Sunday +12: Mike went backwards.
Monday +13 Mike stuck backwards. Very frustrated wife questioning why, nurse (they rotate constantly) says he doesn't seem any different from when my colleague handed over. Luckily a few hours later a different colleague who had seen him Friday happened to pop in and couldn't believe how much worse he was. (Thank you. See I'm not crazy.)
Tuesday +14 Mike still in rut. One of the drugs they are giving him makes him hallucinate. Conversation has been impossible since he was taken to Intensive care. The only words out of his mouth have been random rubbish unconnected to what I have been saying, The icing on the cake is a call at midnight (so this is partly for Wednesday). Mike tells me to call the police and tell them the nurses are trying to murder him.
Wednesday +15 Mike finally agrees to having a nasogastric tube. He hasn't kept anything down for fifteen days. I have a meltdown as I can't understand why Mike isn't improving, not even a tiny bit.
Thursday +16 I manage to do something never before seen by the paramedics. Whilst simply walking along I manage to get a screw embedded in my foot. I did try to pull it out, no luck. The ambulance was called out by a passing stranger, much to my embarrassment. A trip to A&E was made and two hours later I was out and on my way, the super fast service due to the fact I told them I was actually on my way to Heartlands to see my hubby in Intensive Care. They couldn't have been more helpful and I very grateful. Now you would have thought I would have gone home (I only had one shoe by now) but no, I dutifully went off to see Mike. Cue another meltdown and a good telling off for Mike. I told him enough was enough and that if all I was going to visit was a sleepy, delusional husband then I wasn't going to keep spending four hours a day travelling.
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| Recreated accident |
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| My poor foot! |
Friday +17 Another delusional phone call first thing, Mike is convinced we have won some big court battle and can now afford to pay for private care. He has been trying to pull out his lines and feeding tube. I suggest he asks them to review his drugs as obviously something is sending him loopy. I don't visit, but in the afternoon Mike is taken down for dialysis on the proper machines. At 18:00 Mike calls to tell me he has managed to drink and keep down the special fortified milkshake they gave him. Finally a bit of progress.
So today is day 18+ the first day of adulthood. He was out of hospital last time round. Still at least we finally have signs that he is going to recover, cross your fingers he doesn't go backwards again.
What an ordeal. The last thing you needed was a screw through your foot. Did you have to get a tetanus shot?
ReplyDeleteYes, my arm is still hurting!! ;)
DeleteI know this is frustrating for you, but perhaps those stern words of "Straighten up and fly right!" had the desired effect.
ReplyDeleteHe is still on our prayer/Pink Light list and I am still sending Reiki to both of you. I have to tell you about a dream I had where I was talking to him (you know how wonky dreams can be - this must have been on Monday or Tuesday - May 30-31) and he said, "I can't decide if I should stay or go (cue the music for that song) and I don't want folks to think I didn't try hard enough."
And I said, "Well, Mike, it hardly matters what folks think if you leave because they will all say 'He's a fighter but the disease was better than he was.' so the only way you can prove you were fighting hard enough is to come back for awhile." And at this point he gets on his bicycle and rides away. (I told you it was a wonky dream.)
My dream analyst says its my dream and it's all about my own issues, but it felt much more like Mike was trying to decide whether to give up or not. And so I want to say that I think he is not going to give up and things are going to improve... perhaps in good ways you can't even imagine. That's my wish for both of you at any rate.