... being in hospital

I have worked and walked with the painful foot quite some time but last friday it all got to an end!
I had to get in touch on the ward at 7am and was showed my room, which I shared with two elderly ladies. After having unpacked I did change my clothes against those wonderful and most dressful op gowns... I was told to take the medicine (a painkiller and a tranqualizer) and then to stay in bed. The time went by - minute by minute and hour by hour. At least I didn't care about the 'prohibition' of getting up once more - I needed to go to the toilet. So I stood up 4 or 5 times, finished reading the first book, got a headache (because I mustn't drink a little drop for more than 14 hours by then) and was more than bored...
Round 2pm I finally was conveyed to the surgery. The anaethesist was kind and not soon after starting the drugs, I lost control of my eyes and was gone!
An hour later nearly everything was fine - I woke up again, got lots of painkiller and was allowed to drink again. What I still cannot understand is the surgeon telling me about the op right when I am waking up and not quite with my mind again. But anyway - I remember being told everything went fine and they removed the small fragment and I wouldn' be allowed to walk without crouches for 6 weeks.
I coldn't really stay awake and my bloodstream wasn't the best; I got hot and nausea and was feeling just tired. After round 90 minutes I was brought back into my room and was cared for.
Towards evening I was feeling a little better bt still very tired and so I was quite happy about mom leaving me and the both ladies beeing asleep.

Saturday was a much better day. The ladies and I did chat a little; but I have to tell you the one (the older one) was seemingly dead. I called her 'the spine' as she laid in hospital with pains in her backbones. The younger one (only 75 ) I did called the TEP - she got a new knee! Her was it I did speak with mostly as the spine did sleep nearly all the time.

Scince friday afternoon (my mom did walk into my cousin on accident)the whole family did know me being in hospital; exactly what I wanted to prevent. So during the day I got phonecalls, my mom and my cousin visited with the kids and I got the needle.
On the other hand it was nice as well, but as I would be in hospital only for a short time I thought I could went in without anybody noticing.

My days in hospital were structured:

- Waked up round 6h30am from a nurse giving you your daily pills
- 7h30am round was made by a doctor
- between 8am and 8h30am breakfast
- breakfast was cleared up and the TEP and I got an icepack
- between 9h30 and 10h30 the PT came
- icepacks were cleared up
- 11h45 lunch was brought
- an hour later the tablets were cleared away
- 2pm the knee and I got a 'hard liquor' - some liquid painkiller and again an icepack
- 2h30 afternoon tea was served
- 4pm Ice was packed away and we three got Heparin injections
- 5h30 dinner
- 6h30 cleaning up the tablets again
- 7pm icepack once more
- 10pm last hard liquor for the day


The TV program is bad in the moment so I mostly read - round 750 pages per day. Then I had 2 games and some crossword puzzles with me. When being to nerveous (you may remember I can't sit still for a long time) I went outside on the corridor for 5 minutes and was happy about falling onto my bed again afterwards!
The first nights I couldn't find any sleep:
a soft bed that was very noisy - and mine wasn't the only noisy one, sqeaking doors and room mates who had to go up several times a night. Unfurtunat the rooms light switch and the bathrooms one were put next to each other - I noticed a few times during the night that the spine couldn't remember which is which!
When the knee came back from the toilet, the spine got up from her bad and vice versa. As a last resort both of them do snor! The knee lumberred the whole rainforst in one night!!!!!

In such a structured day the meals are the variation. Breakfast was fine as I ordered a piece of bread, marmelade and cheese; dinner was fine as well because I got a huge salad every night. The one problem was lunchtime:
I hate potatoes and especially mash which is served in hospital - mash is like cement, so I wouldn't even try this. The meat did die for two or three times at least - so hard and untasty. The veggies looked like veggies but tasted like nothing. The soup was coloured but you couldn't make out which kind of soup it should be. So lunch was a big disappointment all the days. But when you do nothing during the day apart from standing up a few times to stretch your legs and going to the toilet you aren't hungry very much (or I am not).


So, I am not allowed to put weight on my foot for two weeks and then I have to walk with 30kg weight on the left foot for 4 weeks. That means I have sick-leave form work for round 2 months.
As summer is coming that is not such a bad thing - BUT
- I can't walk as much and fast as I like to
- I can't carry things around
- my foot is still sore

Damn it! Anyway - my pain will wear off soon (I hope) and I will walk as much as I can and otherwise just enjoy my time in the garden!!!



Even with my np3 player put in both ears I couln't overhear her snorring - so I was really amazed when sleeping through this last night in hospital.