You may think the most unpleasant thing I experienced during my hospital recovery was the pain of a cracked open chest, or perhaps the discomfort of the phantom menace.
Maybe it wasn’t something physical, the trauma of waking to find yourself short a limb can be fairly unpleasant.
However…
A couple of weeks into my daily routine of waking up, antibiotics, watching Frasier, more antibiotics, going to the hospital café for a dream ring (best part of the day), antibiotics, playing Minecraft, antibiotics for supper and then sleeping, my mum got a phone call from my head teacher…
I wasn’t aware until several weeks after waking up that during my long nap in the intensive care unit, an epic battle of wills had taken place over my unconscious body…
I was a sixteen year old, only half a year out of his latest major open heart surgery and looking forward to getting rid of this infection in order take full advantage of the repairs and tweaks done to my heart. So six weeks in hospital was not just a slap in the face, it was a gut punch which totally winded me…
I had been asked while in the ICU if I was experiencing any pain where my leg had been. To my shame I had never heard of this side effect of amputation and so, though it was a very strange thing to ask. I shrugged off the suggestion and said that I couldn’t feel a thing but then again, with all the drugs that were being pumped into me I couldn’t feel much of anything…
As a family we had spent a number of weeks preparing ourselves for what was to come. Fortunately, it would be nothing like as traumatic as the procedure I had undergone the previous year but still, any surgery comes with its worries.
Then came the phone call…
I remember the new snow I saw falling outside my hospital room window, it was actually the first thing I posted about on Facebook after the amputation, much to the surprise and amusement of some of my friends. However, beautiful as those glittering flakes were to my tired eyes, they also…
Having gone through all the stress of waiting for open heart surgery, the trauma involved in the procedure and finally the pains and worries of recovery, the last thing anyone would want to hear is that the surgery wasn’t as successful as first thought and that corrective work was required…
Being in intensive care is not what you might call a fun experience. High emotion and worry oozes from the walls and you can see the stress on the face of every nurse, doctor and family member who walks through the heavy white doors.
Following previous procedures I had been quickly moved from the ICU, leaving me not much time to…
In the buildup to my 2011 surgery I hadn’t really noticed any problems with my health. It isn’t always so easy, particularly when the change is gradual.
However my parents had both noticed my decline and after a few visits to the hospital, the decision was made to insert a stent into an artery…
