hospital

Bean juice, slips and snaps 24

 in hospital  tagged broken arm / fractured shoulder / hospital by

went arse over tit, in slow motion and put my left arm out to try and stop myself my catching on to the counter top, but instead of stopping me falling it just went crack instead. So off to A&E in an ambulance I went. Gas and Air did nothing and the poor paramedics couldn’t get a vein to administer any pain relief. Drew arranged for the boys to go to his parents and followed behind. Once at the hospital I mad some morphine and then x-rays and yep, my arm is broken. but……………… in typical Jen fashion (I do not do anything by half) it is a lateral fracture of the bone as it goes in to the shoulder, so it can not be potted.

So I am in a sling and in a lot of pain. We are hoping that the bone knits well on its own in 3 to 4 weeks and then I a

Life 16

 in hospital  tagged bad days / death / family / hospital / life / parenting by

Sometimes life is hard, sometimes I struggle to just see clearly through the fog that is the shroud of my day to day activities. Sometimes when you add in to it pain, recovery and recouperation it is hard to see much past the end of my arm, let alone to the coming weeks and months.
I underwent pretty major surgery on Friday 1 July and anticipated that I would be fine and well and back out of the hospital over the weekend. Oh how wrong was I. I finally was realised the following Friday at 9.30pm after much discussions and some tears on my part as I was missing my family. My surgery was much more complex than originally anticipated and has meant that I am unable to eat solid food for approximately another four weeks and am very much in pain, however, those of you with young children will understand when I say that they have no understanding of concept gentle.

Overstretched, underpaid and giving it their all 29

 in hospital  tagged dad / hospital / Mastectomy / maximad / MiniMad / NHS by

have never made my admiration for the NHS a secret. I am one of the few who has seen them when a real emergency occurs. Who have seen them give their all when people where in life or death situations and watched as they provided amazing acute health care. Whats more this health care, which in other countries would costs tens of thousand of pounds is free.

nearly 12 years ago my wonderful dad was involved in an industrial accident, He was resuscitated at the scene by his work mates and the first responder (a paramedic in a car) and then blue lighted to hospital in an ambulance. Upon arrive to the A&E department he was provided with top notch trauma care, including x-rays, scans, pain relief, breathing assistance and medication. When my mum arrived at the hospital she was ushered in to the trauma department and keep pretty much informed and updated as the situation would allow.

11 Years ago Today

 in accident / dad / death / hospital by

It was 6.30 am when the telephone rang, my first thought was who in earth could be calling at this time and punched MadDad to answer the phone (as it was on his side of the bed). He did and then time just stood still. He turned to me as white as a sheet and with the words “there has been an accident, your Dad is in hospital. We need to leave now” the day stood still. We lived in Berkshire at the time and my dad was in Middlesbrough General Hospital in the Intensive Care Unit over 320 miles away.  We got dressed, put the cats in their basket and more »

After a pretty pants weekend

 in anemia / Crohns disease / hospital by

Most of my weekend has been spent feeling very sorry for myself with my head in a bucket and my bum on the sofa, so I was planning to use today to catch up, get the ironing done, plan some craft activities and finalise some of the reviews I have been doing too. But fate has conspired against me, I went to the GP first thing to discuss my  crohn’s diagnosis and get my blood results, only to find that my iron level is shockingly low.  Yes is is down to 8.1, so it looks like a need a blood transfusion again (yes it was only 4 months ago that I more »

Finallaly getting a Diagnosis and learning to live with it

 in anemia / Crohns disease / hospital by

Over the last year or so I have been pretty under the weather.  I have been constantly shattered, had major issues with my bowels and been in and out of hospital for numerous tests including scans, x-rays, a barium follow through and blood transfusions. Yesterday I was finally given a diagnosis.  I have Crohns Disease, which although isn’t curable, but it is treatable and hopefully I will go into remission once the right treatment balance is reached.  The Crohns explains why I am anemic and also low in B12, so dependant on blood results I will have either an iron infusion or blood transfusion next week (hopefully) and also a B12 more »

Mourning more than the children being at school

 in brca1 / first day of school / hospital / lonely / school by

Since I am laying it all bare about how I feel about the boys being at school, it is only fare that I really admit as to why I feel so bad. Back in July 2008 I had my ovaries and fallopian tubes removed, an oophorectomy is the technical term.  As you may know I carry a genetic spelling mistake which makes me very high risk for a number of cancers.  My Aunt died from ovarian cancer and my other Aunt who had already had a hysterectomy had primary peritoneal cancer (she is currently in remission).  So my risk of ovarian cancer was over a 60% lifetime risk. We talked to more »

Living with a child with a health condition

 in chest condition / health / hospital / illness / maximad by

When Maxi was 4 months old he became unwell.  He got a cold and was very unhappy, not his normal self at all.  He also fell off my knee and we were so concerned we took him to A&E at 6pm.  The doctor took a look at him and said he was fine and just to keep an eye on him and bring him back in if he was being sick. Maxi on the afternoon before he fell off the sofa We put our little baby to bed at 8pm that night and tried to give him a feed at 11pm, as usual, but he wouldn’t take the milk, in fact more »

drowning

 in bad days / bad mother / bad times / drowning / health / hospital by

I am struggling at the moment, to find my get up and go, yes as per all the cliches it has got up and gone. I had blood tests last week and I am already anemic again, my lips are splitting at the sides and the junior doctor who discharged me after my last transfusion didn’t order the additional tests I needed, which means I still don’t have a date for further investigations. But my blood results showed that it is unlikely I have pernicious anemia as my B12 level was still up thanks too the injection I had received.  I feel like sitting and crying, I keep asking why me, more »

Dear So and So – The Hospital Version

 in Dear so and so / hospital by

Dear Bolshy Horrible Young Woman in Hospital What goes around comes around and it is no wonder that the nursing staff and consultant treated you in the way they did.  Your language was appalling, you were forever off having a cigarette and missed rounds twice, you answered your phone in front of the Consultant.  Courtesy and politeness cost nothing, even if you are in pain.  You are young, you will learn. A very Angry Mad ——————– Dear Nursing Staff Thank you very much for the superb treatment I received this week, I know that you are understaffed and underpaid, but you really did make things much easier for me.  You work more »

Been In Hospital

 in anemia / hospital by

I have been in hospital a couple of nights and had to have a number of blood transfusions due to serve anemia.  I have also had a B12 injection as I am lacking in that too. I have also undergone a number of tests, scans and x-rays, but the doctors have not yet ascertained why I have this anemia, but I am coming home and we are going to continue investigations as an outpatient.  I am starting to look a lot better and actually have some colour, although I do feel a bit like a vampire the amount of blood I have seen over the last couple of days. Thankfully It more »

I will come back to haunt you – Writing Workshop

 in breast cancer / hospital / mastectomy / sepsis / Wednesday writing workshop by

I was hot, yes I know I was in a hospital and they are always hot, but normally the dressings clinic is OK.  Yes the window is open, but I know that I am a little off, just not right, I can not put my finger in it and it is about to get worse. The nurse has returned with all the things she needs to remove these stitches and I will be so glad to see them go.  No blue thread making  my chest look like a zip, no more pulling and pressure as the skin tightens around them.  I am so happy to see them go, the boys less more »

Under Pressure

 in carer / hospital / mum / under pressure / Wednesday writing workshop by

I usually thrive on pressure, at least I did BC (Before Children), but now I am not so sure.  I think maybe I was being optimistic about looking for a part time job, as it seems that mum is not going to get back on her feet so easily this time and it looks as though I am going to have to spend more time looking after her as well as the children. What the Consultant has said is that she has permanent lung damage due to smoking and also the latest chest infection and reduced her respiratory ability too.  They officially  call it Type 2 respiratory failure or COPD.  In more »

A Pause in Lent – Tempation

 in a mothers secrets / A Pause in Lent / hospital / smoking / spiritual / Sunday by

As I write this I am tired, not just physically, but also mentally too.  My mum is home, well at my home at the moment and visiting, arranging and organising has really tested me this last couple of weeks and will continue to do so I imagine. Firstly mum is going to be staying in TheMadHouse until we can arrange for stair lifts, which should have been done by the hospitals in-house social care and social work team, but the lady responsible for mum was off sick, so it was either stay in hospital (which she really didn’t want) or come home to me.  The only other alternative was to move more »

Why have children when you have parents?

 in growing old / hospital / mum / parents / responsibility by

I suppose there comes a time in every person’s life when their parents stop being the supporters and start being the ones who need the support and the help of their children. Well it seems that that time has come all too soon in the Mad family.  My mum who is only 66 is in hospital yet again.  She is not in the best of health generally as she suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, but she how has COPD and is suffering with type 2 respiratory failure and it appears that she caught a chest infection on her holiday in Florida, which meant that she became oxygen compromised and when me and more »

A letter to my children in case I do not wake…..

 in brca1 / breast cancer / hospital / mastectomy / mini mads / Wednesday writing workshop by

It is nearly one year since my first breast surgery.  I was frantically trying to fit everything in that I needed to. I had booked 6 weeks of Tesco Deliveries, a book of all the things the boys liked, ate, did and schedules. But specifically the one thing I was doing a year ago was writing letters.I wrote 4 letters and 3, I will share with you, the one I wrote to MadDad is not and never will be for public consumption, but I wrote one each to the boys and one explaining why i was doing what I was. Writing those letters was the hardest thing I had ever had more »

Genetics – Would you want to know? 4

 in brca1 / breast cancer / genes / genetics / geriatric mummy / hospital / mastectomy by

Geriatric Mummy is in the very unfortunate circumstances of watching her beloved Father go rapidly downhill with early onset dementia and she has asked what other people would do in her situation.  I decided to do a post, rather than a comment, as it would be rather long, as this is a subject close to my heart. I have a faulty gene, technically they call it a spelling mistake in the DNA and in mine and my family’s case the issue is with the BRCA 1 gene, which for me due to my family history means that I had an 80% lifetime risk of breast cancer and a 60% lifetime risk more »

Writing Workshop on a Wednesday 8

 in bah to cancer / hospital / mastectomy / Wednesday writing workshop by

In an ideal world a hospital for me would focus on healing the mind, in addition to healing the body.  It would be a calm and peaceful place catering for all the needs of the people there. Now I have been in and out of hospital enough lately to be able to say that the staff are wonderful and do the very best with the resources available to them, so this is not an NHS bashing post, but a far away dream. On my visit in February this year, I was awarded a single occupancy room and it was fantastic, I had my own bathroom  area, which was in a wet more »

A Hard Day in TheMadHouse 10

 in depression / down / hospital by

Sometimes I have a down day too.  I try and remain positive and to see the best of everything and every one, but today has scratched at my very being and coping mechanisms. I am a doer, an organiser, a mover, I am capable, I am a coper, I am the best I can be (I know I sound like something out of dollshouse there), but today I have been beaten. Today I went to have my stitches out, I was sick at the hospital, I was sore on the drive home and in pain.  I dropped MiniMad at preschool and came home to try and do a home blessing, which more »

I am Home 11

 in hospital / mastectomy by

Just a quick post to let you all know that I am home, sore and tired, but so glad to have escaped from the hospital.  Unfortunately I have had to have more surgery than anticipated and had to have old fashioned stitched, which means I will have to go back and have them removed. But I am at home and happy to be back with my wonderful family. Also I would like to say thank you for all the words of support and a special mention goes to Bad Penny at The Hen House for making me cry with this post.