I can't remember exactly when I had several canulas put into one of my hands and my left hand. I think this may have been done when I was in the ambulance when travelling to Oxford. They are used to connect you to drips and in several cases to take blood. Also, I had several contacts stuck to my chest and other points on my body which were used to connect me to a monitor for heart beat and other body functions. A bit annoying that I had to contend with the cables when I lay in bed and had to disconnect them when I needed to go to the toilet and then the connection block got in the way and could be incredibly uncomfortable. Then the monitor, which all patients in the ward had these over their beds or at least nearby and they also gave off incredibly annoying bleeps which made it incredibly difficult to sleep. Not just these monitors, but many other electronic devices within the ward. There seemed no way you could either reduce their volume or turn them off completely.
It was odd not seeing the other patients in the unit. Being in a single room meant I was somewhat cut off from others on the ward. You could see people being moved around as they were shunted around in their beds. A bit like I was, all my belongings (such as they were. Not a lot, but still put in a large plastic bag) and then pushed by either a nurse or a porter to the vacant place on the ward.
Monday.
You get worken early in any hospital. I think I was awake already, but because there's always some noise on a ward, monitors buzzing along with outer machinery, staff moving about (they do try their hardest not to wake people) and the fact that I had a blood pressure cuff on which kept on automatically inflating to take my blood pressure during the night, I don't think I got a particularly good night's sleep. Then they begin to come round doing patients' 'obs' and at around 7.30-8.00 someone comes round with tea or coffee and breakfast. But for some reason you don't get toast, which i would have liked. A pity, but I bet the old Health and Safety rears it's ugly head, perhaps because of the possibility of fire, over-heating etc etc. Some wards I've been on had toasters in their kitchens, so it would have been out of the way to prevent accidents.
At around 10.00-10.15 I was visited by one of the doctors and given a brief explanation of what had happened to me and it was by then that I had actually had a heart attack myocardial infarction, to give it the correct name.) He explained what the stent was there for and the new medication I would be put on as a result of my recent episode. He had quite a lot of information which came from various E.C.Gs which had already been taken, as well as from my blood pressure and so on. You get regular observations ('obs'), taken by the nurses, covering temperature, blood pressure and heart rate, all taken with digital equipment. I was told by the doctor that I could possibly go home the next day (Tuesday) but I would be having a scan which would show the state of health of my heart and from this they could decide whether I could drive after a week or a month from having the heart attack on Sunday.
I was told that I would be in hospital until at least Wednesday. Not much to do. I had no books to read, no mobile phone, so I couldn't speak to Carol and there wasn't any television to watch, unless you had access to the in-hospital system which required you to pay, and similar to the dreadful Hospicom service at Milton Keynes Hospital. Also, I had no cash on me, nor either of our debit cards, so I couldn't even buy a newspaper.
I had breakfast on the ward. As I've mentioned, it's quite difficult to sleep with all the noises going on in the night, so I'm usually awake early. Partly because, having been bought up on a farm, life starts early so I'm used to it and it doesn't bother me. I'm a morning sort of person anyway. You get offered tea from a trolley and they come round regularly with the trolley and there's always water to drink with medication. No fear of dehydration. You have to fill in a menu for the next day's meals, lunch and dinner. Usually a fairly good selection of options.
Later in the day, probably 9.30-10.00 I was told I would be moving out of the single, en suite room and moving down to the Cardiac Rapid Response Unit, which is on the ground floor of the department. Everything was bundled up and I was pushed out of the room by a nurse and a porter, taking me down in a life and along a long corridor. Eventually entering the more open ward, with 6 beds in it, each bed facing another bed. It made a real change from being in a single room and it made a change to have other patients around. It was beginning to get slightly claustrophobic where I was. Much more space to inhabit that was the general amount of space patients were expected to inhabit in Milton Keynes Hospital.
Tuesday. Another night of attempting to sleep, due to the noises on the ward. But this wasn't really much of a problem, because I could sleep all day if necessary. I was again told about the scan, an echocardiogram, or 'Jelly Scan' as Carol told me when I phoned later. Then I had the problem of how I was to get home. I asked one of the nurses whether I would have transport back to Milton Keynes but I was told that I couldn't have transport because I lived outside their official catchment area. A bit unfair, seeing how I had no choice of where I was taken by the paramedics after my heart attack. So I spoke to Carol via telephone and she said she would speak to Ross, Pastor at S.C.F. and he would come later to pick me up. Which is what happened.
The echocardiogram was done. I was expecting to go to another department to have this done, but a technician came with a portable machine and he did the scan with me laying on the hospital bed, with he curtains drawn around me. It's also referred to as a 'Jelly Scan' because they use a sort of jelly to put on your chest so that the probe device can slide across your skin more easily. I think it was KY Jelly, but I'm not sure.
The admin staff on the ward did the paperwork for myself, giving details of my care and my health condition which would also be sent to my GP at Ashfield Medical Centre as well as ordering additional medication and details of how it was to be administered. It was some while before the scan was analysed and I was told by one of the doctors that my heart looked healthy enough and that I would be able to drive after a week and not a month.
Around 3 o'clock Ross and Carol arrived on the ward. I wasn't too sure how long it would take them to drive over from Milton Keynes. So, having been given a bag full of the new medications, which had been sent from the hospital pharmacy, we walked out of the ward and out to the carpark and to Ross's car and we left Oxford to drive home to Milton Keynes.
I'm feeling fairly well, having undergone the trauma of the heart attack. I must have collapsed quite heavily, because I have bruises on both knees as well as the left side of my forehead and all these bruises are really painful and make walking quite uncomfortable and as I write this (4.00 p.m. on Thursday) they are beginning to come out quite blue and the pain is going off.
It was odd not seeing the other patients in the unit. Being in a single room meant I was somewhat cut off from others on the ward. You could see people being moved around as they were shunted around in their beds. A bit like I was, all my belongings (such as they were. Not a lot, but still put in a large plastic bag) and then pushed by either a nurse or a porter to the vacant place on the ward.
Monday.
You get worken early in any hospital. I think I was awake already, but because there's always some noise on a ward, monitors buzzing along with outer machinery, staff moving about (they do try their hardest not to wake people) and the fact that I had a blood pressure cuff on which kept on automatically inflating to take my blood pressure during the night, I don't think I got a particularly good night's sleep. Then they begin to come round doing patients' 'obs' and at around 7.30-8.00 someone comes round with tea or coffee and breakfast. But for some reason you don't get toast, which i would have liked. A pity, but I bet the old Health and Safety rears it's ugly head, perhaps because of the possibility of fire, over-heating etc etc. Some wards I've been on had toasters in their kitchens, so it would have been out of the way to prevent accidents.
At around 10.00-10.15 I was visited by one of the doctors and given a brief explanation of what had happened to me and it was by then that I had actually had a heart attack myocardial infarction, to give it the correct name.) He explained what the stent was there for and the new medication I would be put on as a result of my recent episode. He had quite a lot of information which came from various E.C.Gs which had already been taken, as well as from my blood pressure and so on. You get regular observations ('obs'), taken by the nurses, covering temperature, blood pressure and heart rate, all taken with digital equipment. I was told by the doctor that I could possibly go home the next day (Tuesday) but I would be having a scan which would show the state of health of my heart and from this they could decide whether I could drive after a week or a month from having the heart attack on Sunday.
I was told that I would be in hospital until at least Wednesday. Not much to do. I had no books to read, no mobile phone, so I couldn't speak to Carol and there wasn't any television to watch, unless you had access to the in-hospital system which required you to pay, and similar to the dreadful Hospicom service at Milton Keynes Hospital. Also, I had no cash on me, nor either of our debit cards, so I couldn't even buy a newspaper.
I had breakfast on the ward. As I've mentioned, it's quite difficult to sleep with all the noises going on in the night, so I'm usually awake early. Partly because, having been bought up on a farm, life starts early so I'm used to it and it doesn't bother me. I'm a morning sort of person anyway. You get offered tea from a trolley and they come round regularly with the trolley and there's always water to drink with medication. No fear of dehydration. You have to fill in a menu for the next day's meals, lunch and dinner. Usually a fairly good selection of options.
Later in the day, probably 9.30-10.00 I was told I would be moving out of the single, en suite room and moving down to the Cardiac Rapid Response Unit, which is on the ground floor of the department. Everything was bundled up and I was pushed out of the room by a nurse and a porter, taking me down in a life and along a long corridor. Eventually entering the more open ward, with 6 beds in it, each bed facing another bed. It made a real change from being in a single room and it made a change to have other patients around. It was beginning to get slightly claustrophobic where I was. Much more space to inhabit that was the general amount of space patients were expected to inhabit in Milton Keynes Hospital.
Tuesday. Another night of attempting to sleep, due to the noises on the ward. But this wasn't really much of a problem, because I could sleep all day if necessary. I was again told about the scan, an echocardiogram, or 'Jelly Scan' as Carol told me when I phoned later. Then I had the problem of how I was to get home. I asked one of the nurses whether I would have transport back to Milton Keynes but I was told that I couldn't have transport because I lived outside their official catchment area. A bit unfair, seeing how I had no choice of where I was taken by the paramedics after my heart attack. So I spoke to Carol via telephone and she said she would speak to Ross, Pastor at S.C.F. and he would come later to pick me up. Which is what happened.
The echocardiogram was done. I was expecting to go to another department to have this done, but a technician came with a portable machine and he did the scan with me laying on the hospital bed, with he curtains drawn around me. It's also referred to as a 'Jelly Scan' because they use a sort of jelly to put on your chest so that the probe device can slide across your skin more easily. I think it was KY Jelly, but I'm not sure.
The admin staff on the ward did the paperwork for myself, giving details of my care and my health condition which would also be sent to my GP at Ashfield Medical Centre as well as ordering additional medication and details of how it was to be administered. It was some while before the scan was analysed and I was told by one of the doctors that my heart looked healthy enough and that I would be able to drive after a week and not a month.
Around 3 o'clock Ross and Carol arrived on the ward. I wasn't too sure how long it would take them to drive over from Milton Keynes. So, having been given a bag full of the new medications, which had been sent from the hospital pharmacy, we walked out of the ward and out to the carpark and to Ross's car and we left Oxford to drive home to Milton Keynes.
I'm feeling fairly well, having undergone the trauma of the heart attack. I must have collapsed quite heavily, because I have bruises on both knees as well as the left side of my forehead and all these bruises are really painful and make walking quite uncomfortable and as I write this (4.00 p.m. on Thursday) they are beginning to come out quite blue and the pain is going off.
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