You know… I probably jinxed it by telling you all it was happening… But I got a call earlier in the week saying they ‘couldn’t find a consultant’ for Friday. I don’t really understand what that means, I thought it was meant to be my surgeon, Mr K who did it. But I guess maybe…
Tag: nurses
The joy of ongoing appointments
I was talking to someone the other day who was saying that going back to the Macmillan Cancer Centre for appointments is something she fears and finds upsetting. And I get it, there can be a certain sense of PTSD with these things, and constant reminders of the trauma isn’t necessarily what you want. But…
Happy 70th birthday NHS
It is the 70th birthday of the NHS. Where to start? I suppose with something that’s obviously close to me. Looking at cancer alone – 50% of people get cancer. That means you, and your mum. Or your partner and your dad. Or your sister and your best friend. I know of people in the…
The final bits…
With the trachy out, it was time to start breathing through my mouth. My nose was entirely blocked so there was no chance of it helping me out. My mouth got so dry. Night time was the worst. I already wasn’t sleeping much, but now my mouth and throat were dry and burning. And I…
Little adventures
On day 13 of my hospital stay, Kat the Physio said I was allowed to go for a little adventure, so I actually got to leave the ward and we went up to Level 16 and looked out at the view. UCLH has a tall tower, and is situated pretty in the middle of London,…
The second trip to the ward in 3 days…
When I was transferred to the ward for the second time in 3 days, I was back in a shared ward. Thankfully this time there was no one wailing all night like there had been the time before (I remember writing to my nurse saying ‘just give her sleeping tablets and give me sleeping tablets…
Last day in ICU
I had a very odd nurse that last day in ICU. She kept grabbing me by my painful cannula arm (like literally grabbing my cannulas) or grabbing me by my shoulder injury. At some point she managed to hit me in my swollen face and instead of just trying to apologise she tried to grab…
A few of the amazing nurses on my first trip to ICU
The first thing was to work out a way to communicate with people. How else would I make friends? The first notebook Dad got for me said on the front ‘Be your own kind of beautiful’. Seemed fitting, since I would definitely be challenging the normal ideas of ‘beautiful’ for some time (someone did just…
The Cancer Chronicles 