After an episode that was worthy of Kafka where one specialist wanted the line out because it was a risk if infection while the other wanted it in because they were still administering anti-clotting drugs which prevented removal, the consultant put his foot down. “It’s coming out today” her thundered. And when a consultant does this, people jump.

So at last it’s out and Marie is on oral antibiotics. Ones that turn your wee red, and if you wear contact lenses it will turn them red too.

Now that the lines are out, there’s more time for physio and Marie can walk with a frame and is allowed out in the ward without the physio provided someone walks with her.

Now it’s just a question of convincing the O.T. that she’s safe to be let out.

One small step for Marie ...

... and one giant leap on the journey home.

Marie continues to do well but on Saturday the physiotherapists tried to get her walking but were unsuccessful. As you can imagine this left us a little deflated, but they don't give up so easily so on Sunday they returned with a better walking frame. One with wheels and aero bars. Success !!!

Marie was able to walk from her chair out to the middle of the corridor and back, a distance of about forty feet. She was exhausted by the effort. I was worn out just watching.

To say we were all pleased was an understatement. If there's so much improvement in one day, what might we be seeing by the end of the week. Latest news about coming home is "seven to ten days, assuming blood tests show the infection has gone".

So here's hoping.

Operation

Marie has now had her operation and sends a big "Thank You" to everyone for their good wishes. The operation went well, and Marie is doing fine. She spent a night in the ICCU which was wonderful. One nurse per two patients and no waiting for anything. Then back to the ward the following afternoon.

As you might expect she is tired and in need to sleep. She's also still attached to
a lot of tubes and wires which will hopefully be coming out soon.

Next on the agenda is a visit from the physiotherapist to see how much movement she currently has, and to see the best way to get mobile again. Then a visit from the dietician as the awful hospital food isn't great.

John

Relief !!

Marie has been given a new bed. One with a firmer mattress so she can finally get some sleep. It's only taken a week for them to realise that the soft mattress had given her a displaced disc.

Now that the bed is sorted, and the cold sore is under control Marie is feeling a lot happier. Operation has been rescheduled for Wednesday.



Finally Marie says a big "thank-you" to everyone for their good wishes.

Delayed by Delays

Marie’s operation has been postponed through a mixture of bureaucracy and downright incompetence.

Marie suffers from the occasional cold sore, especially is she is stressed, run down or in pain. As she is currently all three, it’s not surprising that the odd one will appear.

Sometimes she gets them close to her eyes, which is rather serious as untreated they can lead to loss of sight. When this happens Marie goes to the Eye Infirmary A & E dept. and simply gives them her case number. They prescribe Zovirax eye cream and all is well. The whole process takes less than two hours and the end result is just a little darkening round the eyes.

When you are in hospital that’s not the way it works. The cold sore was diagnosed straight away, and the staff even understood the importance of getting it seen to straight away. They accessed the records from the eye infirmary and ordered the correct medication from the pharmacy which was just one floor below.

Nothing happened.

Nothing happened for almost thirty hours, so by the time the medication arrived Marie had an eye the size of a grapefruit with an enormous blister on the top lid. The surgeon can’t operate with it in such a state as there is too much risk of infection.

It’s probably going to take at least a week to clear up. So as you can image we’re not happy bunnies.

Long Term

First of all, many thanks to all of you who sent us your good wishes, by whatever means. It is really appreciated.

It looks like Marie is going to be in hospital for some time. The old hip joint has to come out and of course the area will have to be cleaned thoroughly as there is a lot of mess where it's been breaking up. I always thought titanium was a very inert metal but it appears not to be so. One of the doctors described it as a magnet for bacteria.

To combat the infection Marie is having intravenous antibiotics, plus saline to re-hydrate her because the infection prevented her keeping anything on her stomach.

The hip will come out and all being well, what the hospital call a temporary joint will go in, either on Tuesday or Thursday depending on when the parts arrive. Marie will be in hospital for about three more weeks and then there will be the recovery period at home. You can't bend your hip more then 45 degrees for six weeks. Neither can you drive or walk very far.

By now you're probably wondering what I mean by a temporary joint. This one will be there until all the infection has gone, then in four to six months, it's back in again for the proper one.

Knowing Marie, you can imagine that she isn't too pleased about being stuck in hospital for the next three or four weeks. On the plus side, she has a room to herself, with the luxury of her own bathroom. On the minus side, the food is terrible and the bed is very soft and as well as preventing sleep it's giving her terrible back pain. As well as her normal pain medication they are having to give her morphine for her back.

However, all things considered she's in very goods spirits. All she needs now is a decent nights sleep.

John

Metal Fatigue

Marie is suffering from metal fatigue.

Seriously. Regular readers will know that she has been suffering from a pressure sore for some time now. Everything was going very well until Thursday morning when I got a call at work to say her dressing had turned black and a smelly liquid was oozing out.

Marie was also feeling sick and shivering and sweating. As she had an appointment with the practice nurse that day I left work and took her in.

After a bit of prodding they summoned a doctor who told us to report to A & E at the hospital for blood tests and an x-ray. The doctor told us there was a possibility Marie may have to be admitted.

Eventually, at 5 pm Marie was admitted to a ward and by 7 pm we found out that her artificial hip was suffering from metal fatigue and would need to be replaced.

In the meantime it's antibiotics to control the infection and a good clean out of the wound. It would seem the black liquid was a reaction with the metal in the joint.

So there we are. Poor Marie is laid up in hospital for a while.

More news after visiting tonight.

John

Pure bliss

For the past 46 days I’ve been unable to have a bath or a shower because of my pressure sore.

As you can imagine I’m a little fed up with the water prohibition. Having a rub down with a flannel isn’t the same as soaking in a hot bath.

I mentioned this to my nurse who took pity on me and ordered some waterproof dressings to go on top of my original dressing.

Although I can’t have a bath I am able to have a shower.

Tonight I had my first shower in over seven weeks and it was wonderful.

I now feel clean !!!!

Marie

Equipment galore

It’s hard to believe that a six inch pressure sore would require so much stuff.

Starting at the back of the picture, going clockwise, there’s cotton wool pads, kitchen roll (extremely useful when my dressing develops a leak and John’s not around to change it. I simply make a pad and attach it to the dressing) and surgical spirit (used with the cotton wool pads to remove any dressings residue that’s stuck to my skin).

In front of the kitchen roll are sterile packs which have to be used every time the dressing is changed. Each pack contains gloves, a laminate sheet, a sterile sheet, a measure guide), gauze, a towel, a disposable bag and an apron.

Next comes the £47 a pack dressings, Intrasite dressings (it liquidises the dead skin) and extra non-sterile gauzes. Behind the Intrasite are disposable sterile scissors (to cut the Intrasite) and some waterproof plasters (again used when John’s not around to stick down the dressing when it starts to come away).

Finally at the front there’s saline water (used to clean in and around the pressure sore), a pack of extra sterile gauze, tape (used to stick the kitchen roll to the dressing when I have a ‘leak’) and sterile hand gel.

I also should have had a large yellow ‘sharp tools’ box to put the scissors in. I declined saying I had enough equipment…

Marie

Revealed

So what were the mystery objects ?

Well, here's the first clue.



And here's one of the little blighters peeking out from behind the steering wheel.



And here's its partner, sitting behind the steering wheel.



Got it yet. They're paddles used to change gear in a car with sequential transmissionr.

The cost, and remember, I had to buy a matching pair.

£128.14 plus vat EACH. Not far short of £300 the pair. That's the downside of owning an Alfa Romeo.

John

p.s. don't know where the reputation came from, but paddles are not at all "flappy".

Result

I had a phone call this afternoon from the Customer Service Manager at Social Services regarding my complaint letter.

She was appalled at the way I had been treated and promised that a full investigation would take place to find out the guilty people, and action would be taken against them.

She has arranged for the mattress to be collected on Thursday afternoon instead of a week today which was the earliest date the nasty little woman would give me.

The Customer Service Manager was also concerned about the length of time it took for the collection people to pick up the phone, so will be bringing that up with their manager as well.

She’s also going to investigate why the mattress which was supposed to be new, stunk of tobacco.

She even offered to come and visit me at home, along with the manager of the collection people, to discuss my complaint further and to inform me of the actions they have taken. I thanked her for the offer but said I was satisfied that my complaint was being dealt so a visit wasn’t necessary.

Another result for the Customer from Hell.

Marie