Almost Friday

Last night I caught up for a drink with two ladies (Aileen & Suze) who I worked with at my FIRST job in London - nearly 6 years ago - WOW! It was nice to see them & chat & hear what they have been up to.

I also spoke to family and friends yesterday, and have come to a conclusion about why I was so upset at the hospital. Now don't get me wrong, it was a great hospital. Private hospital, private nice room with private en suite bathroom and new flat screen tv with cable! The nurses were lovely, the doctor and anesthesiologist were great. The thing is - I expected - updates - to know what was going on! ? !

Ok I know now that you can't go into the recovery room, but I though they could at least let me KNOW when he was in there and out of the operating theatre. Especially since they were saying it could be anywhere from half an hour to a couple of hours. When I asked they didn't brush me off, but pretty much just told me no - that it wasn't possible. The nurse said 'it will only be about half an hour.' Ummm that's not the point - I just wanted to be kept informed you know? I thought maybe I was being ridiculous or something since they all seemed to look at me like 'huh? what are you talking about?' But now, after talking to my Mom and my aunt I know that that IS acceptable. That when my cousin had surgery the doctor came out right afterwards to let the family know how it went. They knew when he was out & when he was in recovery, etc etc.

OH well. I am putting it down to a cultural difference. I'm thinking maybe because the British are more reserved, that having an American asking so many questions was out of the ordinary for them. But you know what - overall it was still a positive experience.

The only REAL complaint that I can make is that they were OH SO slow with the jelly (which I call jell-o). When he first got out he just sipped on water (and even that was very painful). Then he felt like maybe something cold would be soothing. So they brought him some lemon sorbet. We knew that he shouldn't be having anything acidic, but he decided to try a little bit. Bad bad bad idea. Called the nurse in and asked if she could bring jelly instead, that the lemon was too painful. She said sure - left - and never came back! About 2 hours later the night nurse came in to introduce herself & we asked about the jelly - again. She finally did find some for him and came back about half an hour later (does it really take that long to find jelly???). It was the perfect snack for a sore throat though - finally!

And now.......... some hospital pictures

The hand - ouch

Ahhhh dry toast :( In the old days it used to be ice cream for the patient! Now they recommend you have toast to help get rid of some of the gunk on the wound... fun fun.

HOWEVER, I am happy to report that the patient is doing amazingly well! He is up and about and feeling pretty darn good! He's back to eating fairly normally (but just no acidic or dry rough food), and hasn't really spent any time in bed other than the first day back home, for a little rest. He's back to work from home today (can't really leave the house due to risk of infection) but he's feeling good! I'm so happy that he has come around so quickly:)

I have been reading up on the net today about the bridge collapse in Minneapolis. I haven't heard from my family yet, so I am assuming that no news is good news. I will give them a call this morning, but since none of them work downtown anymore, it's unlikely that anyone would have been travelling that way. Gosh I hope so - will call them soon just to check. MN friends who read this blog - please leave me a comment as well so I know you & your family are ok - THANKS!

UPDATE:
I spoke to my Mom and everyone is ok. My Dad had crossed that bridge on his way to the airport, and my aunt (thankfully) left work early so they both missed the collapse. Thank God for that.